City profile · California · Census ACS 2023

Bret Harte, CA

Bret Harte's Census ACS profile: residents, income, housing, and the joined public-record layers available for this place.

4,807
Residents
$42,422
Median income
$289,300
Median home
$2,053
Median rent (state)
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See how it ranks

State rank, size-class rank, and four peer cities for Bret Harte.

Place dossier plate

Sheet CA-BRET-HARTE-CA · Bret Harte, CA 4,807 pop · income 10th pct

POP-VILLAGE · INC-LOW · COL-ABOVE · SAFE-UNK · RANK-BOTTOM · PHOTO-FINISH · HOME-MID · BOOK-UNK

  • POP-VILLAGE 4,807
  • INC-LOW $42,422
  • COL-ABOVE 110.7
  • SAFE-UNK Safety pending
  • RANK-BOTTOM 10th
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Parkersburg
  • HOME-MID $289,300
  • BOOK-UNK Tracts pending

Nearest income peer: Parkersburg, IL ( $5 income $)

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 Bret Harte

Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Bret Harte on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.

median HH income

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.

Source U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 5-Year Estimates As of 2026-08-08

Compare beyond this state

Nationwide peers by population, income

Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Bret Harte 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: 4,807.

4 peers

Similar household income

Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS median household income. This city: $42,422. Population peers are excluded.

4 peers

Bret Harte - the verdict

Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Bret Harte lands in the 10th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.

10th
percentile, household income
63rd
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: Bret Harte, CA

4,807 people live in Bret Harte, California - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in Bret Harte report a median income of $42,422 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 42.4%. Bret Harte's housing stock carries a median value of $289,300, and the median resident age is 23.5 years. About 1.8% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 50.7% of working-age residents are in the labor force.

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. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $2,053 per month. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts California's average monthly utility costs around $275 (state average). On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 88.7 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Very High).

A decision-led reading path

Useful questions to ask of Bret Harte'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 work and mobility to comparison shortlist to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.

For Bret Harte, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares. No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles, annual population history, local building permits, matched public-school count; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.

Question 1

What does the journey to work look like in Bret Harte?

Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 85.4%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.

Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. The profile is strongly car-oriented, so a relocation comparison should put trip distance, vehicle access, and household fuel costs ahead of a citywide commute average. The same-state peer links offer a more relevant benchmark than a national label.

Compare commute patterns →

2. Comparison shortlist

Which cities make useful reference points for Bret Harte?

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 Indian Wells (4,830 residents, $145,313 income); Needles (4,882 residents, $39,876 income); Mather (4,729 residents, $140,941 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Ipswich, MA (4,806 residents); Reedurban, OH (4,808 residents); Flourtown, PA (4,810 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.

Open a side-by-side comparison →

3. Housing and income

How far does income reach against housing in Bret Harte?

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 6.8 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 42.4%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.

Compare the housing trade-off →

Population

4,807 residents

Micro place (under 10k)

Median Household Income

$42,422 /yr

Low income · poverty 42.4% (Highest-decile poverty)

Cost of Living Index (state)

110.7 (US=100)

Highest-decile cost · BEA RPP 2024, California average

City profile score · Bret Harte, CA

5/100

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 F
$42,422

Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); 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.

Poverty rate F
42.4%

Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.

Bachelor's+ share F
1.8%

Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.

Violent crime N/A
N/A

No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).

Bret Harte profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions) 4-axis radar comparing 1 series across Household income, Cost of living, Poverty rate, Bachelor's+ share. Household incomeCost of livingPoverty rateBachelor's+ share 5 F
Bret Harte profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)
Read the chart values
  • Household income: 10/100 (F) · $42,422
  • Cost of living: 6/100 (F) · 110.7 index
  • Poverty rate: 0/100 (F) · 42.4%
  • Bachelor's+ share: 0/100 (F) · 1.8%

How does Bret Harte compare to other US cities?

Here's how Bret Harte stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.

Household income 10% higher than other cities
Home value 63% pricier than other cities
Median rent 88% 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 Bret Harte 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 Bret Harte near the bottom of California's cities

Among the 1,458 California cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Bret Harte ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Bret Harte only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.

Median Household Income
#1,261 of 1,338
6th percentile in California
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,458
0th percentile in California
Median Home Value
#1,074 of 1,343
20th percentile in California
Poverty Rate
#34 of 1,450
98th percentile in California
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#1,401 of 1,458
4th 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.

