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Place dossier plate
SheetCA-PORTERVILLE-CA · Porterville, CA 62,765 pop · income 34th pct · 103 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 Porterville
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Porterville on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Bossier City · lowest
55,130
Bossier City · lowest
55,130 median HH income
36.6% of the leader · rank #1
Cohoe · near
59,000
Cohoe · near
59,000 median HH income
39.2% of the leader · rank #2
Floral · near
59,000
Floral · near
59,000 median HH income
39.2% of the leader · rank #3
Porterville · this city
59,012
Porterville · this city
59,012 median HH income
39.2% of the leader · rank #4
Grangeville · near
59,013
Grangeville · near
59,013 median HH income
39.2% of the leader · rank #5
Seneca · near
59,013
Seneca · near
59,013 median HH income
39.2% of the leader · rank #6
Encinitas · highest
150,471
Encinitas · highest
150,471 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 Porterville 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: 62,765.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Porterville - the verdict
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Porterville places in the 34th percentile for household income and the 35th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
34th
percentile, household income
60th
percentile, home value
88th
percentile, median rent
35th
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: Porterville, CA
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 62,765 residents in Porterville, a small city within California. Porterville households earn a median of $59,012 annually, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 14.1%. Porterville's housing stock carries a median value of $273,600, and the median resident age is 31.2 years. Educational attainment runs 14.9% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 55.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 151 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Rapid Growth), up 35% from five years earlier. Crime here tracks close to the national norm: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 1866.7 total incidents per 100,000 residents here, near the national average (agency reporting is voluntary, so this measures reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). The annual average temperature per NOAA climate normals runs 65.7°F with 11.0 inches of precipitation per year.
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. Monthly utility costs average around $275 across California, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. Workers in Porterville report an average commute of 23.1 minutes, with 78.3% driving alone and 2.5% working from home. Natural-hazard exposure scores 88.7 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Very High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Porterville'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 schools and households to comparison shortlist to within-city variation to climate and hazard context 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 Porterville, city-specific coverage includes within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits, annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
Question 1
Is Porterville growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +85 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +0.1% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 151 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
The recent population line is broadly flat. That makes the composition of change more important than the headline count: housing turnover, household size, and age structure can shift even when the total barely moves.
What does the education layer cover for Porterville?
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 32 public schools within the city match. 14.9% 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Porterville?
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 La Habra (62,233 residents, $98,158 income); San Clemente (63,510 residents, $134,735 income); Florence-Graham (61,723 residents, $61,216 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Brookline, MA (62,822 residents); Bossier City, LA (62,832 residents); Council Bluffs, IA (62,564 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 103 Census tracts reveal inside Porterville?
PlainCities matches 103 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.
Climate and hazard context
What physical conditions frame life in Porterville?
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 65.7°F, with 11.0 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.
FEMA risk index (state avg)
88.7
Annual precipitation
11.0 in
Mean temperature
65.7°F
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
How far does income reach against housing in Porterville?
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 4.6 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 14.1%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
4.6×
Home value
$273,600
Household income
$59,012
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
What does the journey to work look like in Porterville?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 78.3%. The reported mean trip to work is 23.1 minutes.
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
78.3%
Work from home
2.5%
Public transit
0.3%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 24,701 workers age 16+.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Porterville?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 1866.7 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 18% 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
1866.7
Violent rate
384.8
Property rate
1481.9
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
Below median income · poverty 14.1% (High poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
110.7 (US=100)
Highest-decile cost · BEA RPP 2024, California average
F
City profile score · Porterville, 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 F
$59,012
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
14.1%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime F
385 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
14.9%
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.
Porterville profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 33/100 (F) · $59,012
Poverty rate: 24/100 (F) · 14.1%
Violent crime: 23/100 (F) · 385 /100k
Bachelor's+ share: 20/100 (F) · 14.9%
Cost of living: 6/100 (F) · 110.7 index
Where Porterville sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Porterville'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 - Porterville highlighted among 12 peers.Read the chart values
Porterville, CA (this city): home $273,600, crime 1,867/100k
Brookline, MA : home $1,233,100, crime 995/100k
Bossier City, LA : home $192,300, crime 4,593/100k
Council Bluffs, IA : home $164,300, crime 2,873/100k
Maricopa, AZ : home $338,600, crime 1,094/100k
Lakewood, WA : home $420,500, crime 4,270/100k
Moore, OK : home $189,300, crime 1,703/100k
La Habra, CA : home $716,700, crime 2,523/100k
San Clemente, CA : home $1,220,500, crime 1,451/100k
Encinitas, CA : home $1,466,000, crime 1,156/100k
Laguna Niguel, CA : home $1,123,000, crime 1,031/100k
Montebello, CA : home $660,700, crime 3,108/100k
How does Porterville compare to other US cities?
Porterville measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income34% higher than other cities
Home value60% pricier than other cities
Median rent88% pricier than other cities
Safety35% 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, Porterville ranks #215 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 Porterville 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 Porterville near the bottom of California's cities
Among the 1,458 California cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Porterville ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Porterville only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#1,069 of 1,338
20th percentile in California
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,458
0th percentile in California
Median Home Value
#1,113 of 1,343
17th percentile in California
Poverty Rate
#320 of 1,450
78th percentile in California
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#1,051 of 1,458
28th 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
34th percentile nationally for median household income · 35th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Porterville's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Porterville'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 Porterville's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$273,60040th percentilemore affordable than 40% 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
Porterville's home-value-to-income ratio: 4.6×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#12,256 of 15,516
More affordable than 21% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#408 of 750
Mid-size cities (50,000–199,999)
At 4.6×, Porterville sits in the moderate band:
national rank #12,256 of 15,516 and #408 of 750mid-size cities (50,000–199,999).
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
$59,012Porterville, CA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Porterville, 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 Porterville, CA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)14.9%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)14.1%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)55.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
62,765
Median Income
$59,012
Median Home Value
$273,600
Median Age
31.2
Poverty Rate
14.1%
Labor force participation
55.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
14.9%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1866.7
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
384.8
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1481.9
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
65.7°F
Annual Precipitation
11.0"
Annual Snowfall
N/A
Schools
Total Schools
32
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Porterville's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
63,003 residents
2021
63,049 residents
2022
62,990 residents
2023
63,232 residents
2024
63,383 residents
2025
63,088 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Rapid Growth
Total Permits (2024)
151
housing units authorized
Single-Family
145
detached homes
Multifamily
6
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
2.4
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
112
104
8
$30.7M
2020
172
112
60
$40.0M
2021
227
147
80
$63.9M
2022
200
69
131
$40.1M
2023
81
79
2
$29.5M
2024
151
145
6
$60.1M
Permit volume increased 35% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
23.1 minutes
Drive Alone
78.3%
Carpool
17.1%
Public Transit
0.3%
Walk
1.3%
Work from Home
2.5%
Based on 24,701 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 Porterville. 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 Porterville 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 Porterville sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Porterville 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.