Tehama County, CA

County Profile

65,167 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Tehama 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.

29out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 1% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
Opportunity1,311th of 1,463 counties measured31
Schools1,291st of 1,377 counties measured13
Growth1,414th of 1,453 counties measured15
Housing affordability1,357th of 1,462 counties measured51
Climate834th of 1,463 counties measured66
Physical resilience1,427th of 1,463 counties measured9
Access1,427th of 1,463 counties measured10
Economic stability1,089th of 1,463 counties measured41
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable counties measured: unemployment is 6.3% and the Opportunity signal places Tehama County in the bottom 10%.

In the public schools here, 31% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 20.3 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 83 units authorized over the past twelve months, 47% below the prior year.

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
65,167
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$63,784
Bottom 47% nationally
Density
22/sq mi
2,949.1 sq mi of land
Median age
40.0
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Tehama County
California
Micro area
Nearest major airport
SMF
105 mi · Sacramento Intl
Median home value
$339,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 6.3% — higher than in all but 5% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 0.1% over the past year, to 24,803 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$55,82742nd percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$50,29224th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$3,4352024 ACS 5-Year$63,784Bottom 47%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$5,3322024 ACS 5-Year$36,168Top 43%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$49,790Bottom 23%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year15.6%Bottom 33%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.2 min2024 ACS 5-Year24.4 minTop 40%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year19.3%Bottom 34%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year76.6%43rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202624,803Bottom 39%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−2.5%Bottom 21%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−0.1%Top 40%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202626,48240th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year69.5%Bottom 24%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.1%43rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.8%Top 16%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20266.3%Bottom 5%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year11.1%70th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/077.54.3
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 6.3% 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

202120222023202464k53k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $63,784 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.

31% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 42% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 20.3 students for every full-time teacher across 34 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
36
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
20.3
across 34 of them
Math proficiency
30.5%
Bottom 19% in California
Reading proficiency
41.6%
Bottom 10% in California
The 12 largest of 36 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Red Bluff HighRed Bluff Joint Union High1,58619.122%44%
Corning Union HighCorning Union High97418.013%45%
Olive View ElementaryCorning Union Elementary54923.926%30%
Evergreen ElementaryEvergreen Union54122.553%55%
Vista Preparatory AcademyRed Bluff Union Elementary54122.534%39%
Maywood MiddleCorning Union Elementary51518.427%40%
Woodson ElementaryCorning Union Elementary48622.124%28%
William M. Metteer ElementaryRed Bluff Union Elementary45822.927%36%
Antelope ElementaryAntelope Elementary44220.150%46%
Jackson Heights ElementaryRed Bluff Union Elementary40721.442%37%
Gerber ElementaryGerber Union Elementary40021.115%29%
Evergreen MiddleEvergreen Union39921.039%53%

72.2% 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 $2,118 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.62% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,362, some 15% above the $1,184 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,362 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $54,500 a year, about 85% of the median household income here of $63,784.

The typical renter household here spends 33% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,184 a month.

A median home at $339,600 costs 4.4 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $77,565, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Rent as a share of income
33.3%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.4×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,362
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,184
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$339,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Tehama County’s median household income of $63,784, 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 ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year4.4Bottom 8%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year67.1%21st percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±382024 ACS 5-Year27,52772nd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,038Bottom 41%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,865Bottom 28%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,362Bottom 31%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$712024 ACS 5-Year$1,184Bottom 18%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$9,6072024 ACS 5-Year$339,60086th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1232024 ACS 5-Year$2,11868th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$3,2902024 ACS 5-Year$77,565Top 48%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.04%2024 ACS 5-Year0.62%32nd percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year33.3%Bottom 8%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±3192024 ACS 5-Year1,14077th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year4.1%61st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year5.8%23rd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±4672024 ACS 5-Year2,73964th 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

15/ 100
Ranks 1,414 of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, 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 2% since 2020, to 64,451 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 144 units authorized in 2025, 23% below the prior year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 83 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Tehama County lost about 0.2% 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 $55,827, above the $50,292 of households that moved out.

At 1.3 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
83
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.3
Bottom 23% nationally
Year over year
−47%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202466k64k
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 falling for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.2%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
21%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$55,827
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$50,292
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Shasta County, CA 639 people · 25% of arrivals
  2. Butte County, CA 286 people · 11% of arrivals
  3. Glenn County, CA 199 people · 7.7% of arrivals
  4. Sacramento County, CA 96 people · 3.7% of arrivals
  5. Solano County, CA 54 people · 2.1% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Shasta County, CA 674 people · 25% of departures
  2. Butte County, CA 314 people · 12% of departures
  3. Glenn County, CA 177 people · 6.6% of departures
  4. Sacramento County, CA 80 people · 3.0% of departures
  5. Los Angeles County, CA 41 people · 1.5% 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

2022202320242025188144
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−23%).

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 98°F and January a low of 38°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 23.1 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 43, in the Good band, and about 2 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

30°50°70°90°110°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station RED BLUFF MUNI AP, 2.1 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year712024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals23.1"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals38°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals98°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals61991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year22024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year432024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals35°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
43
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
71
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. 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

9 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, wildfire and earthquake, with inland flooding alone responsible for 50% of it.

DroughtHigh
WildfireHigh
EarthquakeHigh
Volcanic activityModerate
Inland floodingHigh

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

Tehama County has a modeled homicide rate of about 3.1 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 about 14.3 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 30.8 per 100,000 residents in Tehama County.

Homicide
3.1
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
14.3
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
30.8
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
20.0
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 Tehama 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 105 miles away.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year88.0%Top 41%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle105 miBottom 2%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle0Bottom 1%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year9.4%Top 43%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Sacramento IntlSMF105 mi8,605 ft
Mc Clellan AirfieldMCC110 mi10,599 ft
Reno/SteadRTS129 mi9,000 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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29
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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 Tehama County, CA

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.