City safety & data profile

BlytheCA

Blythe, CA is a 19K-resident city in Riverside County with a median household income of $56,625.

Riverside County, California. Federal health, economic, and safety indicators for Blythe, drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, CDC PLACES, and CMS Hospital Compare. Blythe has a population larger than 42% of the 4,640 U.S. cities Areazine tracks, a median home value of $225,000, and 1 hospital serving the surrounding area.

Data updated 2026-09-16
19K
Population (place)
Bottom 43%
By size
$56,625
Median income (place)
$225,000
Median home (place)
18.9%
Poverty rate (place)
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The read on Blythe

Blythe posts a median household income higher than 17% of U.S. cities Areazine tracks, where 1 hospital serves the Blythe area.

Bottom 18%
by median income, US cities
1
hospital in & near Blythe

Composite score · Blythe, CA

13/100

4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2024

A transparent index Areazine derives from Census ACS medians (income, poverty, bachelor's share) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when published, not an official Census Bureau or FBI rating. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability rating, not a recommendation to move to or avoid any place. Missing inputs drop out and redistribute weight. How it is calculated.

Poverty rate F
18.9%

Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis. ACS 5-Year Estimates.

Household income F
$56,625

Median household income vs cities tracked on Areazine; ACS 5-Year Estimates.

Violent crime F
442 /100k

FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents. State-level rate (per-city UCR reporting is incomplete/voluntary): every city in the state shares this value; lower is stronger on this axis.

Bachelor's+ share F
8.5%

Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS 5-Year Estimates.

Curious how Blythe stacks up nationwide? See the full tables: Healthiest Cities in America (health outcomes only) · Community Wellbeing Cities (this page's blended composite).

Where Blythe income ranks nationally

Median household income vs. every place Areazine profiles (place-level ACS)

$56,625 Bottom 17% higher than 17% of 3,889 places Areazine profiles

Blythe $0 $260,000 every profiled place, bucketed by value

Each bar is a $20,000-wide band; taller bars hold more places Areazine profiles. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) · 2024 ACS 5-year

Population ranking: CA

482 CA places (10,000+ residents, ACS income on record), sorted by population. Hover a bar for its income rank in this pool.

residents

What this shows Los Angeles is the largest CA city on this list; Alamo leads median income.

Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) As of 2024 ACS 5-year

CA cities ranked by median household income

The same 482-city CA pool, sorted by median household income instead of headcount. Tooltip carries the population rank.

median

What this shows Alamo posts the highest place-level median income in CA; Los Angeles is largest by headcount.

Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) As of 2024 ACS 5-year

The quick read

Reading Blythe, CA beyond the headline numbers

Blythe sits inside Riverside County, California, at roughly 33.61°N, -114.60°W. Population 19,208, $56,625 median household income. Median home value $225,000, median rent $938. Poverty rate 18.9%, read against that income figure since two cities on the same median can differ underneath it.

1 hospital in/around Blythe, 0 with an ER. Climate: 73.4°F annual average, 3.7" precipitation.

11.7% unemployment puts Blythe in the toughest quarter of reporting cities for job availability.

Among the CDC measures on this page, lack of health insurance departs furthest from its peer median: 21.4% in Blythe, the highest-prevalence quarter of the 3,759 cities reporting that measure.

8.5% of Blythe adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, the lowest quarter of reporting cities.

Only 3.3% of Blythe workers report working from home, the lowest quarter of reporting cities -- an economy still built around showing up somewhere.

18.9% of Blythe, CA residents live below the poverty line, placing it in the hardest-hit quarter of reporting cities. Read every median on this page against that: half the households are above it, and a large minority are far below.

A typical renter in Blythe, CA pays $938/month, in the cheapest quarter of reporting cities -- rent here is not what strains a local paycheck.

A median home in Blythe runs about 4.0 times median household income, above the midpoint. Multiples in this range usually mean buyers are arriving from outside the local wage base.

Sources: U.S. Census ACS, CDC PLACES, CMS Hospital Compare, plus live alerts for Blythe from FEMA, NOAA, FDA, and CPSC. Economic comparison bars use the unweighted average across tracked Census places with a reported value, not a household-weighted national median.

Looking Back a Decade 2013–2024

County-level trend (Riverside County): Blythe's own historical series isn't separately published by the Census Bureau, so these year-over-year figures track the surrounding county, not the city alone.

20132024
Population
2.5M+11%
Median Income
$93,074+65%
Median Home Value
$557,300+141%
Poverty Rate
10.6%-35%
Unemployment
6.5%-56%

Economics

What stands out most about Blythe's economic profile: poverty rate at 18.9%, 52% above the average across tracked places. Median rent also diverges: $938/mo, 39% below average.

Economics indicators for Blythe, CA
IndicatorValue
Median Rent
$938/mo
Poverty Rate
18.9% +52% vs avg
Unemployment 11.7%
Bachelor's Degree+ 8.5%
Work From Home 3.3%
Public Transit 1%

Population Snapshot

White 27.1%
African American 12.9%
Asian 1.8%

Health Profile 15 measures

Health Indicators

Obesity
44.3%
Short Sleep Duration
43.7%
High Blood Pressure
35.9%
Physical Inactivity
35.2%
Lack of Health Insurance
21.4%
Frequent Mental Distress
20.4%
Current Smoking
18.8%
Frequent Physical Distress
18.3%
Binge Drinking
15.9%
Diabetes
14.7%

Preventive Care

Dental Visit 47.9%
Annual Checkup 66.6%

Other Measures

Current Asthma
9.6%
Coronary Heart Disease
6.7%
Stroke
3.7%

Climate

NOAA 1991-2020 Normals
Avg Temperature
73°F
Annual Rainfall
3.7"
Hot Months (>80°F)
7
Cold Months (<40°F)
0
69°
40°
Jan
0.6"
73°
43°
Feb
0.6"
81°
49°
Mar
0.4"
89°
55°
Apr
0.1"
98°
63°
May
0.1"
106°
71°
Jun
0.0"
110°
78°
Jul
0.2"
109°
78°
Aug
0.4"
104°
71°
Sep
0.4"
91°
57°
Oct
0.2"
78°
47°
Nov
0.2"
66°
38°
Dec
0.5"

Cost of Living

BEA 2024
106.4 Regional Price Parity

6.4% above national average

US avg
106.4

Metro area: Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA (MSA)

Source: BEA Regional Price Parities via FRED. RPP of 100 = national average.

