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Place dossier plate
SheetCA-AVENAL-CA · Avenal, CA 13,441 pop · income 24th 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 Avenal
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Avenal on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Lamont · lowest
34,436
Lamont · lowest
34,436 median HH income
17.8% of the leader · rank #1
Elfers · near
52,979
Elfers · near
52,979 median HH income
27.4% of the leader · rank #2
Avenal · this city
52,986
Avenal · this city
52,986 median HH income
27.5% of the leader · rank #3
Trenton · near
52,986
Trenton · near
52,986 median HH income
27.5% of the leader · rank #4
Eatonton · near
52,989
Eatonton · near
52,989 median HH income
27.5% of the leader · rank #5
Greenville · near
52,991
Greenville · near
52,991 median HH income
27.5% of the leader · rank #6
Trophy Club · highest
193,026
Trophy Club · highest
193,026 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, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Avenal on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. 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: 13,441.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Avenal - the verdict
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Avenal places in the 24th percentile for household income and the 78th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
24th
percentile, household income
49th
percentile, home value
88th
percentile, median rent
78th
percentile, safety
📝 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: Avenal, CA
California's Avenal is a small town, with 13,441 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. The typical household in Avenal brings in $52,986 a year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 16.7%. Home values in Avenal run a median of $224,800, and the median resident age is 32.3 years. 4.4% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 39.6% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 7 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Construction Slowdown), down 59% from five years earlier. Avenal reports a comparatively low crime rate: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 671.2 total incidents per 100,000 residents here, below the national average (agency reporting is voluntary, so this measures reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
California carries a cost-of-living premium: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts California at 110.7 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Well Above Average). A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $2,053 per month statewide. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts California's average monthly utility costs around $275 (state average). Workers in Avenal report an average commute of 30.6 minutes, with 74.2% driving alone and 1.8% working from home. Natural-hazard exposure scores 88.7 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Very High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Avenal'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 comparison shortlist to reported crime to population change to work and mobility to housing and income to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Avenal, city-specific coverage includes local building permits, matched public-school count, annual population history, commute-mode shares, FBI reported-crime rates.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for Avenal?
Within California, the closest population matches are Lake Los Angeles (13,479 residents, $60,999 income); Lamont (13,481 residents, $34,436 income); King City (13,512 residents, $63,090 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Woodinville, WA (13,440 residents); Kilgore, TX (13,444 residents); Palmetto, FL (13,449 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.
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. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Avenal?
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 671.2 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 71% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
The recent population line is broadly flat. That makes the composition of change more important than the headline count: housing turnover, household size, and age structure can shift even when the total barely moves.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +17 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +0.1% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 7 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
What does the journey to work look like in Avenal?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 74.2%. The reported mean trip to work is 30.6 minutes.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Avenal?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 4.2 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 16.7%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
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.
Household income
$52,986
Home value
$224,800
Value / income
4.2×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
The NCES join finds 6 public schools within the city match. 4.4% 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.
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
Matched public schools
6
Bachelor's degree+
4.4%
Poverty estimate
16.7%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Highest-decile cost · BEA RPP 2024, California average
F
City profile score · Avenal, CA
15/100
5 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 F
$52,986
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
16.7%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime F
468 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
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.
Bachelor's+ share F
4.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Avenal profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 24/100 (F) · $52,986
Poverty rate: 19/100 (F) · 16.7%
Violent crime: 18/100 (F) · 468 /100k
Cost of living: 6/100 (F) · 110.7 index
Bachelor's+ share: 0/100 (F) · 4.4%
Where Avenal sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Avenal's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Avenal highlighted among 27 peers.Read the chart values
Avenal, CA (this city): home $224,800, crime 671/100k
Woodinville, WA : home $1,032,900, crime 3,072/100k
Kilgore, TX : home $154,600, crime 2,535/100k
Palmetto, FL : home $256,700, crime 2,386/100k
Trophy Club, TX : home $617,000, crime 410/100k
Harrison, OH : home $221,900, crime 848/100k
King City, CA : home $395,800, crime 978/100k
New York, NY : home $751,700, crime 3,039/100k
Los Angeles, CA : home $879,500, crime 2,212/100k
Chicago, IL : home $315,200, crime 4,012/100k
Houston, TX : home $253,400, crime 5,442/100k
Phoenix, AZ : home $381,900, crime 3,125/100k
Philadelphia, PA : home $232,400, crime 5,457/100k
San Antonio, TX : home $219,700, crime 5,218/100k
San Diego, CA : home $848,500, crime 2,082/100k
Dallas, TX : home $295,300, crime 4,010/100k
San Jose, CA : home $1,187,800, crime 3,195/100k
Austin, TX : home $512,700, crime 3,709/100k
Fort Worth, TX : home $277,300, crime 3,158/100k
Columbus, OH : home $234,500, crime 3,088/100k
Indianapolis, IN : home $207,000, crime 4,214/100k
San Francisco, CA : home $1,380,500, crime 4,526/100k
Seattle, WA : home $912,100, crime 5,783/100k
Denver, CO : home $586,700, crime 5,755/100k
Oklahoma City, OK : home $215,100, crime 3,570/100k
El Paso, TX : home $171,700, crime 1,772/100k
Washington, DC : home $724,600, crime 4,514/100k
How does Avenal compare to other US cities?
Where Avenal sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income24% higher than other cities
Home value49% pricier than other cities
Median rent88% pricier than other cities
Safety78% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
A national percentile can hide a lot of local variation: narrowed to California alone, Avenal ranks #24 of 441 California cities by lowest crime rate - a different, more locally useful comparison than stacking it against the entire country.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Avenal 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 Avenal near the bottom of California's cities
Among the 1,458 California cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Avenal ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Avenal only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#1,148 of 1,338
14th percentile in California
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,458
0th percentile in California
Median Home Value
#1,217 of 1,343
9th percentile in California
Poverty Rate
#253 of 1,450
82nd percentile in California
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#1,353 of 1,458
7th 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
24th percentile nationally for median household income · 78th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Avenal's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Avenal's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Avenal's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$224,800Among the most affordablemore affordable than 51% 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
Avenal's home-value-to-income ratio: 4.2×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#11,364 of 15,516
More affordable than 27% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#2,176 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 4.2×, Avenal sits in the moderate band:
national rank #11,364 of 15,516 and #2,176 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
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
$52,986Avenal, CA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Avenal, 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 Avenal, CA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)4.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)16.7%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)39.6%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
13,441
Median Income
$52,986
Median Home Value
$224,800
Median Age
32.3
Poverty Rate
16.7%
Labor force participation
39.6%
Bachelor's Degree+
4.4%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
671.2
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
468.4
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
202.8
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Schools
Total Schools
6
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Avenal's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
13,462 residents
2021
12,835 residents
2022
13,533 residents
2023
14,115 residents
2024
14,164 residents
2025
13,479 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
7
housing units authorized
Single-Family
7
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
0.5
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
17
17
0
$1.9M
2020
19
19
0
$2.1M
2021
45
45
0
$11.1M
2022
18
18
0
$1.6M
2023
42
42
0
$4.1M
2024
7
7
0
$0.7M
Permit volume decreased 59% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
30.6 minutes
Drive Alone
74.2%
Carpool
17.4%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
2.2%
Work from Home
1.8%
Other
4.4%
Based on 3,855 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 Avenal. 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 Avenal 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 Avenal sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Avenal 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, FBI UCR, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, 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.