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Place dossier plate
SheetCA-FOUNTAIN-VALLEY-CA · Fountain Valley, CA 56,358 pop · income 84th 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 Fountain Valley
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Fountain Valley on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Bradenton · lowest
60,964
Bradenton · lowest
60,964 median HH income
52.5% of the leader · rank #1
Plymouth · near
111,742
Plymouth · near
111,742 median HH income
96.2% of the leader · rank #2
Atlantis · near
111,750
Atlantis · near
111,750 median HH income
96.2% of the leader · rank #3
North Aurora · near
111,781
North Aurora · near
111,781 median HH income
96.2% of the leader · rank #4
Fountain Vall… · this city
111,797
Fountain Vall… · this city
111,797 median HH income
96.3% of the leader · rank #5
Grasonville · near
111,842
Grasonville · near
111,842 median HH income
96.3% of the leader · rank #6
Arcadia · highest
116,142
Arcadia · highest
116,142 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 Fountain Valley 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: 56,358.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Fountain Valley - the verdict
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Fountain Valley places in the 84th percentile for household income and the 33rd percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
84th
percentile, household income
97th
percentile, home value
88th
percentile, median rent
33rd
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: Fountain Valley, CA
56,358 people live in Fountain Valley, California - a small city by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Fountain Valley households earn a median of $111,797 annually, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 3.8%. Home values in Fountain Valley run a median of $1,018,600, and the median resident age is 43.7 years. 44.9% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 57.0% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 31 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Construction Slowdown), down 76% from five years earlier. Crime here tracks close to the national norm: FBI UCR reporting places total crime at 1962.7 incidents per 100,000 residents, near the national average (voluntary agency reporting, reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
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). 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 Fountain 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 population change to comparison shortlist to housing and income to reported crime to work and mobility to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Fountain Valley, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history, local building permits, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count.
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 Fountain Valley growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -1,469 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -2.6% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 31 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Fountain 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. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
Within California, the closest population matches are Highland (56,690 residents, $77,979 income); National City (55,960 residents, $64,248 income); Arcadia (55,550 residents, $116,142 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Bentonville, AR (56,326 residents); Bradenton, FL (56,289 residents); Smyrna, GA (56,285 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Fountain 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 9.1 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 3.8%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Fountain Valley?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 1962.7 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 14% lower 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.
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.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Fountain Valley?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 74.6%. 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.
Drive alone
74.6%
Work from home
14.6%
Public transit
0.3%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 26,022 workers age 16+.
What does the education layer cover for Fountain Valley?
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. 44.9% 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.
Poverty estimate
3.8%
Bachelor's degree+
44.9%
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 · Fountain Valley, CA
58/100
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-
$111,797
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share B+
44.9%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate B
3.8%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime C-
178 /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.
Fountain Valley profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 82/100 (A-) · $111,797
Bachelor's+ share: 79/100 (B+) · 44.9%
Poverty rate: 73/100 (B) · 3.8%
Violent crime: 51/100 (C-) · 178 /100k
Cost of living: 6/100 (F) · 110.7 index
Where Fountain Valley sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Fountain Valley'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 - Fountain Valley highlighted among 10 peers.Read the chart values
Fountain Valley, CA (this city): home $1,018,600, crime 1,963/100k
Bentonville, AR : home $370,700, crime 1,083/100k
Bradenton, FL : home $282,500, crime 2,315/100k
Smyrna, GA : home $409,000, crime 1,540/100k
Kannapolis, NC : home $245,500, crime 1,953/100k
Sarasota, FL : home $409,700, crime 2,165/100k
Highland, CA : home $455,200, crime 1,858/100k
National City, CA : home $580,900, crime 2,635/100k
Arcadia, CA : home $1,336,500, crime 3,051/100k
Beaumont, CA : home $464,000, crime 1,222/100k
How does Fountain Valley compare to other US cities?
Where Fountain Valley sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income84% higher than other cities
Home value97% pricier than other cities
Median rent88% pricier than other cities
Safety33% 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, Fountain Valley ranks #233 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 Fountain 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 Fountain Valley near the bottom of California's cities
Among the 1,458 California cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Fountain Valley ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Fountain Valley only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#387 of 1,338
71st percentile in California
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,458
0th percentile in California
Median Home Value
#233 of 1,343
83rd percentile in California
Poverty Rate
#963 of 1,450
33rd percentile in California
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#341 of 1,458
77th 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
84th percentile nationally for median household income · 33rd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Fountain Valley's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Fountain Valley'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 Fountain Valley's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$1,018,6003rd percentilemore affordable than 3% 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
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#15,259 of 15,516
More affordable than 2% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#720 of 750
Mid-size cities (50,000–199,999)
At 9.1×, Fountain Valley sits in the pressured band:
national rank #15,259 of 15,516 and #720 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
$111,797Fountain Valley, CA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Fountain 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 Fountain Valley, CA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)44.9%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)3.8%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)57.0%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
56,358
Median Income
$111,797
Median Home Value
$1,018,600
Median Age
43.7
Poverty Rate
3.8%
Labor force participation
57.0%
Bachelor's Degree+
44.9%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1962.7
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
178.3
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1784.4
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
Fountain Valley's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
56,977 residents
2021
56,389 residents
2022
55,931 residents
2023
55,712 residents
2024
55,765 residents
2025
55,508 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
31
housing units authorized
Single-Family
31
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
0.6
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
130
24
106
$22.3M
2020
39
39
0
$6.3M
2021
80
30
50
$18.9M
2022
63
63
0
$22.3M
2023
29
29
0
$10.9M
2024
31
31
0
$14.2M
Permit volume decreased 76% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
74.6%
Carpool
8.5%
Public Transit
0.3%
Walk
0.7%
Work from Home
14.6%
Other
1.3%
Based on 26,022 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 Fountain 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 Fountain 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 Fountain Valley sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Fountain 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, 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.