City safety & data profile

Grass ValleyCA

Grass Valley, CA is a 13K-resident city in Nevada County with a median household income of $51,764.

Nevada County, California. Federal health, economic, and safety indicators for Grass Valley, drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, CDC PLACES, and CMS Hospital Compare. Grass Valley has a population larger than 17% of the 4,640 U.S. cities Areazine tracks, a median home value of $482,200, and 1 hospital serving the surrounding area.

Data updated 2026-08-21

13K
Population (place)
Bottom 18%
By size
$51,764
Median income (place)
$482,200
Median home (place)
22.1%
Poverty rate (place)
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The read on Grass Valley

Grass Valley posts a median household income higher than 11% of U.S. cities Areazine tracks, where 1 hospital serves the Grass Valley area.

Bottom 12%
by median income, US cities
1
hospital in & near Grass Valley

Where Grass Valley income ranks nationally

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

$51,764 Bottom 11% higher than 11% of 3,889 places Areazine profiles

Grass Valley $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 Grass Valley, CA beyond the headline numbers

Grass Valley sits inside Nevada County, California, at roughly 39.22°N, -121.06°W. Population 12,944, $51,764 median household income. Median home value $482,200, median rent $1,458. Poverty rate 22.1%, read against that income figure since two cities on the same median can differ underneath it.

1 hospital in/around Grass Valley, 3/5 avg rating, 1 with an ER.

22.1% of Grass Valley, 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.

The median home in Grass Valley costs around 9.3 times what a median household earns in a year -- the most expensive quarter of reporting cities, and far enough ahead of local pay that ownership is largely closed to median earners.

15.2% of Grass Valley workers are remote, above the midpoint of reporting cities.

Among the CDC measures on this page, coronary heart disease departs furthest from its peer median: 8.8% in Grass Valley, the highest-prevalence quarter of the 3,757 cities reporting that measure.

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

At 49.6 years, Grass Valley's median age is in the oldest quarter of reporting cities.

Sources: U.S. Census ACS, CDC PLACES, CMS Hospital Compare, plus live alerts for Grass Valley 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)
12,944
Grass Valley · Census Place
Median Income (place)
$51,764
-42% vs avg
Median Home Value (place)
$482,200
+17% vs avg
Median Age (place)
49.6
years · ACS place

10-Year Trends 2013–2024

County-level trend (Nevada County): Grass Valley'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
102K+4%
Median Income
$89,882+57%
Median Home Value
$621,800+74%
Poverty Rate
11%-8%
Unemployment
5.4%-49%

Economics

Economics indicators for Grass Valley, CA
IndicatorValue
Median Rent
$1,458/mo
Poverty Rate
22.1% +78% vs avg
Unemployment 7.4%
Bachelor's Degree+ 32.8%
Work From Home 15.2%
Public Transit 0%

Population

White 83.8%
African American 0.4%
Asian 1.3%
Two or More Ethnicities 5.9%

Health Profile 15 measures

Health Indicators

High Blood Pressure
38.7%
Short Sleep Duration
31.8%
Obesity
28.6%
Physical Inactivity
24.1%
Frequent Mental Distress
17.3%
Frequent Physical Distress
15.9%
Binge Drinking
14.7%
Current Smoking
12.6%
Diabetes
12.4%
Current Asthma
10.9%

Preventive Care

Dental Visit 63.9%
Annual Checkup 76.1%

Other Measures

Coronary Heart Disease
8.8%
Lack of Health Insurance
7%
Stroke
4.7%

Hospitals 1 total

Rating Distribution
★★★★★
0
★★★★
0
★★★
1
★★
0
★
0
Average Rating
3/5
Total Hospitals
1
With ER
1
SIERRA NEVADA MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
GRASS VALLEY · Acute Care Hospitals · ER
★★★☆☆

Alerts & News - Grass Valley Area

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

Frequently Asked Questions 6

What is the population of Grass Valley, CA? ▼
Grass Valley, CA has a population of 12,944 people, located in Nevada County, California.
What is the median household income in Grass Valley? ▼
The median household income in Grass Valley, CA is $51,764 per year, per the U.S. Census ACS. The poverty rate is 22.1%.
What is the median home value in Grass Valley? ▼
The median home value in Grass Valley, CA is $482,200. Median rent is $1,458/month.
What are the top health concerns in Grass Valley? ▼
The top health indicators in Grass Valley include High Blood Pressure (38.7%), Short Sleep Duration (31.8%), Obesity (28.6%). Data from CDC PLACES.
How many hospitals are in Grass Valley? ▼
Grass Valley has 1 hospital with an average rating of 3/5 stars. 1 have emergency departments.
What is the median age in Grass Valley? ▼
The median age in Grass Valley, CA is 49.6 years. 32.8% of residents have a bachelor's degree or higher.

Safety Context

Grass Valley, CA is located in Nevada County, California. With a population of 13K and a $51,764 median household income, the community faces health challenges including high blood pressure and short sleep duration. Residents have access to 1 hospital with an average rating of 3/5 stars. Safety alerts for the Grass Valley area are monitored from federal and state agencies including FEMA, NOAA, FDA, and CPSC.

Safety Guides

How Product Recalls Work

CPSC, FDA & NHTSA recall process explained

Understanding Weather Alerts

Watch vs warning vs advisory explained

Earthquake Magnitude Explained

What the numbers mean & when to act
All safety guides →

Primary source data

EPA Outdoor Air Quality Data

Federal monitoring network, every measurement we report

AirNow - California

Real-time AQI for every monitored California location

National Weather Service

NOAA active watches, warnings, advisories

CDC Air Quality & Health

Health-impact reference for every AQI category

EPA NAAQS standards

National Ambient Air Quality Standards, the regulatory thresholds

Nationwide cities with similar poverty or income 8

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

Similar poverty rate

Nearest place-level ACS poverty rates outside CA (22.1% here).

Beeville, TX 22.1% Cottonwood, AZ 22.1% Jackson, TN 22.2% Texarkana, TX 22%

Similar median income

Nearest place-level ACS median household incomes outside CA ($51,764 here).

Whitehall, OH $51,759 Cadillac, MI $51,773 Watertown, NY $51,753 Memphis, TN $51,736

Nearby Cities 8

North Auburn, CA 13K Auburn, CA 14K Lincoln, CA 50K Rocklin, CA 61K Granite Bay, CA 20K Linda, CA 18K Olivehurst, CA 14K Roseville, CA 130K
All cities in California → Compare Grass Valley vs North Auburn → All comparisons → Browse all cities

Using Grass Valley'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 Grass Valley 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 Grass Valley 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 (Nevada 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.