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Place dossier plate
SheetCA-BUENA-PARK-CA · Buena Park, CA 83,052 pop · income 82nd 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 Buena Park
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Buena Park on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Longview · lowest
62,488
Longview · lowest
62,488 median HH income
39.4% of the leader · rank #1
Galt · near
108,173
Galt · near
108,173 median HH income
68.3% of the leader · rank #2
Shalimar · near
108,182
Shalimar · near
108,182 median HH income
68.3% of the leader · rank #3
Wall Lake · near
108,182
Wall Lake · near
108,182 median HH income
68.3% of the leader · rank #4
Buena Park · this city
108,187
Buena Park · this city
108,187 median HH income
68.3% of the leader · rank #5
Minnehaha · near
108,203
Minnehaha · near
108,203 median HH income
68.3% of the leader · rank #6
Newport Beach · highest
158,461
Newport Beach · highest
158,461 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 Buena Park 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: 83,052.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Buena Park - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Buena Park lands in the 82nd percentile for household income and the 21st percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
82nd
percentile, household income
94th
percentile, home value
88th
percentile, median rent
21st
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: Buena Park, CA
Buena Park is a small city in California, home to 83,052 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Buena Park households earn a median of $108,187 annually, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 5.8%. Buena Park's housing stock carries a median value of $771,900, and the median resident age is 37.4 years. 32.1% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 64.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 97 residential building permits were authorized in Buena Park (Active), per Census BPS data. Crime here tracks close to the national norm: FBI UCR figures show 2612.7 crimes per 100,000 residents, near the national average (reporting is voluntary across agencies, so treat this as reporting activity rather than a definitive danger score).
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. Workers in Buena Park report an average commute of 26.1 minutes, with 74.8% driving alone and 9.8% 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 Buena Park'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 population change to housing and income to work and mobility to comparison shortlist to reported crime to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Buena Park, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits.
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
Is Buena Park growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -2,074 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -2.5% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 97 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Recent estimates point downward. A falling count can reflect migration, household size, annexation boundaries, or estimation noise, so it is a prompt to inspect the full series rather than a claim about local economic health.
How far does income reach against housing in Buena Park?
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 7.1 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 5.8%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
What does the journey to work look like in Buena Park?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 74.8%. The reported mean trip to work is 26.1 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. 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Buena Park?
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.
Within California, the closest population matches are Redwood City (82,423 residents, $150,840 income); Folsom (82,140 residents, $139,263 income); Newport Beach (84,304 residents, $158,461 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Cicero, IL (83,223 residents); Warwick, RI (82,871 residents); Farmington Hills, MI (83,316 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.
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.
Reported crime
What can the FBI record say about safety in Buena Park?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 2612.7 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 15% higher in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
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.
Total reported rate
2612.7
Violent rate
249.6
Property rate
2363.1
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
What does the education layer cover for Buena Park?
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.
The NCES join finds 14 public schools within the city match. 32.1% 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.
Poverty estimate
5.8%
Bachelor's degree+
32.1%
Matched public schools
14
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Highest-decile cost · BEA RPP 2024, California average
C-
City profile score · Buena Park, CA
51/100
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 A-
$108,187
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share C+
32.1%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate C+
5.8%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime D
250 /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.
Buena Park profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 81/100 (A-) · $108,187
Bachelor's+ share: 62/100 (C+) · 32.1%
Poverty rate: 60/100 (C+) · 5.8%
Violent crime: 40/100 (D) · 250 /100k
Cost of living: 6/100 (F) · 110.7 index
Where Buena Park sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Buena Park'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 - Buena Park highlighted among 12 peers.Read the chart values
Buena Park, CA (this city): home $771,900, crime 2,613/100k
Cicero, IL : home $236,000, crime 1,581/100k
Warwick, RI : home $322,000, crime 1,227/100k
Farmington Hills, MI : home $333,200, crime 879/100k
Longview, TX : home $182,700, crime 2,690/100k
Cranston, RI : home $348,800, crime 1,145/100k
Redwood City, CA : home $1,838,800, crime 2,092/100k
Folsom, CA : home $702,200, crime 1,636/100k
Newport Beach, CA : home $2,000,000+, crime 2,124/100k
Alhambra, CA : home $812,700, crime 2,675/100k
Rancho Cordova, CA : home $451,400, crime 2,538/100k
Lakewood, CA : home $774,100, crime 3,038/100k
How does Buena Park compare to other US cities?
Here's how Buena Park stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income82% higher than other cities
Home value94% pricier than other cities
Median rent88% pricier than other cities
Safety21% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just California and the picture shifts: Buena Park ranks #326 of 441 California cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Buena Park 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 Buena Park near the bottom of California's cities
Among the 1,458 California cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Buena Park ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Buena Park only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#424 of 1,338
68th percentile in California
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,458
0th percentile in California
Median Home Value
#382 of 1,343
72nd percentile in California
Poverty Rate
#775 of 1,450
46th percentile in California
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#578 of 1,458
60th 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
82nd percentile nationally for median household income · 21st percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Buena Park's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Buena Park'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 Buena Park's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$771,9006th percentilemore affordable than 6% 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
Buena Park's home-value-to-income ratio: 7.1×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#14,726 of 15,516
More affordable than 5% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#656 of 750
Mid-size cities (50,000–199,999)
At 7.1×, Buena Park sits in the pressured band:
national rank #14,726 of 15,516 and #656 of 750mid-size cities (50,000–199,999).
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
$108,187Buena Park, CA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Buena Park, 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 Buena Park, CA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)32.1%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)5.8%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)64.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
83,052
Median Income
$108,187
Median Home Value
$771,900
Median Age
37.4
Poverty Rate
5.8%
Labor force participation
64.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
32.1%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
2612.7
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
249.6
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
2363.1
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
14
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Buena Park's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
83,815 residents
2021
82,988 residents
2022
82,477 residents
2023
82,180 residents
2024
82,182 residents
2025
81,741 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Active
Total Permits (2024)
97
housing units authorized
Single-Family
17
detached homes
Multifamily
80
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
1.2
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
0
0
0
-
2020
54
45
9
$12.1M
2021
182
182
0
$53.8M
2022
45
27
18
$10.2M
2023
92
26
66
$18.2M
2024
97
17
80
$20.3M
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
26.1 minutes
Drive Alone
74.8%
Carpool
11.7%
Public Transit
1.4%
Walk
0.7%
Work from Home
9.8%
Other
1.6%
Based on 41,555 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 Buena Park. 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 Buena Park 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 Buena Park sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Buena Park 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.