AreaProfile

Fresno, California

Area Profile

545,970 residents. Jobs, income, climate, physical risk, development and airport access for Fresno, in Fresno County.

50
Area Score
Bottom 9% of 133 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity105th of 139 published cities44
Growth74th of 134 published cities52
Housing affordability89th of 150 published cities62
Climate78th of 149 published cities70
Physical resilience134th of 150 published cities12
Access119th of 149 published cities90
Economic stability106th of 150 published cities48
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published city profiles: unemployment is 6.2% and the Opportunity signal places Fresno in the bottom 25%.

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

A major airport is 4 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
545,970
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$70,991
Top 44% nationally
Density
4,710/sq mi
115.9 sq mi of land
Median age
32.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Fresno County
California
Metro area
Fresno, CA
Nearest major airport
FAT
4 mi · Fresno Yosemite Intl
Median home value
$374,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 6.2% is lower than 4% of the 140 measured US cities.

Employment fell 0.4% over the past year, to 238,868 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$1,896$70,991Top 44%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$728$32,519Bottom 46%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate20.1%Top 23%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute23.8 minBottom 34%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher25.5%Top 38%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment238,868Top 29%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)1.3%Top 36%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.4%Top 34%June 2026
Labor force254,597Top 28%June 2026
Labor force participation63.0%Top 41%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$63,820Bottom 30%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$46,910Bottom 19%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.7%Bottom 9%June 2026
Unemployment rate6.2%Top 4%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032026/012026/069.24.7
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 6.2% in June 2026.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202471k57k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $70,991 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.
Largest occupations — Fresno, CA
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides33,580$34,320
Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse28,570$34,610
Fast Food and Counter Workers12,330$39,480
Registered Nurses11,030$125,420
Cashiers9,780$35,270
Retail Salespersons9,290$36,460

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,421 takes 24% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 5.3 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
24.0%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
5.3×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,421
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$374,800
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income5.28Top 13%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate50.1%Bottom 9%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1,499189,098Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$21$1,421Top 23%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$4,952$374,800Top 20%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income24.0%Top 21%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate4.6%Bottom 27%2024 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
52/ 100
Ranks 74 of 134 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing, measured from 2020 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 grown 1% since 2020, reaching 550,105 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 17% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 2.9 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
1,573
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.9
Bottom 34% nationally
Year over year
+70%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
16.5%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024550k543k
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
2020202120222023202420252k1k
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−18%).

Weather & climate

7 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 41°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 11.0 inches.

30°50°70°90°110°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station FRESNO YOSEMITE INTL AP, 4.1 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND2.2"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation11.0"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall0.0"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low41°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high98°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing36°F1991-2020 Normals

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.

Physical risk

12 / 100
Physical resilience

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

DroughtHigh
EarthquakeHigh
Inland floodingModerate
WildfireModerate
Heat waveModerate
AvalancheModerate
Volcanic activityModerate

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

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Taxes

AreaProfile does not yet publish tax comparisons. No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, methodology transparency and update cadence, and the product rule is to omit a dimension rather than estimate it. The Area Score is calculated without a tax component and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Nothing on AreaProfile is individualized tax advice.

Access

1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest 4 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Fresno Yosemite IntlFAT4 mi9,539 ft
Meadows FldBFL102 mi10,849 ft
Stockton MetroSCK110 mi10,245 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.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
50
Your Score

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

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
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
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)

Profile recalculated August 29, 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.

ZIP codes in Fresno

6 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
9372286,110$80,28550
9372784,107$87,46653
9372050,089$105,05053
9372644,527$55,77145
9370243,875$47,22944
9370640,638$40,93041