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-MADERA-CA · Madera, CA 67,133 pop · income 41st pct · 34 tracts
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 Madera
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Madera on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Waterloo · lowest
56,344
Waterloo · lowest
56,344 median HH income
25.6% of the leader · rank #1
Clyde · near
63,616
Clyde · near
63,616 median HH income
28.9% of the leader · rank #2
Eaton Rapids · near
63,618
Eaton Rapids · near
63,618 median HH income
28.9% of the leader · rank #3
Madera · this city
63,619
Madera · this city
63,619 median HH income
28.9% of the leader · rank #4
Garden City · near
63,625
Garden City · near
63,625 median HH income
28.9% of the leader · rank #5
Oak Grove CDP… · near
63,625
Oak Grove CDP… · near
63,625 median HH income
28.9% of the leader · rank #6
Palo Alto · highest
220,408
Palo Alto · highest
220,408 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 Madera 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: 67,133.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Madera - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Madera lands in the 41st percentile for household income and the 44th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
41st
percentile, household income
70th
percentile, home value
88th
percentile, median rent
44th
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: Madera, CA
Madera is a small city in California, home to 67,133 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Madera brings in $63,619 a year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 21.7%. Typical homes in Madera are valued around $335,900, and the median resident age is 30.4 years. Educational attainment runs 10.3% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 54.3% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 138 residential building permits were authorized in Madera (Slowing), down 19% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Madera reports a comparatively low crime rate: per-100,000 total crime stands at 1571.3 in FBI UCR data, below the national average (a voluntary reporting program, read this as reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). NOAA climate normals record an annual average temperature of 62.3°F with 11.3 inches of precipitation per year.
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. 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 Madera'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 climate and hazard context to population change to work and mobility to comparison shortlist to within-city variation to reported crime to schools and households to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Madera, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, matched public-school count, within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history, local building permits.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Climate and hazard context
What physical conditions frame life in Madera?
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 62.3°F, with 11.3 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.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +2,435 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +3.7% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 138 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 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Madera?
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 Palo Alto (67,231 residents, $220,408 income); Lodi (67,008 residents, $84,402 income); Yorba Linda (67,407 residents, $152,060 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Spring, TX (67,103 residents); Rockville, MD (67,218 residents); Grand Junction, CO (67,027 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.
PlainCities matches 34 Census tracts to this city.
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
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 Madera?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 70.4%. 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
70.4%
Work from home
6.5%
Public transit
0.4%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 25,521 workers age 16+.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Madera?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 1571.3 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 31% 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.
Total reported rate
1571.3
Violent rate
393.5
Property rate
1177.7
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
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 47 public schools within the city match. 10.3% 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
21.7%
Bachelor's degree+
10.3%
Matched public schools
47
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
How far does income reach against housing in Madera?
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 5.3 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 21.7%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
5.3×
Home value
$335,900
Household income
$63,619
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Below median income · poverty 21.7% (High poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
110.7 (US=100)
Highest-decile cost · BEA RPP 2024, California average
F
City profile score · Madera, CA
19/100
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 D
$63,619
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime F
394 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Poverty rate F
21.7%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
10.3%
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.
Madera profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 40/100 (D) · $63,619
Violent crime: 23/100 (F) · 394 /100k
Poverty rate: 10/100 (F) · 21.7%
Bachelor's+ share: 7/100 (F) · 10.3%
Cost of living: 6/100 (F) · 110.7 index
Where Madera sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Madera'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 - Madera highlighted among 10 peers.Read the chart values
Madera, CA (this city): home $335,900, crime 1,571/100k
Rockville, MD : home $658,300, crime 1,674/100k
Grand Junction, CO : home $358,300, crime 3,716/100k
Waterloo, IA : home $150,200, crime 2,921/100k
Delray Beach, FL : home $386,700, crime 3,053/100k
Haverhill, MA : home $426,900, crime 1,335/100k
Palo Alto, CA : home $2,000,000+, crime 3,245/100k
Yorba Linda, CA : home $1,091,700, crime 858/100k
Davis, CA : home $829,000, crime 2,398/100k
Union City, CA : home $1,058,200, crime 2,643/100k
How does Madera compare to other US cities?
Here's how Madera stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income41% higher than other cities
Home value70% pricier than other cities
Median rent88% pricier than other cities
Safety44% 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, Madera ranks #161 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 Madera 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 Madera near the bottom of California's cities
Among the 1,458 California cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Madera ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Madera only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#1,007 of 1,338
25th percentile in California
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,458
0th percentile in California
Median Home Value
#997 of 1,343
26th percentile in California
Poverty Rate
#168 of 1,450
88th percentile in California
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#1,205 of 1,458
17th 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
41st percentile nationally for median household income · 44th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Madera's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Madera'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 Madera's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$335,90030th percentilemore affordable than 30% 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
Madera's home-value-to-income ratio: 5.3×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#13,290 of 15,516
More affordable than 14% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#486 of 750
Mid-size cities (50,000–199,999)
At 5.3×, Madera sits in the pressured band:
national rank #13,290 of 15,516 and #486 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
$63,619Madera, CA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Madera, 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 Madera, CA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)10.3%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)21.7%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)54.3%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
67,133
Median Income
$63,619
Median Home Value
$335,900
Median Age
30.4
Poverty Rate
21.7%
Labor force participation
54.3%
Bachelor's Degree+
10.3%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1571.3
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
393.5
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1177.7
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.
Climate
Avg Temperature
62.3°F
Annual Precipitation
11.3"
Annual Snowfall
0.0"
Schools
Total Schools
47
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Madera's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
66,582 residents
2021
67,535 residents
2022
67,677 residents
2023
68,550 residents
2024
69,082 residents
2025
69,017 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Slowing
Total Permits (2024)
138
housing units authorized
Single-Family
130
detached homes
Multifamily
8
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
2.1
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
171
171
0
$29.3M
2020
323
203
120
$59.0M
2021
251
251
0
$52.2M
2022
289
203
86
$51.5M
2023
139
139
0
$20.9M
2024
138
130
8
$40.8M
Permit volume decreased 19% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
70.4%
Carpool
14.0%
Public Transit
0.4%
Walk
1.4%
Work from Home
6.5%
Other
7.3%
Based on 25,521 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 Madera. 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 Madera 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 Madera sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Madera 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, NOAA Climate Normals, 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.