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-LAKE-OF-THE-PINES-CA · Lake of the Pines, CA 5,012 pop · income 87th 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 Lake of the Pines
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Lake of the Pines on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Alva · lowest
41,728
Alva · lowest
41,728 median HH income
35.2% of the leader · rank #1
West Point · near
118,660
West Point · near
118,660 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #2
Lake of the P… · this city
118,661
Lake of the P… · this city
118,661 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #3
Keowee Key · near
118,668
Keowee Key · near
118,668 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #4
Hasbrouck Hei… · near
118,670
Hasbrouck Hei… · near
118,670 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #5
Prairiewood · near
118,681
Prairiewood · near
118,681 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #6
Sorgho · highest
118,688
Sorgho · highest
118,688 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 Lake of the Pines 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: 5,012.
Lake of the Pines ranks in the 87th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
87th
percentile, household income
91st
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: Lake of the Pines, CA
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 5,012 residents in Lake of the Pines, a small town within California. Lake of the Pines households earn a median of $118,661 annually, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 3.1%. Lake of the Pines's housing stock carries a median value of $639,400, and the median resident age is 54.4 years. About 40.5% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 50.5% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
California carries a cost-of-living premium: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts California at 110.7 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Well Above Average). 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). 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 Lake of the Pines'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 housing and income to comparison shortlist to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Lake of the Pines, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history, within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
How far does income reach against housing in Lake of the Pines?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 5.4 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 3.1%, 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 Lake of the Pines?
Within California, the closest population matches are Sunnyside (5,003 residents, $114,500 income); Lake San Marcos (4,996 residents, $100,676 income); Myrtletown (5,028 residents, $55,543 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Byram, CT (5,011 residents); Dodgeville, WI (5,013 residents); Swoyersville, PA (5,014 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Lake of the Pines?
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.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 72.7%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Highest-decile cost · BEA RPP 2024, California average
C+
City profile score · Lake of the Pines, CA
62/100
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
$118,661
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate B+
3.1%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share B+
40.5%
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).
Lake of the Pines profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 85/100 (A) · $118,661
Poverty rate: 78/100 (B+) · 3.1%
Bachelor's+ share: 76/100 (B+) · 40.5%
Cost of living: 6/100 (F) · 110.7 index
How does Lake of the Pines compare to other US cities?
Where Lake of the Pines sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income87% higher than other cities
Home value91% 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 Lake of the Pines 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 Lake of the Pines near the bottom of California's cities
Among the 1,458 California cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Lake of the Pines ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Lake of the Pines only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#337 of 1,338
75th percentile in California
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,458
0th percentile in California
Median Home Value
#527 of 1,343
61st percentile in California
Poverty Rate
#1,027 of 1,450
29th percentile in California
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#413 of 1,458
72nd 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
87th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Lake of the Pines's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$639,4009th percentilemore affordable than 9% 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
Lake of the Pines's home-value-to-income ratio: 5.4×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#13,431 of 15,516
More affordable than 13% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#10,066 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 5.4×, Lake of the Pines sits in the pressured band:
national rank #13,431 of 15,516 and #10,066 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
$118,661Lake of the Pines, CA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Lake of the Pines, 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 Lake of the Pines, CA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)40.5%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)3.1%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)50.5%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
5,012
Median Income
$118,661
Median Home Value
$639,400
Median Age
54.4
Poverty Rate
3.1%
Labor force participation
50.5%
Bachelor's Degree+
40.5%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
72.7%
Carpool
5.2%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.7%
Work from Home
19.4%
Other
2.0%
Based on 2,031 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 Lake of the Pines. 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 Lake of the Pines 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 Lake of the Pines sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Lake of the Pines 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, 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.