Shasta Lake, California

Area Profile

10,311 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Shasta Lake, in Shasta County.

37out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 1% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 15 sources
Opportunity3,291st of 4,199 cities measured43
Schools3,519th of 4,162 cities measured22
Growth3,376th of 4,224 cities measured34
Housing affordabilityTop 49% of 4,218 cities measured67
Climate3,678th of 4,225 cities measured59
Physical resilience3,845th of 4,226 cities measured13
Access4,205th of 4,226 cities measured0
Economic stability3,211th of 4,226 cities measured42
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable cities measured: unemployment is 5.3% and the Opportunity signal places Shasta Lake in the bottom 22%. The unemployment rate is published for Shasta County, CA, which contains Shasta Lake, rather than for Shasta Lake alone.

In the public schools here, 34% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 20.5 students for every teacher.

6 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 14% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

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
10,311
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$67,401
Top 49% nationally
Density
946/sq mi
10.9 sq mi of land
Median age
41.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
California
Metro area
Nearest major airport
MFR
120 mi · Rogue Valley Intl/Medford
Median home value
$294,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Shasta County, CA, which contains Shasta Lake, is 5.3% — higher than in all but 17% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Shasta County, CA, which contains Shasta Lake, fell 0.9% over the past year, to 76,076 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsShasta County, CA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$66,26939th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftShasta County, CA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$59,21423rd percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$13,8892024 ACS 5-Year$67,401Top 49%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$3,4752024 ACS 5-Year$34,465Top 48%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year13.1%Bottom 41%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.9 min2024 ACS 5-Year20.9 minTop 21%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year15.3%Bottom 35%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year80.6%62nd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentShasta County, CA’s figureJuly 202676,076Top 47%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Shasta County, CA’s figureJuly 2026+2.3%Top 17%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Shasta County, CA’s figureJuly 2026−0.9%Bottom 48%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceShasta County, CA’s figureJuly 202680,31054th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year74.3%Bottom 37%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageRedding, CA Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$65,320Bottom 34%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageRedding, CA Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$48,920Bottom 32%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year0.7%82nd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Shasta County, CA’s figureJuly 2026−0.3%Top 38%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateShasta County, CA’s figureJuly 20265.3%Bottom 17%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year4.0%32nd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202467k52k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $67,401 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 — Redding, CA

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides5,500$34,320
Fast Food and Counter Workers1,930$39,160
Cashiers1,920$34,900
Retail Salespersons1,880$36,450
Registered Nurses1,720$134,350
Office Clerks, General1,370$45,120

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Shasta County, CA, which contains this city.

34% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 40% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 20.5 students for every full-time teacher across 6 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
6
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
20.5
across all schools here
Math proficiency
33.7%
Bottom 35% in California
Reading proficiency
40.0%
Bottom 12% in California
All 6 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Shasta LakeGateway Unified60218.832%35%
Central Valley HighGateway Unified58322.442%57%
Grand Oaks ElementaryGateway Unified32022.932%27%
Gateway Educational OptionsGateway Unified7218.010%30%
Mountain Lakes HighGateway Unified6822.710%10%
Gateway Community DayGateway Unified126.0——

77.4% 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.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 3% above the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 103.0, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Redding, CA Metro Area is up 20% over five years, and up 0.9% 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 $1,679 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.57% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,590, some 22% above the $1,298 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,590 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $63,600 a year, about 94% of the median household income here of $67,401.

The typical renter household here spends 29% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,298 a month.

A median home at $294,400 costs 3.6 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $80,709, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
103.0

Prices here run about 3% above the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Redding, CA Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
29.3%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.6×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,590
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,298
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$294,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Shasta Lake’s median household income of $67,401, 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
Cost of living indexthe Redding, CA Metro Area’s figure2023103.0Bottom 40%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Redding, CA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+0.9%20th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Redding, CA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+20.3%5th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Redding, CA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+68.6%13th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.52024 ACS 5-Year3.6Bottom 22%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year68.2%34th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±2682024 ACS 5-Year4,33087th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,212Top 38%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$2,211Bottom 49%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,590Top 46%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$2262024 ACS 5-Year$1,298Bottom 27%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$13,2042024 ACS 5-Year$294,40071st percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$2382024 ACS 5-Year$1,67947th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$9,7862024 ACS 5-Year$80,709Top 47%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.08%2024 ACS 5-Year0.57%17th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year29.3%Bottom 44%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±212024 ACS 5-Year01st percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year6.8%49th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1272024 ACS 5-Year29583rd percentileof 32,3302024 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 and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

34/ 100
Ranks 3,376 of 4,224 published city 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 1% since 2020, to 10,244 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 6 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Shasta County, which contains Shasta Lake, in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $66,269, above the $59,214 of households that moved out.

At 0.6 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
6
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.6
Bottom 17% nationally
Year over year
−14%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202410k10k
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
+0.2%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
34%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$66,269
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$59,214
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Tehama County, CA 674 people · 10% of arrivals
  2. Sacramento County, CA 368 people · 5.7% of arrivals
  3. Butte County, CA 226 people · 3.5% of arrivals
  4. Humboldt County, CA 207 people · 3.2% of arrivals
  5. Los Angeles County, CA 192 people · 2.9% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Tehama County, CA 639 people · 10% of departures
  2. Butte County, CA 286 people · 4.5% of departures
  3. Sacramento County, CA 239 people · 3.8% of departures
  4. Humboldt County, CA 132 people · 2.1% of departures
  5. San Diego County, CA 129 people · 2.0% 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. This is the figure for Shasta County, CA. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2022202320242025115.0
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−18%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 100°F and January a low of 38°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 33.5 inches, including 2.6 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 44, in the Good band, and about 4 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 REDDING MUNI AP, 11.8 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND6.3"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year672024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals33.5"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals2.6"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals38°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals100°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year42024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year442024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals37°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
44
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
67
90th percentile index
Days above 100
4
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, wildfire and earthquake, with inland flooding alone responsible for 53% of it.

WildfireHigh
EarthquakeHigh
Inland floodingHigh
Volcanic activityModerate
Heat waveModerate
DroughtModerate
AvalancheModerate

Low or minimal exposure: landslide, winter weather, lightning, hail, tornado, strong wind, cold wave, ice storm, tsunami, coastal flooding, hurricane.

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.

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

Shasta County has a modeled homicide rate of about 4.0 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 13.9 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 30.5 per 100,000 residents in Shasta County.

Homicide
4.0
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
13.9
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
30.5
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
18.9
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 the county around Shasta Lake (Shasta County) rather than Shasta Lake itself. 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. Either no municipal department reports for this place — many smaller communities are policed by the county — or its department did not report every month of the year. Either way 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
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. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. 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 120 miles away.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year88.3%Bottom 43%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle120 miBottom 1%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle0Bottom 1%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year10.4%Bottom 36%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Rogue Valley Intl/MedfordMFR120 mi8,800 ft
Sacramento IntlSMF143 mi8,605 ft
Mc Clellan AirfieldMCC148 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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Area Score
37
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Other cities in Redding, CA

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
ReddingShasta County93,40940Redding vs Shasta Lake
AndersonShasta County11,25537Anderson vs Shasta Lake

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Shasta Lake side by side with a similar place.

Shasta Lake vs FortunaShasta Lake vs Guymon

Moving to Shasta Lake from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

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
HousingU.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
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
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.

ZIP codes in Shasta Lake

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Shasta Lake with census figures of its own, largest first. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track Shasta Lake closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
9601910,350$67,446$294,600—