City safety & data profile

California CityCA

California City, CA is a 13K-resident city in Kern County with a median household income of $60,113.

Kern County, California. Federal health, economic, and safety indicators for California City, drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, CDC PLACES, and CMS Hospital Compare. California City has a population larger than 19% of the 4,640 U.S. cities Areazine tracks, and a median home value of $278,000.

Data updated 2026-09-04

13K
Population (place)
Bottom 20%
By size
$60,113
Median income (place)
$278,000
Median home (place)
22.8%
Poverty rate (place)
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The read on California City

California City posts a median household income higher than 22% of U.S. cities Areazine tracks.

Bottom 23%
by median income, US cities

Where California City income ranks nationally

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

$60,113 Bottom 22% higher than 22% of 3,889 places Areazine profiles

California City $0 $260,000 every profiled place, bucketed by value

Each bar is a $20K-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

Largest cities in CA

Population among 482 CA places with 10,000+ residents and ACS income on Areazine. Tooltip shows the income rank in the same 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

Highest median incomes in CA

Median household income among the same 482-city pool. Tooltip shows 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 California City, CA beyond the headline numbers

California City sits inside Kern County, California, at roughly 35.13°N, -117.99°W. Population 13,277, $60,113 median household income. Median home value $278,000, median rent $1,300. Poverty rate 22.8%, read against that income figure since two cities on the same median can differ underneath it.

22.8% of California City, 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 median home in California City runs about 4.6 times median household income, above the midpoint. Multiples in this range usually mean buyers are arriving from outside the local wage base.

Remote work covers 10.7% of California City workers, under the midpoint for reporting cities.

Among the CDC measures on this page, frequent mental distress departs furthest from its peer median: 21.8% in California City, the highest-prevalence quarter of the 3,759 cities reporting that measure.

Public transit carries 0% of California City workers, a smaller share than at least three quarters of reporting cities.

California City's median age is 33.5 years, in the youngest quarter of reporting cities.

Sources: U.S. Census ACS, CDC PLACES, CMS Hospital Compare, plus live alerts for California City 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.

Population (place)
13,277
California City · Census Place
Median Income (place)
$60,113
-33% vs avg
Median Home Value (place)
$278,000
-33% vs avg
Median Age (place)
33.5
years · ACS place

10-Year Trends 2013–2024

County-level trend (Kern County): California City'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
915K+8%
Median Income
$70,210+45%
Median Home Value
$338,300+109%
Poverty Rate
19.1%-17%
Unemployment
8.6%-37%

Economics

Economics indicators for California City, CA
IndicatorValue
Median Rent
$1,300/mo
Poverty Rate
22.8% +84% vs avg
Unemployment 17.9%
Bachelor's Degree+ 12.5%
Work From Home 10.7%
Public Transit 0%

Population

White 37.2%
African American 24.5%
Asian 2.4%

Health Profile 15 measures

Health Indicators

Short Sleep Duration
41.6%
Obesity
39.5%
High Blood Pressure
36.3%
Physical Inactivity
33.4%
Frequent Mental Distress
21.8%
Current Smoking
18.4%
Frequent Physical Distress
17.3%
Binge Drinking
16.8%
Lack of Health Insurance
15.8%
Diabetes
14.7%

Preventive Care

Dental Visit 50.3%
Annual Checkup 71%

Other Measures

Current Asthma
11.3%
Coronary Heart Disease
7%
Stroke
4.2%

What alerts and safety updates affect California City?

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

City alert dispatch desk

Sheet CA-CALIFORNIA-CITY · California City

California City: 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 California City; 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 California City in the CAP feed
All safety guides →

Frequently Asked Questions 5

What is the population of California City, CA? ▼
California City, CA has a population of 13,277 people, located in Kern County, California.
What is the median household income in California City? ▼
The median household income in California City, CA is $60,113 per year, per the U.S. Census ACS. The poverty rate is 22.8%.
What is the median home value in California City? ▼
The median home value in California City, CA is $278,000. Median rent is $1,300/month.
What are the top health concerns in California City? ▼
The top health indicators in California City include Short Sleep Duration (41.6%), Obesity (39.5%), High Blood Pressure (36.3%). Data from CDC PLACES.
What is the median age in California City? ▼
The median age in California City, CA is 33.5 years. 12.5% of residents have a bachelor's degree or higher.

Nationwide cities with similar poverty or income 8

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

Similar poverty rate

Nearest place-level ACS poverty rates outside CA (22.8% here).

Milwaukee, WI 22.8% Jonesboro, AR 22.8% Gulfport, MS 22.8% Goldsboro, NC 22.8%

Similar median income

Nearest place-level ACS median household incomes outside CA ($60,113 here).

Speedway, IN $60,147 Guymon, OK $60,075 Manhattan, KS $60,172 North Chicago, IL $60,172

Compare California City 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

Rosamond, CA 18K Lancaster, CA 161K Tehachapi, CA 13K Quartz Hill, CA 11K Lake Los Angeles, CA 12K Palmdale, CA 158K Sun Village, CA 12K Ridgecrest, CA 29K
All cities in California → Compare California City vs Rosamond → All comparisons → Browse all cities

Using California City's profile

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 California City area before relying on national headlines. Check your area
  • Read the poverty rate alongside the income figure, two places with the same median can have very different realities.
  • Compare California City against California peers on any ranking lens. Explore California

Population and economics (income, home value, poverty, education) are place-level U.S. Census ACS; health is CDC PLACES; hospital counts reflect facilities in and around the city. County-level trends are labeled when shown.

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 (Kern 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.