Chico, CA
Chico, CA Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Chico, CA Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Chico ranks 292nd for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 242nd for income. A household earns $65,221 a year while median rent runs $1,446/mo, making it expensive relative to what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 1% above the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is commute (51st of 300), while affordability is the soft spot (292nd). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 196th and home prices 230th among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Chico, your take-home is worth about $57,607 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it less than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 242nd of 300↑4.2%$65,221
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 245th of 300101 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $64,450
- Per-capita income
- $36,028
- Full-time pay
- $34,755
Housing
- Median rent
- 196th of 300↑33%$1,446/mo
- Home value
- 230th of 300↑24.9%$420,400
- Property tax
- $3,187/yr · 0.8%
- Sales tax
- 8.80%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 284th of 3007.6%
- Bachelor's+
- 184th of 30031.2%
- Avg commute
- 51st of 30021.4 min
People
- Population
- 208,334
- Population change
- -5%
- Median age
- 36.4 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 9.6%
- Broadband
- 94.9%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 153rd of 30046
- Natural-hazard loss
- 237th of 300$19/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 232nd of 30021.3%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 8.4%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Commute
Watch-outs
- – Affordability
- – Cost of living
- – Household income
- – Home prices
- – Job market
- – Hazard safety
- – Health
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — oroville muni ap.
What jobs pay in Chico
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $274,800
- Pharmacists
- $161,410
- IT managers
- $137,890
- Lawyers
- $131,710
- Software developers
- $131,360
- Financial managers
- $130,600
- Registered nurses
- $127,360
- Civil engineers
- $107,350
- General & operations managers
- $98,390
- Secondary school teachers
- $98,210
- Elementary school teachers
- $95,000
- Police officers
- $94,760
- Accountants & auditors
- $77,680
- Carpenters
- $72,290
- Electricians
- $65,400
- Plumbers
- $60,730
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $57,480
- Construction laborers
- $54,720
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $52,040
- Customer service reps
- $45,980
- Janitors
- $39,150
- Retail salespersons
- $36,680
- Cashiers
- $35,210
- Waiters & waitresses
- $34,320
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Chico metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in California are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- Washington306
- Nevada271
- Arizona163
- Texas125
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Chico
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Chico metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Chico metro?
- Median gross rent across the Chico, CA Metro Area is $1,446 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Chico.
- What is the median household income in the Chico metro?
- A typical household in the Chico, CA Metro Area earns $65,221 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Chico expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Chico, CA Metro Area runs about 1% above the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are higher than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Chico metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $64,450 (versus its face value of $65,221). CityLedger rates the Chico, CA Metro Area expensive for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Chico metro?
- The median home value across the Chico, CA Metro Area is $420,400 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Chico metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Chico, CA Metro Area is 7.6% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).