Mendocino County, CA

County Profile

90,244 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Mendocino 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.

32out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 1% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
Opportunity1,155th of 1,463 counties measured40
Schools1,355th of 1,377 counties measured7
Growth1,303rd of 1,453 counties measured26
Housing affordability1,425th of 1,462 counties measured40
ClimateTop 28% of 1,463 counties measured74
Physical resilience1,396th of 1,463 counties measured13
Access1,438th of 1,463 counties measured5
Economic stability970th of 1,463 counties measured48
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable counties measured: unemployment is 5.5% and the Opportunity signal places Mendocino County in the bottom 21%.

In the public schools here, 26% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 18.4 students for every teacher.

Housing costs more relative to local incomes than in most counties measured: rent takes 32% of renter income and the median home is 6.0 times what its owners earn.

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
90,244
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$68,092
Top 41% nationally
Density
26/sq mi
3,506.8 sq mi of land
Median age
44.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Mendocino County
California
Micro area
Nearest major airport
SMF
112 mi · Sacramento Intl
Median home value
$512,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.5% — higher than in all but 12% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 0.1% over the past year, to 34,340 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$68,21270th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$65,46269th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$3,2542024 ACS 5-Year$68,092Top 41%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,3862024 ACS 5-Year$38,760Top 30%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$57,889Top 43%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year15.0%Bottom 36%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.2 min2024 ACS 5-Year22.6 minTop 29%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year25.2%Top 37%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year70.9%17th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202634,340Top 49%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−2.8%Bottom 17%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+0.1%Top 37%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202636,32551st percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year73.4%Bottom 40%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.2%48th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.5%Top 27%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20265.5%Bottom 12%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year12.2%76th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/076.74.0
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 5.5% 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

202120222023202468k56k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $68,092 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.

26% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 41% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 18.4 students for every full-time teacher across 55 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
60
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
18.4
across 55 of them
Math proficiency
26.2%
Bottom 7% in California
Reading proficiency
41.2%
Bottom 5% in California
The 12 largest of 60 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Ukiah HighUkiah Unified1,76719.026%52%
Pomolita MiddleUkiah Unified82619.219%35%
Fort Bragg HighFort Bragg Unified56917.227%57%
Eagle Peak MiddleUkiah Unified55221.221%38%
Calpella ElementaryUkiah Unified47522.637%27%
Grace Hudson ElementaryUkiah Unified44923.632%37%
Oak Manor ElementaryUkiah Unified41723.222%33%
Yokayo ElementaryUkiah Unified41423.025%34%
Willits HighWillits Unified39713.717%42%
Frank Zeek ElementaryUkiah Unified39121.737%48%
Fort Bragg MiddleFort Bragg Unified37617.122%39%
Brookside ElementaryWillits Unified35020.6——

74.6% 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 $3,545 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.69% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,713, some 30% above the $1,317 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,713 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $68,500 a year, about 101% of the median household income here of $68,092.

The typical renter household here spends 32% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,317 a month.

A median home at $512,200 costs 6.0 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $85,958, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
32.3%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
6.0×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,713
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,317
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$512,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Mendocino County’s median household income of $68,092, 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 ±0.52024 ACS 5-Year6.0Bottom 1%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year61.7%9th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±712024 ACS 5-Year41,67580th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,306Bottom 21%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$2,382Bottom 10%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,713Bottom 16%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$512024 ACS 5-Year$1,317Bottom 12%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$19,7742024 ACS 5-Year$512,20096th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1742024 ACS 5-Year$3,54590th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$5,7212024 ACS 5-Year$85,958Top 31%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.04%2024 ACS 5-Year0.69%40th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year32.3%Bottom 13%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±4992024 ACS 5-Year4,49393rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year10.8%83rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year5.6%21st percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±6222024 ACS 5-Year6,83386th 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

26/ 100
Ranks 1,303 of 1,453 published county profiles
Permitting has been rising for the last 2 years of 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 2% since 2020, to 89,175 in 2024.

89% of the 36 units permitted over the past twelve months are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

Federal tax returns show Mendocino County lost about 0.6% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $68,212, close to the $65,462 of households that moved out.

At 0.4 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
36
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.4
Bottom 6% nationally
Year over year
+260%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
88.9%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202491k89k
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
−0.6%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
25%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$68,212
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$65,462
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Sonoma County, CA 398 people · 16% of arrivals
  2. Lake County, CA 242 people · 10% of arrivals
  3. Sacramento County, CA 92 people · 3.8% of arrivals
  4. Humboldt County, CA 90 people · 3.7% of arrivals
  5. Alameda County, CA 86 people · 3.6% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Sonoma County, CA 444 people · 16% of departures
  2. Lake County, CA 289 people · 10% of departures
  3. Sacramento County, CA 98 people · 3.5% of departures
  4. Los Angeles County, CA 70 people · 2.5% of departures
  5. Alameda County, CA 60 people · 2.1% 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

20222023202420251850.0
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−95%).

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 43, 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, 24.8 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND6.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year572024 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 year432024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals29°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
43
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
57
90th percentile index
Days above 100
0
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

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

13 / 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 48% of it.

LandslideModerate
EarthquakeHigh
WildfireHigh
DroughtModerate
Inland floodingHigh
Volcanic activityModerate
TsunamiModerate
AvalancheModerate

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

Mendocino County has a modeled homicide rate of about 3.6 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 15.7 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 39.3 per 100,000 residents in Mendocino County.

Homicide
3.6
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
15.7
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
39.3
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
24.7
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 Mendocino 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

No airport meeting the AreaProfile major-airport definition lies within 100 miles; the nearest is 112 miles away.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year89.6%Top 29%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle112 miBottom 2%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle0Bottom 1%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year7.6%Top 27%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Sacramento IntlSMF112 mi8,605 ft
Mc Clellan AirfieldMCC122 mi10,599 ft
Oakland San Francisco BayOAK135 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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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 Mendocino County, CA