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Place dossier plate
SheetCA-ALTA-CA · Alta, CA 740 pop · income 74th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Alta
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Alta on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
North Haverhi… · lowest
55,192
North Haverhi… · lowest
55,192 median HH income
41.5% of the leader · rank #1
Center City · near
94,712
Center City · near
94,712 median HH income
71.3% of the leader · rank #2
Park · near
94,716
Park · near
94,716 median HH income
71.3% of the leader · rank #3
Alta · this city
94,718
Alta · this city
94,718 median HH income
71.3% of the leader · rank #4
Bradley Beach · near
94,722
Bradley Beach · near
94,722 median HH income
71.3% of the leader · rank #5
Sonterra · near
94,728
Sonterra · near
94,728 median HH income
71.3% of the leader · rank #6
Mi-Wuk · highest
132,870
Mi-Wuk · highest
132,870 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Alta on ACS population and median household income
. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 740.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Alta places in the 74th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
74th
percentile, household income
83rd
percentile, home value
88th
percentile, median rent
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Alta, CA
Alta is a small town in California, home to 740 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Alta households earn a median of $94,718 annually, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 3.9%. Alta's housing stock carries a median value of $468,200, and the median resident age is 46.8 years. Educational attainment runs 35.1% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 60.5% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The city is served by 1 public schools according to NCES Common Core of Data.
California carries a cost-of-living premium: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, California scores 110.7 (Well Above Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $2,053 per month statewide. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in California run around $275, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. Commute times here average 31.3 minutes, with 61.5% driving alone and 33.2% working from home, per Census ACS commuting data. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 88.7 out of 100 (Very High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Alta's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from housing and income to schools and households to work and mobility to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Alta, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles, annual population history; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Alta?
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 4.9 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 3.9%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
The matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 35.1% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 61.5%. The reported mean trip to work is 31.3 minutes.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
Which cities make useful reference points for Alta?
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.
Within California, the closest population matches are Deer Park (740 residents, $108,261 income); Mi-Wuk (743 residents, $132,870 income); Wallace (743 residents, $113,462 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are New Site, AL (740 residents); Ponemah, MN (740 residents); Batavia, MT (740 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Above median income · poverty 3.9% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
110.7 (US=100)
Highest-decile cost · BEA RPP 2024, California average
C
City profile score · Alta, CA
55/100
4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Household income B
$94,718
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate B
3.9%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share B-
35.1%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Cost of living F
110.7 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Alta profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 74/100 (B) · $94,718
Poverty rate: 72/100 (B) · 3.9%
Bachelor's+ share: 67/100 (B-) · 35.1%
Cost of living: 6/100 (F) · 110.7 index
How does Alta compare to other US cities?
Alta measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income74% higher than other cities
Home value83% pricier than other cities
Median rent88% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Alta against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to California only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
California-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Alta near the bottom of California's cities
Among the 1,458 California cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Alta ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Alta only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#574 of 1,338
57th percentile in California
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,458
0th percentile in California
Median Home Value
#742 of 1,343
45th percentile in California
Poverty Rate
#955 of 1,450
34th percentile in California
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#522 of 1,458
64th percentile in California
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within California only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
74th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Alta's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$468,20017th percentilemore affordable than 17% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. 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 ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Alta's home-value-to-income ratio: 4.9×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#12,795 of 15,516
More affordable than 18% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#9,700 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 4.9×, Alta sits in the moderate band:
national rank #12,795 of 15,516 and #9,700 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$94,718Alta, CA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Alta, CA median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Alta, CA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)35.1%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)3.9%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)60.5%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
740
Median Income
$94,718
Median Home Value
$468,200
Median Age
46.8
Poverty Rate
3.9%
Labor force participation
60.5%
Bachelor's Degree+
35.1%
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
31.3 minutes
Drive Alone
61.5%
Carpool
5.4%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
33.2%
Based on 392 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
California statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $275
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across California at $275 (electricity about $150 , water and sewer about $70 ).
These are California statewide averages, not a meter reading for Alta. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
California's BEA cost-of-living index is 110.7 (Well Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Alta is $2,053/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to California statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 88.7 / 100 (Very High).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a California statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Alta sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Alta compares to similar-size California cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, NCES CCD, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.