AreaProfile

Huntington Beach, California

Area Profile

195,240 residents. Jobs, income, climate, physical risk, development and airport access for Huntington Beach, in Orange County.

55
Area Score
Bottom 18% of 133 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 31% of 139 published cities64
Growth107th of 134 published cities32
Housing affordability140th of 150 published cities39
ClimateTop 5% of 149 published cities100
Physical resilience135th of 150 published cities12
AccessTop 25% of 149 published cities98
Economic stabilityTop 12% of 150 published cities67
The quick read

Housing costs more relative to local incomes than in most published city profiles, with rent taking 25% of median household income.

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

A major airport is 12 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
195,240
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$120,919
Top 10% nationally
Density
7,236/sq mi
27.0 sq mi of land
Median age
44.0
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Orange County
California
Metro area
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
Nearest major airport
LGB
12 mi · Long Beach (Daugherty Fld)
Median home value
$1,100,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.0% is lower than 78% of the 140 measured US cities.

Employment fell 1.8% over the past year, to 97,762 employed residents.

49% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 88% of measured US cities.

Household income is higher than at least 90% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$2,965$120,919Top 10%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,932$64,102Top 8%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate7.8%Bottom 37%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute30.9 minTop 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher49.0%Top 12%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment97,762Bottom 15%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-1.1%Bottom 35%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-1.8%Bottom 22%June 2026
Labor force101,886Bottom 14%June 2026
Labor force participation66.1%Top 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$77,270Top 18%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$55,850Top 24%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.2%Bottom 38%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.0%Bottom 22%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032026/012026/066.82.9
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.0% in June 2026.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
2021202220232024121k105k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $120,919 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 — Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides385,530$34,320
Fast Food and Counter Workers160,270$42,110
Retail Salespersons130,650$37,700
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand120,720$42,390
Office Clerks, General112,270$48,100
Cashiers109,940$36,980

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 $2,510 takes 25% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 9.1 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
24.9%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
9.1×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$2,510
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$1,100,000
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income9.10Top 2%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate55.4%Bottom 14%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1,14782,624Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$50$2,510Top 3%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$13,759$1,100,000Top 2%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income24.9%Top 17%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate5.2%Bottom 30%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
32/ 100
Ranks 107 of 134 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing — 2 consecutive years, 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 fallen 3% since 2020, reaching 193,151 in 2024.

At 1.6 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
322
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.6
Bottom 22% nationally
Year over year
−14%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
37.9%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024198k193k
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
202020212022202320242025570124
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+200%).

Weather & climate

12 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 79°F and January a low of 49°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 11.2 inches.

40°60°80°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station SANTA ANA JOHN WAYNE AP, 8.0 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND2.6"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation11.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low49°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high79°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months121991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing16°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 earthquake, inland flooding and wildfire.

EarthquakeHigh
WildfireModerate
Inland floodingElevated
AvalancheModerate

Low or minimal exposure: landslide, heat wave, coastal flooding, tornado, hail, lightning, tsunami, strong wind, drought, winter weather.

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

7 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 12 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Long Beach (Daugherty Fld)LGB12 mi10,000 ft
Los Angeles IntlLAX29 mi12,923 ft
Ontario IntlONT34 mi12,197 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
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 Huntington Beach

4 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
9264759,047$105,11053
9264654,615$130,67255
9264845,827$130,16456
9264935,346$123,25754