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-NATIONAL-CITY-CA · National City, CA 55,960 pop · income 42nd 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 National City
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest National City on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Port Arthur · lowest
45,752
Port Arthur · lowest
45,752 median HH income
39.4% of the leader · rank #1
National City · this city
64,248
National City · this city
64,248 median HH income
55.3% of the leader · rank #2
Dagsboro · near
64,250
Dagsboro · near
64,250 median HH income
55.3% of the leader · rank #3
Mason City · near
64,250
Mason City · near
64,250 median HH income
55.3% of the leader · rank #4
Kingsville · near
64,250
Kingsville · near
64,250 median HH income
55.3% of the leader · rank #5
Flushing · near
64,250
Flushing · near
64,250 median HH income
55.3% 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 National City 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: 55,960.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
National City - the verdict
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, National City places in the 42nd percentile for household income and the 20th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
42nd
percentile, household income
88th
percentile, home value
88th
percentile, median rent
20th
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: National City, CA
California's National City is a small city, with 55,960 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. The typical household in National City brings in $64,248 a year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 12.6%. Home values in National City run a median of $580,900, and the median resident age is 36.6 years. 16.9% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 57.2% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 4 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Construction Slowdown), down 98% from five years earlier. Crime here tracks close to the national norm: per-100,000 total crime stands at 2635.0 in FBI UCR data, near the national average (a voluntary reporting program, read this as reporting activity, not 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). 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 National City'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 schools and households to housing and income to work and mobility to reported crime; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For National City, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, commute-mode shares, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history.
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 National City growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -3,647 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -5.9% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 4 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 National City?
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 Fountain Valley (56,358 residents, $111,797 income); Arcadia (55,550 residents, $116,142 income); Highland (56,690 residents, $77,979 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are DeSoto, TX (55,896 residents); Berwyn, IL (55,888 residents); Kingsport, TN (55,807 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 does the education layer cover for National City?
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 15 public schools within the city match. 16.9% 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.
How far does income reach against housing in National City?
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 9.0 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 12.6%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
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 National City?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 70.3%. 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
70.3%
Work from home
6.2%
Public transit
3.8%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 26,013 workers age 16+.
What can the FBI record say about safety in National City?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 2635.0 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 16% higher 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
2635.0
Violent rate
695.6
Property rate
1939.4
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
Below median income · poverty 12.6% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
110.7 (US=100)
Highest-decile cost · BEA RPP 2024, California average
F
City profile score · National City, CA
22/100
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
$64,248
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
12.6%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
16.9%
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 F
696 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
National City profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 41/100 (D) · $64,248
Poverty rate: 29/100 (F) · 12.6%
Bachelor's+ share: 25/100 (F) · 16.9%
Cost of living: 6/100 (F) · 110.7 index
Violent crime: 6/100 (F) · 696 /100k
Where National City sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
National City'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 - National City highlighted among 11 peers.Read the chart values
National City, CA (this city): home $580,900, crime 2,635/100k
DeSoto, TX : home $282,600, crime 1,969/100k
Berwyn, IL : home $286,000, crime 1,252/100k
Kingsport, TN : home $203,000, crime 3,401/100k
Port Arthur, TX : home $96,900, crime 2,258/100k
New Brunswick, NJ : home $316,800, crime 3,325/100k
Apopka, FL : home $364,300, crime 2,748/100k
Fountain Valley, CA : home $1,018,600, crime 1,963/100k
Arcadia, CA : home $1,336,500, crime 3,051/100k
Highland, CA : home $455,200, crime 1,858/100k
Beaumont, CA : home $464,000, crime 1,222/100k
How does National City compare to other US cities?
National City measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income42% higher than other cities
Home value88% pricier than other cities
Median rent88% pricier than other cities
Safety20% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just California and the picture shifts: National City ranks #331 of 441 California cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares National City 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 National City near the bottom of California's cities
Among the 1,458 California cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, National City ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares National City only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#996 of 1,338
26th percentile in California
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,458
0th percentile in California
Median Home Value
#607 of 1,343
55th percentile in California
Poverty Rate
#378 of 1,450
74th percentile in California
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#986 of 1,458
32nd 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
42nd percentile nationally for median household income · 20th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
National City's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
National City'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 National City's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$580,90012th percentilemore affordable than 12% 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
National City's home-value-to-income ratio: 9.0×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#15,245 of 15,516
More affordable than 2% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#717 of 750
Mid-size cities (50,000–199,999)
At 9.0×, National City sits in the pressured band:
national rank #15,245 of 15,516 and #717 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
$64,248National City, CA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context National City, 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 National City, CA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)16.9%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)12.6%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)57.2%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
55,960
Median Income
$64,248
Median Home Value
$580,900
Median Age
36.6
Poverty Rate
12.6%
Labor force participation
57.2%
Bachelor's Degree+
16.9%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
2635.0
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
695.6
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1939.4
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
15
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
National City's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
61,454 residents
2021
58,083 residents
2022
58,304 residents
2023
58,031 residents
2024
58,111 residents
2025
57,807 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
4
housing units authorized
Single-Family
4
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
0.1
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
163
14
149
$16.3M
2020
305
6
299
$54.0M
2021
83
13
70
$13.8M
2022
134
23
111
$23.5M
2023
136
59
77
$30.3M
2024
4
4
0
$0.3M
Permit volume decreased 98% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
70.3%
Carpool
14.7%
Public Transit
3.8%
Walk
2.9%
Work from Home
6.2%
Other
2.1%
Based on 26,013 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 National City. 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 National City 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 National City sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How National City 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.