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Place dossier plate
SheetCA-MCFARLAND-CA · McFarland, CA 14,138 pop · income 22nd 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 McFarland
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest McFarland on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Grass Valley · lowest
48,850
Grass Valley · lowest
48,850 median HH income
19.5% of the leader · rank #1
Paris · near
51,798
Paris · near
51,798 median HH income
20.7% of the leader · rank #2
Castalia · near
51,798
Castalia · near
51,798 median HH income
20.7% of the leader · rank #3
Hereford · near
51,799
Hereford · near
51,799 median HH income
20.7% of the leader · rank #4
Oak Hill · near
51,799
Oak Hill · near
51,799 median HH income
20.7% of the leader · rank #5
McFarland · this city
51,801
McFarland · this city
51,801 median HH income
20.7% of the leader · rank #6
Alamo · highest
250,001
Alamo · highest
250,001 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 McFarland 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: 14,138.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
McFarland - the verdict
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, McFarland places in the 22nd percentile for household income and the 56th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
22nd
percentile, household income
55th
percentile, home value
88th
percentile, median rent
56th
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: McFarland, CA
14,138 people live in McFarland, California - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $51,801 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 24.9%. Typical homes in McFarland are valued around $245,500, and the median resident age is 26.7 years. About 4.1% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 54.6% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 76 residential building permits were authorized in McFarland (Building Boom), up 850% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. McFarland reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR figures show 1199.3 crimes per 100,000 residents, below 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: 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. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in California run around $275, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. 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 McFarland'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 housing and income to comparison shortlist to reported crime to schools and households to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For McFarland, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, matched public-school count, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, commute-mode shares.
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 McFarland growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +536 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +3.8% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 76 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.
How far does income reach against housing in McFarland?
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 4.7 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 24.9%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Which cities make useful reference points for McFarland?
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 Grass Valley (14,126 residents, $48,850 income); Mill Valley (14,064 residents, $208,466 income); East Rancho Dominguez (14,219 residents, $67,645 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Fergus Falls, MN (14,138 residents); Braselton, GA (14,139 residents); Lone Tree, CO (14,136 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 can the FBI record say about safety in McFarland?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 1199.3 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 47% 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.
Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for McFarland?
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 7 public schools within the city match. 4.1% 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
24.9%
Bachelor's degree+
4.1%
Matched public schools
7
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
What does the journey to work look like in McFarland?
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
3.9%
Public transit
0.0%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 5,107 workers age 16+.
Low income · poverty 24.9% (Highest-decile poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
110.7 (US=100)
Highest-decile cost · BEA RPP 2024, California average
F
City profile score · McFarland, CA
12/100
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 F
$51,801
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime F
421 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Poverty rate F
24.9%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better 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.
Bachelor's+ share F
4.1%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
McFarland profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 23/100 (F) · $51,801
Violent crime: 21/100 (F) · 421 /100k
Poverty rate: 6/100 (F) · 24.9%
Cost of living: 6/100 (F) · 110.7 index
Bachelor's+ share: 0/100 (F) · 4.1%
Where McFarland sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
McFarland'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 - McFarland highlighted among 9 peers.Read the chart values
McFarland, CA (this city): home $245,500, crime 1,199/100k
Fergus Falls, MN : home $173,300, crime 2,569/100k
Braselton, GA : home $425,900, crime 788/100k
Lone Tree, CO : home $819,800, crime 11,414/100k
Circleville, OH : home $182,400, crime 1,983/100k
Chicago Ridge, IL : home $217,800, crime 2,079/100k
Grass Valley, CA : home $458,400, crime 2,687/100k
Mill Valley, CA : home $2,000,000+, crime 1,098/100k
Livingston, CA : home $339,800, crime 1,779/100k
How does McFarland compare to other US cities?
Where McFarland sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income22% higher than other cities
Home value55% pricier than other cities
Median rent88% pricier than other cities
Safety56% 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, McFarland ranks #99 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 McFarland 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 McFarland near the bottom of California's cities
Among the 1,458 California cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, McFarland ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares McFarland only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#1,164 of 1,338
13th percentile in California
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,458
0th percentile in California
Median Home Value
#1,166 of 1,343
13th percentile in California
Poverty Rate
#132 of 1,450
91st percentile in California
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#1,361 of 1,458
6th 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
22nd percentile nationally for median household income · 56th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
McFarland's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
McFarland'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 McFarland's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$245,50045th percentilemore affordable than 45% 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
McFarland's home-value-to-income ratio: 4.7×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#12,447 of 15,516
More affordable than 20% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#2,485 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 4.7×, McFarland sits in the moderate band:
national rank #12,447 of 15,516 and #2,485 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
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
$51,801McFarland, CA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context McFarland, 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 McFarland, CA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)4.1%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)24.9%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)54.6%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
14,138
Median Income
$51,801
Median Home Value
$245,500
Median Age
26.7
Poverty Rate
24.9%
Labor force participation
54.6%
Bachelor's Degree+
4.1%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1199.3
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
421.2
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
778.1
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
7
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
McFarland's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
14,173 residents
2021
14,234 residents
2022
14,153 residents
2023
14,194 residents
2024
14,464 residents
2025
14,709 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
76
housing units authorized
Single-Family
76
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
5.4
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
8
8
0
$0.9M
2020
6
6
0
$1.3M
2021
2
2
0
$0.6M
2022
101
21
80
$12.3M
2023
98
98
0
$45.0M
2024
76
76
0
$24.9M
Permit volume increased 850% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
74.6%
Carpool
16.8%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
4.3%
Work from Home
3.9%
Based on 5,107 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 McFarland. 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 McFarland 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 McFarland sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How McFarland 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.