Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.
Place dossier plate
SheetCA-EAST-LOS-ANGELES-CA · East Los Angeles, CA 114,617 pop · income 47th 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 East Los Angeles
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest East Los Angeles on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Waterbury · lowest
51,642
Waterbury · lowest
51,642 median HH income
37.1% of the leader · rank #1
Kimmswick · near
68,375
Kimmswick · near
68,375 median HH income
49.1% of the leader · rank #2
East Los Ange… · this city
68,378
East Los Ange… · this city
68,378 median HH income
49.1% of the leader · rank #3
Rossford · near
68,381
Rossford · near
68,381 median HH income
49.1% of the leader · rank #4
Pittsfield · near
68,386
Pittsfield · near
68,386 median HH income
49.1% of the leader · rank #5
Mount Holly S… · near
68,388
Mount Holly S… · near
68,388 median HH income
49.1% of the leader · rank #6
Carlsbad · highest
139,326
Carlsbad · highest
139,326 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 East Los Angeles 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: 114,617.
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, East Los Angeles lands in the 47th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
47th
percentile, household income
90th
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: East Los Angeles, CA
East Los Angeles is a mid-sized U.S. city in California, home to 114,617 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in East Los Angeles brings in $68,378 a year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 13.9%. Home values in East Los Angeles run a median of $613,600, and the median resident age is 34.0 years. Educational attainment runs 10.6% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 58.8% 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: the state registers 110.7 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Well Above Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. 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). 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 East Los Angeles'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 schools and households to work and mobility to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For East Los Angeles, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Comparison shortlist
Which cities make useful reference points for East Los Angeles?
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 Carlsbad (114,500 residents, $139,326 income); Richmond (115,396 residents, $90,038 income); Antioch (115,759 residents, $94,256 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Lowell, MA (114,799 residents); Waterbury, CT (114,356 residents); League City, TX (114,885 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.
What does the education layer cover for East Los Angeles?
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. 10.6% 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 East Los Angeles?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 65.3%. 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. 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.
How far does income reach against housing in East Los Angeles?
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 9.0 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 13.9%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Below median income · poverty 13.9% (High poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
110.7 (US=100)
Highest-decile cost · BEA RPP 2024, California average
F
City profile score · East Los Angeles, CA
24/100
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 D
$68,378
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
13.9%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
10.6%
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).
East Los Angeles profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 47/100 (D) · $68,378
Poverty rate: 25/100 (F) · 13.9%
Bachelor's+ share: 8/100 (F) · 10.6%
Cost of living: 6/100 (F) · 110.7 index
How does East Los Angeles compare to other US cities?
Here's how East Los Angeles stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income47% higher than other cities
Home value90% 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 East Los Angeles 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 East Los Angeles near the bottom of California's cities
Among the 1,458 California cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, East Los Angeles ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares East Los Angeles only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#940 of 1,338
30th percentile in California
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,458
0th percentile in California
Median Home Value
#553 of 1,343
59th percentile in California
Poverty Rate
#331 of 1,450
77th percentile in California
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#1,196 of 1,458
18th 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
47th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How East Los Angeles's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$613,60010th percentilemore affordable than 10% 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
East Los Angeles's home-value-to-income ratio: 9.0×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#15,235 of 15,516
More affordable than 2% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#715 of 750
Mid-size cities (50,000–199,999)
At 9.0×, East Los Angeles sits in the pressured band:
national rank #15,235 of 15,516 and #715 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
$68,378East Los Angeles, CA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context East Los Angeles, 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 East Los Angeles, CA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)10.6%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)13.9%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)58.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
114,617
Median Income
$68,378
Median Home Value
$613,600
Median Age
34.0
Poverty Rate
13.9%
Labor force participation
58.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
10.6%
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
65.3%
Carpool
15.4%
Public Transit
6.8%
Walk
2.6%
Work from Home
7.1%
Other
2.8%
Based on 51,812 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 East Los Angeles. 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 East Los Angeles 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 East Los Angeles sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How East Los Angeles 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.