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-TUSTIN-CA · Tustin, CA 79,035 pop · income 82nd 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 Tustin
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Tustin on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Bloomington · lowest
48,918
Bloomington · lowest
48,918 median HH income
27.7% of the leader · rank #1
Brookfield · near
108,429
Brookfield · near
108,429 median HH income
61.3% of the leader · rank #2
Lake Pocotopa… · near
108,430
Lake Pocotopa… · near
108,430 median HH income
61.3% of the leader · rank #3
Tustin · this city
108,435
Tustin · this city
108,435 median HH income
61.3% of the leader · rank #4
Broeck Pointe · near
108,438
Broeck Pointe · near
108,438 median HH income
61.3% of the leader · rank #5
Seven Devils · near
108,438
Seven Devils · near
108,438 median HH income
61.3% of the leader · rank #6
Milpitas · highest
176,822
Milpitas · highest
176,822 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 Tustin 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: 79,035.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Tustin - the verdict
Nationally, Tustin sits in the 82nd percentile for household income and the 26th percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
82nd
percentile, household income
96th
percentile, home value
88th
percentile, median rent
26th
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: Tustin, CA
California's Tustin is a small city, with 79,035 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. The typical household in Tustin brings in $108,435 a year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 8.3%. Home values in Tustin run a median of $890,600, and the median resident age is 36.8 years. Educational attainment runs 46.0% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 65.3% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 41 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Construction Slowdown), down 83% from five years earlier. Crime here tracks close to the national norm: per-100,000 total crime stands at 2316.0 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: the state registers 110.7 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Well Above Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. 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. 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 Tustin'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 comparison shortlist to work and mobility to housing and income to reported crime to population change to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Tustin, city-specific coverage includes local building permits, annual population history, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates.
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
Which cities make useful reference points for Tustin?
Within California, the closest population matches are Upland (78,940 residents, $101,407 income); Napa (78,816 residents, $102,231 income); Perris (79,349 residents, $82,523 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Jonesboro, AR (79,187 residents); Lynchburg, VA (79,255 residents); Georgetown, TX (78,803 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. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
What does the journey to work look like in Tustin?
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 68.7%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
How far does income reach against housing in Tustin?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 8.2 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 8.3%, 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.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Tustin?
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.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 2316.0 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, near the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 2% higher in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
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.
Population change
Is Tustin growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
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.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -2,023 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -2.5% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 41 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Period change
-2.5%
2025 estimate
77,843
2020 estimate
79,866
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
The NCES join finds 18 public schools within the city match. 46.0% 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.
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.
Matched public schools
18
Bachelor's degree+
46.0%
Poverty estimate
8.3%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Highest-decile cost · BEA RPP 2024, California average
C-
City profile score · Tustin, CA
52/100
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 A-
$108,435
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share A-
46.0%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate D
8.3%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime D
212 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger 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.
Tustin profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 81/100 (A-) · $108,435
Bachelor's+ share: 80/100 (A-) · 46.0%
Poverty rate: 46/100 (D) · 8.3%
Violent crime: 46/100 (D) · 212 /100k
Cost of living: 6/100 (F) · 110.7 index
Where Tustin sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Tustin'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 - Tustin highlighted among 11 peers.Read the chart values
Tustin, CA (this city): home $890,600, crime 2,316/100k
Jonesboro, AR : home $213,400, crime 3,765/100k
Lynchburg, VA : home $211,800, crime 2,095/100k
Georgetown, TX : home $398,600, crime 1,361/100k
Bloomington, IN : home $289,700, crime 3,005/100k
Auburn, AL : home $342,400, crime 1,087/100k
Upland, CA : home $688,800, crime 2,163/100k
Napa, CA : home $824,500, crime 1,671/100k
Perris, CA : home $431,900, crime 2,163/100k
Milpitas, CA : home $1,180,000, crime 3,497/100k
Chino Hills, CA : home $830,000, crime 1,113/100k
How does Tustin compare to other US cities?
Where Tustin sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income82% higher than other cities
Home value96% pricier than other cities
Median rent88% pricier than other cities
Safety26% 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, Tustin ranks #288 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 Tustin 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 Tustin near the bottom of California's cities
Among the 1,458 California cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Tustin ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Tustin only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#421 of 1,338
69th percentile in California
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,458
0th percentile in California
Median Home Value
#296 of 1,343
78th percentile in California
Poverty Rate
#589 of 1,450
59th percentile in California
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#325 of 1,458
78th 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
82nd percentile nationally for median household income · 26th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Tustin's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Tustin'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 Tustin's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$890,6004th percentilemore affordable than 4% 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
Tustin's home-value-to-income ratio: 8.2×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#15,093 of 15,516
More affordable than 3% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#695 of 750
Mid-size cities (50,000–199,999)
At 8.2×, Tustin sits in the pressured band:
national rank #15,093 of 15,516 and #695 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
$108,435Tustin, CA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Tustin, 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 Tustin, CA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)46.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)8.3%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)65.3%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
79,035
Median Income
$108,435
Median Home Value
$890,600
Median Age
36.8
Poverty Rate
8.3%
Labor force participation
65.3%
Bachelor's Degree+
46.0%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
2316.0
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
211.7
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
2104.3
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
18
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Tustin's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
79,866 residents
2021
79,161 residents
2022
78,468 residents
2023
78,163 residents
2024
78,293 residents
2025
77,843 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
41
housing units authorized
Single-Family
25
detached homes
Multifamily
16
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
0.5
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
238
238
0
$61.7M
2020
55
35
20
$12.8M
2021
34
3
31
$10.2M
2022
239
89
150
$71.1M
2023
138
84
54
$49.4M
2024
41
25
16
$12.1M
Permit volume decreased 83% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
68.7%
Carpool
11.2%
Public Transit
0.9%
Walk
1.5%
Work from Home
16.1%
Other
1.6%
Based on 40,041 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 Tustin. 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 Tustin 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 Tustin sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Tustin 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.