Nevada County, CA

County Profile

102,481 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Nevada 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.

50out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 11% of 1,225 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 47% of 1,255 counties measured56
Growth848th of 1,226 counties measured40
Housing affordability1199th of 1,255 counties measured57
ClimateTop 31% of 1,254 counties measured73
Physical resilience1143rd of 1,255 counties measured22
Access823rd of 1,255 counties measured73
Economic stability979th of 1,255 counties measured42
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.6% and median household income $89,882, putting employment conditions in the middle range of published profiles.

Buying strains local incomes far more than renting does — the median home is 6.9 times median household income, against a historic benchmark near three — while rent takes 22% of it.

Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by inland flooding, wildfire and earthquake.

At a glance

Population
102,481
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$89,882
Top 9% nationally
Density
107/sq mi
957.8 sq mi of land
Median age
50.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Nevada County
California
Metro area
Truckee-Grass Valley, CA
Nearest major airport
TVL
50 mi · Lake Tahoe
Median home value
$621,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.6% is lower than 34% of the 1,255 measured US locations.

Employment fell 2.0% over the past year, to 44,792 employed residents.

42% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 93% of measured US locations.

Household income is higher than at least 91% of measured US locations.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$3,998$89,882Top 9%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,088$53,364Top 5%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate11.0%Bottom 31%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute24.8 minBottom 44%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher41.5%Top 7%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Employment44,792Top 48%of 1,255June 2026
Employment change (3 years)1.9%Top 30%of 1,255June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-2.0%Bottom 19%of 1,255June 2026
Labor force46,959Top 48%of 1,255June 2026
Labor force participation53.6%Bottom 26%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.2%Bottom 32%of 1,255June 2026
Unemployment rate4.6%Top 34%of 1,255June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/066.73.3
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.6% in June 2026. 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
202120222023202490k75k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $89,882 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.

There are 20.5 students for every full-time teacher, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
38
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
20.5
across all schools here
Math proficiency
Reading proficiency
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Nevada Union HighNevada Joint Union High1,56120.3
Tahoe Truckee HighTahoe-Truckee Unified90720.2
Bear River HighNevada Joint Union High66424.6
John Muir Charter · charterJohn Muir Charter District62917.0
Grass Valley Charter · charterGrass Valley Elementary54623.7
Union Hill Elementary · charterUnion Hill Elementary54220.8
Alder Creek MiddleTahoe-Truckee Unified53519.1
Truckee ElementaryTahoe-Truckee Unified51521.5
Glenshire ElementaryTahoe-Truckee Unified49924.9
Cottage Hill ElementaryPleasant Ridge Union Elementary48523.1
Nevada City School of the Arts · charterNevada City School of the Arts District47719.1
Lyman Gilmore MiddleGrass Valley Elementary46419.3

42.8% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against California’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,677 takes 22% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 6.9 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
22.4%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
6.9×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,677
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$621,800
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price to income6.92Top 2%of 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate75.5%Top 45%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±8354,309Top 16%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$96$1,677Top 5%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$12,667$621,800Top 2%of 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income22.4%Top 10%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate21.1%Top 24%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
40/ 100
Ranks 848 of 1,226 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing — 3 consecutive years, measured from 2022 to 2025.

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 been broadly flat since 2020, at 102,195 in 2024.

Permit activity has fallen for 3 consecutive years.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 2.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US locations.

Units permitted
205
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.0
Bottom 35% nationally
Year over year
0%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024103k102k
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.
Housing units permitted per year
2022202320242025367198
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−46%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 78°F and January a low of 34°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 62.4 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 36, in the Good band, and about 2 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

20°40°60°80°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station BLUE CANYON AP, 3.5 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND10.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index55.02024 calendar year
Annual precipitation62.4"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low34°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high78°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 10022024 calendar year
Median air quality index36.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing31°F1991-2020 Normals
Air quality
Median air quality index
36
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
55
90th percentile index
Days above 100
2
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. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today. Air quality is measured rather than modelled, by EPA monitors, and published by county only where a monitor sits — roughly half the counties AreaProfile publishes have one, and the rest show nothing rather than an estimate. Air masses are regional, so a county reading describes the air over a place reasonably well, but it is still the county reading.

Physical risk

22 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, wildfire and earthquake.

WildfireHigh
LandslideModerate
EarthquakeHigh
Inland floodingHigh

Low or minimal exposure: avalanche, lightning, winter weather, volcanic activity, heat wave, hail, tornado, strong wind.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA National Risk Index county record. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

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

Nevada County records 3.7 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 12.7 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 29.4 per 100,000 residents in Nevada County.

Homicide
3.7
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
12.7
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
29.4
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
28.4
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Nevada County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around Nevada County rather than Nevada County itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offences reported to police are published by department rather than by town, and only where a department reported every month of the year. No municipal department reports for this place — many smaller communities are policed by the county — so there is no figure to show. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes and full cost of living
No public source publishes either with national coverage and a method open enough to check. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings. Nothing here is individualised tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house. School attendance zones, insurance pricing and the character of a neighbourhood all vary within the places measured here.

Access

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 50 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Lake TahoeTVL50 mi8,541 ft
Reno/SteadRTS54 mi9,000 ft
Mc Clellan AirfieldMCC55 mi10,599 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 periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar yearAnnually, once a calendar year is complete

Profile recalculated August 30, 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 browse every source.