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Place dossier plate
SheetCA-CARMEL-VALLEY-CA · Carmel Valley, CA 4,435 pop · income 96th 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 Carmel Valley
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Carmel Valley on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Oasis · lowest
36,553
Oasis · lowest
36,553 median HH income
14.6% of the leader · rank #1
Carmel Valley · this city
164,167
Carmel Valley · this city
164,167 median HH income
65.7% of the leader · rank #2
Plattsville · near
164,219
Plattsville · near
164,219 median HH income
65.7% of the leader · rank #3
Bethany · near
164,315
Bethany · near
164,315 median HH income
65.7% of the leader · rank #4
North New Hyd… · near
164,340
North New Hyd… · near
164,340 median HH income
65.7% of the leader · rank #5
Highland · near
164,459
Highland · near
164,459 median HH income
65.8% of the leader · rank #6
Emerald Lake… · highest
250,001
Emerald Lake… · highest
250,001 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 Carmel Valley 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: 4,435.
Nationally, Carmel Valley sits in the 96th percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.
96th
percentile, household income
98th
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: Carmel Valley, CA
4,435 people live in Carmel Valley, California - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Carmel Valley brings in $164,167 a year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 4.3%. Carmel Valley's housing stock carries a median value of $1,155,800, and the median resident age is 57.1 years. 60.9% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 53.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
NOAA climate normals record an annual average temperature of 58.3°F with 17.9 inches of precipitation per year.
California carries a cost-of-living premium: the state registers 110.7 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Well Above Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $2,053 per month statewide. Monthly utility costs average around $275 across California, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. 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 Carmel Valley'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 schools and households to work and mobility to climate and hazard context to housing and income to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Carmel Valley, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, annual population history, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Carmel Valley?
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. 60.9% 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Carmel Valley?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 59.1%. 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. 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.
What physical conditions frame life in Carmel Valley?
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 58.3°F, with 17.9 inches of precipitation. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for California is 88.7 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
Which cities make useful reference points for Carmel Valley?
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 Mojave (4,442 residents, $50,800 income); Oasis (4,455 residents, $36,553 income); Broadmoor (4,467 residents, $161,572 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Greenville, KY (4,435 residents); Arabi, LA (4,436 residents); Vandercook Lake, MI (4,434 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.
Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Carmel Valley?
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 7.0 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 4.3%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
7.0×
Home value
$1,155,800
Household income
$164,167
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Top-decile income · poverty 4.3% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
110.7 (US=100)
Highest-decile cost · BEA RPP 2024, California average
B-
City profile score · Carmel Valley, CA
68/100
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 A+
$164,167
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share A+
60.9%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate B
4.3%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better 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.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Carmel Valley profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 100/100 (A+) · $164,167
Bachelor's+ share: 92/100 (A+) · 60.9%
Poverty rate: 70/100 (B) · 4.3%
Cost of living: 6/100 (F) · 110.7 index
How does Carmel Valley compare to other US cities?
Where Carmel Valley sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income96% higher than other cities
Home value98% 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 Carmel Valley 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 Carmel Valley near the bottom of California's cities
Among the 1,458 California cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Carmel Valley ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Carmel Valley only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#132 of 1,338
90th percentile in California
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,458
0th percentile in California
Median Home Value
#175 of 1,343
87th percentile in California
Poverty Rate
#915 of 1,450
36th percentile in California
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#165 of 1,458
89th 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
96th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Carmel Valley's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$1,155,8002nd percentilemore affordable than 2% 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
Carmel Valley's home-value-to-income ratio: 7.0×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#14,684 of 15,516
More affordable than 5% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#10,807 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 7.0×, Carmel Valley sits in the pressured band:
national rank #14,684 of 15,516 and #10,807 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
$164,167Carmel Valley, CA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Carmel Valley, 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 Carmel Valley, CA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)60.9%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)4.3%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)53.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
4,435
Median Income
$164,167
Median Home Value
$1,155,800
Median Age
57.1
Poverty Rate
4.3%
Labor force participation
53.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
60.9%
Climate
Avg Temperature
58.3°F
Annual Precipitation
17.9"
Annual Snowfall
N/A
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
59.1%
Carpool
5.1%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
1.1%
Work from Home
34.7%
Based on 1,953 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 Carmel Valley. 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 Carmel Valley 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 Carmel Valley sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Carmel Valley 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, NOAA Climate Normals, 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.