Lake County, CA

County Profile

68,152 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Lake County, CA.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

33out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 1% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
Opportunity1,357th of 1,463 counties measured28
Schools1,376th of 1,377 counties measured0
GrowthTop 49% of 1,453 counties measured51
Housing affordability1,418th of 1,462 counties measured42
ClimateTop 28% of 1,463 counties measured74
Physical resilience1,438th of 1,463 counties measured8
Access1,217th of 1,463 counties measured60
Economic stability1,287th of 1,463 counties measured27
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable counties measured: unemployment is 7.1% and the Opportunity signal places Lake County in the bottom 7%.

In the public schools here, 20% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 21.5 students for every teacher.

Rent takes 36% of renter income here, at or above the threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, while buying strains owner incomes less — the median home is 4.7 times what its owners earn, against a historic benchmark near three.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
68,152
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$60,621
Bottom 37% nationally
Density
54/sq mi
1,255.1 sq mi of land
Median age
44.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Lake County
California
Micro area
Nearest major airport
SMF
68 mi · Sacramento Intl
Median home value
$324,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 7.1% — higher than in all but 3% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 2.4% over the past year, to 24,068 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$64,26163rd percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$53,94037th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$2,5572024 ACS 5-Year$60,621Bottom 37%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,8142024 ACS 5-Year$35,372Top 48%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$48,323Bottom 18%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year17.0%Bottom 26%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.6 min2024 ACS 5-Year32.7 minBottom 13%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year17.8%Bottom 26%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year70.9%17th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202624,068Bottom 38%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+3.0%Top 19%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−2.4%Bottom 16%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202625,90639th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year67.0%Bottom 17%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year0.7%80th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.1%Bottom 47%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20267.1%Bottom 3%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year14.3%85th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/079.15.4
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 7.1% in July 2026. It has been rising for the last 2 months, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202461k53k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $60,621 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

20% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 33% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 21.5 students for every full-time teacher across 29 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
35
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
21.5
across 29 of them
Math proficiency
20.5%
Bottom 1% in California
Reading proficiency
33.4%
Bottom 1% in California
The 12 largest of 35 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Lower Lake HighKonocti Unified96621.511%34%
Lower Lake ElementaryKonocti Unified74326.522%29%
PomoKonocti Unified70226.07%14%
Obsidian MiddleKonocti Unified59022.7——
Burns ValleyKonocti Unified56824.724%32%
Kelseyville ElementaryKelseyville Unified54321.725%33%
Lakeport ElementaryLakeport Unified53020.427%17%
Kelseyville HighKelseyville Unified51517.812%42%
Upper Lake ElementaryUpper Lake Unified42921.437%52%
Coyote Valley ElementaryMiddletown Unified42721.444%56%
Middletown HighMiddletown Unified42119.122%57%
Mountain Vista MiddleKelseyville Unified40522.516%32%

73.7% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against California’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of California is up 19% over five years, and up 0.3% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $2,369 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.73% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,549, some 13% above the $1,368 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,549 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $62,000 a year, about 102% of the median household income here of $60,621.

The typical renter household here spends 36% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,368 a month.

A median home at $324,300 costs 4.7 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $69,517, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Rent as a share of income
36.3%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.7×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,549
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,368
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$324,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Lake County’s median household income of $60,621, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of California’s figure2026 Q2+0.3%6th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of California’s figure2026 Q2+18.9%2nd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of California’s figure2026 Q2+65.8%8th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year4.7Bottom 6%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year72.2%38th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±492024 ACS 5-Year34,40077th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,181Bottom 29%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$2,154Bottom 20%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,549Bottom 23%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$812024 ACS 5-Year$1,368Bottom 11%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$13,8392024 ACS 5-Year$324,30084th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1312024 ACS 5-Year$2,36974th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$3,8752024 ACS 5-Year$69,517Bottom 33%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.05%2024 ACS 5-Year0.73%44th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year36.3%Bottom 3%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±4782024 ACS 5-Year4,06492nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year11.8%84th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year9.9%56th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±6162024 ACS 5-Year7,46087th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures.

Development Momentum

51/ 100
Top 49% of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was broadly flat, in a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has fallen 1% since 2020, to 67,764 in 2024.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Lake County in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $64,261, above the $53,940 of households that moved out.

At 1.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
116
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.7
Bottom 31% nationally
Year over year
+21%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
55.2%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202469k68k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.1%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
19%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$64,261
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$53,940
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Sonoma County, CA 526 people · 22% of arrivals
  2. Mendocino County, CA 289 people · 12% of arrivals
  3. Napa County, CA 114 people · 4.8% of arrivals
  4. Sacramento County, CA 87 people · 3.7% of arrivals
  5. Contra Costa County, CA 71 people · 3.0% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Sonoma County, CA 304 people · 13% of departures
  2. Mendocino County, CA 242 people · 10% of departures
  3. Sacramento County, CA 111 people · 4.8% of departures
  4. Napa County, CA 71 people · 3.1% of departures
  5. Solano County, CA 66 people · 2.9% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

202220232024202510777
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+36%).

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 94°F and January a low of 37°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 34.8 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 32, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.

30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station UKIAH MUNI AP, 24.5 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND6.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year412024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals34.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals37°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals94°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year02024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year322024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals29°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
32
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
41
90th percentile index
Days above 100
0
unhealthy for sensitive groups

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

8 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, earthquake and wildfire, with inland flooding alone responsible for 51% of it.

WildfireHigh
EarthquakeHigh
Volcanic activityModerate
DroughtModerate
Inland floodingHigh

Low or minimal exposure: landslide, avalanche, heat wave, winter weather, lightning, tornado, hail, strong wind, cold wave, hurricane, tsunami, coastal flooding, ice storm.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Lake County has a modeled homicide rate of about 3.3 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 16.2 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 89.9 per 100,000 residents in Lake County.

Homicide
3.3
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
16.2
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
89.9
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
23.6
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Lake County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Sacramento Intl at 68 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year87.1%Top 48%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle68 miBottom 16%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 35%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year9.6%Top 45%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Sacramento IntlSMF68 mi8,605 ft
Mc Clellan AirfieldMCC78 mi10,599 ft
Oakland San Francisco BayOAK100 mi10,520 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
33
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

Cities in Lake County, CA