10thIncome percentile
Gauge source note

10th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.

How Bret Harte's home value compares nationally

Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)

$289,300 37th percentile more affordable than 37% of 15,600 US cities

Show national distribution $0–$25,000: 5 US cities (0%). Below this entry. $25,000–$50,000: 54 US cities (0%). Below this entry. $50,000–$75,000: 352 US cities (2%). Below this entry. $75,000–$100,000: 1,086 US cities (7%). Below this entry. $100,000–$125,000: 1,516 US cities (10%). Below this entry. $125,000–$150,000: 1,170 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $150,000–$175,000: 1,278 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $175,000–$200,000: 1,229 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $200,000–$225,000: 1,035 US cities (7%). Below this entry. $225,000–$250,000: 976 US cities (6%). Below this entry. $250,000–$275,000: 754 US cities (5%). Below this entry. $275,000–$300,000: 712 US cities (5%). This entry sits in this band. $300,000–$325,000: 521 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $325,000–$350,000: 526 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $350,000–$375,000: 465 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $375,000–$400,000: 393 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $400,000–$425,000: 317 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $425,000–$450,000: 300 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $450,000–$475,000: 307 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $475,000–$500,000: 250 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $500,000–$525,000: 160 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $525,000–$550,000: 156 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $550,000–$575,000: 172 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $575,000–$600,000: 172 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $600,000–$625,000: 163 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $625,000–$650,000: 167 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $650,000–$675,000: 135 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $675,000–$700,000: 101 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $700,000–$725,000: 95 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $725,000–$750,000: 71 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $750,000–$775,000: 65 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $775,000–$800,000: 70 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $800,000–$825,000: 57 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $825,000–$850,000: 67 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $850,000–$875,000: 60 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $875,000–$900,000: 58 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $900,000–$925,000: 47 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $925,000–$950,000: 37 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $950,000–$975,000: 31 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $975,000–$1,000,000: 470 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $1,000,000–$1,025,000: 0 US cities (0%). Above this entry. Bret Harte $0 $1,025,000 every US city, bucketed by value

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

Bret Harte's home-value-to-income ratio: 6.8×

ACS median home value divided by median household income.

Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#14,594 of 15,516
More affordable than 6% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#10,758 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)

At 6.8×, Bret Harte sits in the pressured band: national rank #14,594 of 15,516 and #10,758 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000). Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median, a comparison flag, not a verdict on any household.

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

$42,422 Bret Harte, CA median household income (Census ACS)

Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Household income distribution - Bret Harte, CA Bret Harte, CA's median household income ($42,422) against the U.S. national quintile-share pattern. The Lorenz curve and quintile bars are national context, not Bret Harte, CA-specific shares. $ Household Income Distribution Bret Harte, CA median $42,422/yr, vs. U.S. national quintile pattern QUINTILE SHARE OF AGGREGATE INCOME Lowest 20% 3.4% Second 20% 9.2% Middle 20% 15.1% Fourth 20% 23.2% Top 20% 49.1% LORENZ CURVE cumulative income vs. population 100% 0% 100% pop. 0%
Bret Harte, 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 Bret Harte, CA.

Key socioeconomic indicators

Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+) 1.8%

Census ACS S1501, educational attainment

Poverty rate (households below FPL) 42.4%

Census ACS S1701, poverty status

Labor force participation (adults 16+) 50.7%

Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force

Population
4,807
Median Income
$42,422
Median Home Value
$289,300
Median Age
23.5
Poverty Rate
42.4%
Labor force participation
50.7%
Bachelor's Degree+
1.8%

Commute Patterns

Commute source

How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023

Drive Alone
85.4%
Carpool
9.2%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
1.5%
Work from Home
3.4%

Based on 1,402 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 Bret Harte. 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 Bret Harte 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 Bret Harte sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.

How Bret Harte 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.

City Population Median Household Income
Bret Harte (this city) 4,807 $42,422
Indian Wells 4,830 $145,313
Needles 4,882 $39,876
Mather 4,729 $140,941
Primary sources on this page

Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, 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.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Citation & verification links Data sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCities

Primary sources: Census ACS, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES. Joins use OMB Bulletin 23-01 / FIPS keys.

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Estimate caveats

ACS and UCR figures are citywide estimates with vintage lags; they do not replace a local visit, school visit, or insurance quote.

Editorial standards, provenance, and how to cite this page

Every figure on PlainCities is rendered directly from Census ACS source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on Census ACS source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

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