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Place dossier plate
SheetCA-JACKSON-CA · Jackson, CA 5,061 pop · income 56th 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 Jackson
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Jackson on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Iowa Falls · lowest
53,051
Iowa Falls · lowest
53,051 median HH income
54.4% of the leader · rank #1
Rangely · near
75,044
Rangely · near
75,044 median HH income
77.0% of the leader · rank #2
Newfane · near
75,049
Newfane · near
75,049 median HH income
77.0% of the leader · rank #3
Shoemakersvil… · near
75,050
Shoemakersvil… · near
75,050 median HH income
77.0% of the leader · rank #4
Jackson · this city
75,051
Jackson · this city
75,051 median HH income
77.0% of the leader · rank #5
Plain View · near
75,058
Plain View · near
75,058 median HH income
77.0% of the leader · rank #6
Denair · highest
97,468
Denair · highest
97,468 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 Jackson 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: 5,061.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Jackson - the verdict
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Jackson places in the 56th percentile for household income and the 33rd percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
56th
percentile, household income
80th
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: Jackson, CA
5,061 people live in Jackson, California - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $75,051 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 3.7%. Jackson's housing stock carries a median value of $432,600, and the median resident age is 50.2 years. 20.0% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 45.5% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 1 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Construction Slowdown), down 95% from five years earlier. Crime here tracks close to the national norm: FBI UCR figures show 1950.9 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. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $2,053 monthly. 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 Jackson'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 reported crime to housing and income to comparison shortlist to population change to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Jackson, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history, matched public-school count, commute-mode shares, 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.
1. Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Jackson?
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.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 81.0%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Jackson?
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.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 1950.9 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Jackson?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 5.8 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 3.7%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Jackson?
Within California, the closest population matches are Running Springs (5,043 residents, $85,681 income); Big Bear Lake (5,038 residents, $74,728 income); Denair (5,085 residents, $97,468 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Iowa Falls, IA (5,062 residents); Savannah, MO (5,062 residents); Sheridan, AR (5,063 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.
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.
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.
Population change
Is Jackson growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +110 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +2.2% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 1 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Period change
+2.2%
2025 estimate
5,100
2020 estimate
4,990
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
The NCES join finds 6 public schools within the city match. 20.0% 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.
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.
Matched public schools
6
Bachelor's degree+
20.0%
Poverty estimate
3.7%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Above median income · poverty 3.7% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
110.7 (US=100)
Highest-decile cost · BEA RPP 2024, California average
F
City profile score · Jackson, CA
38/100
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.
Poverty rate B
3.7%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income C
$75,051
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
20.0%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime F
483 /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.
Jackson profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 74/100 (B) · 3.7%
Household income: 55/100 (C) · $75,051
Bachelor's+ share: 34/100 (F) · 20.0%
Violent crime: 17/100 (F) · 483 /100k
Cost of living: 6/100 (F) · 110.7 index
Where Jackson sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Jackson'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 - Jackson highlighted among 8 peers.Read the chart values
Jackson, CA (this city): home $432,600, crime 1,951/100k
Iowa Falls, IA : home $106,300, crime 1,769/100k
Savannah, MO : home $143,100, crime 591/100k
Sheridan, AR : home $182,300, crime 1,652/100k
Clarks Summit, PA : home $236,900, crime 518/100k
Tallassee, AL : home $138,600, crime 7,444/100k
Lakeport, CA : home $327,600, crime 2,998/100k
Buellton, CA : home $704,200, crime 1,418/100k
How does Jackson compare to other US cities?
Here's how Jackson stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income56% higher than other cities
Home value80% 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.
National percentiles can mask local variation. Looking only at California, Jackson ranks #231 of 441 California cities by lowest crime rate - a narrower, more locally useful cut than the national comparison above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Jackson 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 Jackson near the bottom of California's cities
Among the 1,458 California cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Jackson ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Jackson only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#850 of 1,338
36th percentile in California
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,458
0th percentile in California
Median Home Value
#814 of 1,343
39th percentile in California
Poverty Rate
#974 of 1,450
32nd percentile in California
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#902 of 1,458
38th 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
56th percentile nationally for median household income · 33rd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Jackson's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Jackson'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 Jackson's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$432,60020th percentilemore affordable than 20% 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
Jackson's home-value-to-income ratio: 5.8×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#13,879 of 15,516
More affordable than 11% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#10,330 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 5.8×, Jackson sits in the pressured band:
national rank #13,879 of 15,516 and #10,330 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
$75,051Jackson, CA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Jackson, 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 Jackson, CA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)20.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)3.7%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)45.5%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
5,061
Median Income
$75,051
Median Home Value
$432,600
Median Age
50.2
Poverty Rate
3.7%
Labor force participation
45.5%
Bachelor's Degree+
20.0%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1950.9
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
482.9
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1468.0
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
6
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Jackson's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
4,990 residents
2021
5,033 residents
2022
5,076 residents
2023
5,093 residents
2024
5,076 residents
2025
5,100 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
1
housing units authorized
Single-Family
1
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
0.2
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
22
22
0
$9.2M
2020
3
3
0
$0.6M
2021
2
2
0
$0.5M
2022
12
12
0
$2.4M
2023
4
4
0
$0.8M
2024
1
1
0
$0.7M
Permit volume decreased 95% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
81.0%
Carpool
8.7%
Public Transit
0.4%
Walk
4.8%
Work from Home
3.8%
Other
1.3%
Based on 1,993 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 Jackson. 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 Jackson 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 Jackson sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Jackson 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.