NFIP Flood Claim History

FEMA NFIP, county-level
195
Claims filed
$5.8M
Total paid out
X
Most common flood zone

Since 2016, NFIP has paid out $5.8M across 195 flood insurance claims filed in Riverside County.

The largest single contributor was Tropical Storm Hilary, accounting for 60 claims.

Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims, via OpenFEMA. County-level data: individual claims are not attributed to a specific city or address by FEMA.

What alerts and safety updates affect Blythe?

No area-tagged alerts are on record for Blythe right now. New federal and counterpart-agency notices still land in the site feed as agencies publish them.

City alert dispatch desk

Sheet CA-BLYTHE · Blythe

Blythe: no area-tagged alerts on record. State hubs carry the live CAP stream.

  • FEED-QUIET No tagged alerts
  • LEAD-NONE Feed idle
  • DESK-IDLE Awaiting feed

Counts reflect published articles tagged to Blythe; untagged NOAA county warnings may still appear in the site feed. Browse California state hubs · Methodology

Read with this city profile

Tracking Safety Alerts in Your Area

How Areazine tags Blythe in the CAP feed
All safety guides →

Common Questions 9

What is the population of Blythe, CA? ▼
Blythe, CA has a population of 19,208 people, located in Riverside County, California.
What is the median household income in Blythe? ▼
The median household income in Blythe, CA is $56,625 per year, per the U.S. Census ACS. The poverty rate is 18.9%.
What is the median home value in Blythe? ▼
The median home value in Blythe, CA is $225,000. Median rent is $938/month.
What are the top health concerns in Blythe? ▼
The top health indicators in Blythe include Obesity (44.3%), Short Sleep Duration (43.7%), High Blood Pressure (35.9%). Data from CDC PLACES.
How many hospitals are in Blythe? ▼
Blythe has 1 hospital. 0 have emergency departments.
What is the median age in Blythe? ▼
The median age in Blythe, CA is 38.3 years. 8.5% of residents have a bachelor's degree or higher.
What is the climate like in Blythe? ▼
Blythe has an average annual temperature of 73.4°F and 3.7" of annual precipitation.
What is the cost of living in Blythe? ▼
The regional price parity for Blythe is 106.442, meaning prices are 6.4% above the national average.
Has Blythe had flood insurance claims? ▼
Riverside County, California has recorded 195 NFIP flood insurance claims since 2016, totaling $5.8M in payouts. This is county-level data: FEMA does not attribute individual claims to a specific city.

Nationwide cities with similar poverty or income 8

Two ACS-derived peer sets for Blythe, both outside California so the neighborhoods are not the geographic nearby list below.

Similar poverty rate

Nearest place-level ACS poverty rates outside CA (18.9% here).

Tucson, AZ 18.9% Lubbock, TX 18.9% Pasadena, TX 18.9% North Miami, FL 18.9%

Similar median income

Nearest place-level ACS median household incomes outside CA ($56,625 here).

Pampa, TX $56,626 New Orleans, LA $56,631 Conway, SC $56,650 Federal Heights, CO $56,597

Compare Blythe with another city

Pick a second U.S. city to open a side-by-side profile on population, income, health, and hospitals, the same federal datasets as this page.

Quick picks:

Nearby Cities 8

Yuma, AZ 96K Lake Havasu City, AZ 54K Fortuna Foothills, AZ 26K Somerton, AZ 15K Brawley, CA 26K San Luis, AZ 32K Imperial, CA 17K El Centro, CA 44K
All cities in California → Compare Blythe vs Yuma → All comparisons → Browse all cities

Turning this into a research checklist

Use this as a starting research checklist, not a verdict on whether to live here.

  • Check live recalls, weather and hazard alerts scoped to the Blythe area before relying on national headlines. Check your area
  • Income and poverty rate tell different stories, two places sharing a median can still diverge sharply on poverty.
  • Compare Blythe against California peers on any ranking lens. Explore California

Place-level figures for population and economics (income, home value, poverty, education) come from U.S. Census ACS; health data is CDC PLACES; hospital counts cover facilities in and around the city. Any county-level trend is labeled as such.

Data Sources

All data on this page comes from official U.S. government sources. Population and economic data from the Census Bureau American Community Survey (2024 5-year estimates, place geography). Health data from the CDC PLACES program (2023). Hospital ratings from CMS Hospital Compare (2024). Climate data from NOAA. Education data from NCES. Cost of living from Bureau of Economic Analysis. Crime statistics, where referenced on Areazine, originate from the FBI Crime Data Explorer. Housing market figures referenced on Areazine come from HUD Fair Market Rents. Census economics and population are at place geography; some health and hospital indicators are reported at the county level (Riverside County) where that is the smallest published unit.

Every figure on Areazine is published directly from official U.S. government sources, no number is typed in by an editor. City demographic and health figures are compiled directly from U.S. Census (place-level ACS), CDC, and CMS releases, updated quarterly within 30 days of upstream release. County-level trends are labeled when shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-09-16.