Fresno, CA
Fresno, CA Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Fresno, CA Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Fresno ranks 218th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 157th for income. A household earns $74,983 a year while median rent runs $1,513/mo, making it expensive relative to what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 2% above the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is household income (157th of 300), while air quality is the soft spot (293rd). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 212th and home prices 228th 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 Fresno, your take-home is worth about $57,065 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
- 157th of 300↑30.4%$74,983
- 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.
- 252nd of 300102 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $73,399
- Per-capita income
- $32,083
- Full-time pay
- $38,914
Housing
- Median rent
- 212th of 300↑46.3%$1,513/mo
- Home value
- 228th of 300↑44.4%$416,200
- Property tax
- $3,075/yr · 0.7%
- Sales tax
- 8.80%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 292nd of 3008.5%
- Bachelor's+
- 269th of 30023.6%
- Avg commute
- 170th of 30024.7 min
People
- Population
- 1,189,557
- Population change
- +19.1%
- Median age
- 34.1 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 21.4%
- Broadband
- 91.7%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 293rd of 30067
- Natural-hazard loss
- 224th of 300$17/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 292nd of 30028%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 15.1%
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
- —
Watch-outs
- – Affordability
- – Cost of living
- – Rent
- – Home prices
- – Job market
- – Education
- – Air quality
- – Hazard safety
- – Health
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — fresno yosemite intl.
What jobs pay in Fresno
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $277,650
- Pharmacists
- $169,160
- Lawyers
- $162,680
- IT managers
- $148,650
- Financial managers
- $137,650
- Software developers
- $129,060
- Registered nurses
- $125,420
- Civil engineers
- $119,720
- General & operations managers
- $101,010
- Police officers
- $100,770
- Secondary school teachers
- $100,750
- Elementary school teachers
- $78,800
- Accountants & auditors
- $78,690
- Web developers
- $77,600
- Electricians
- $71,710
- Plumbers
- $64,400
- Carpenters
- $63,470
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $55,740
- Construction laborers
- $55,120
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $51,450
- Customer service reps
- $46,070
- Janitors
- $37,980
- Retail salespersons
- $36,460
- Cashiers
- $35,270
- 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 Fresno 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.
- Washington627
- Nevada626
- Texas533
- Arizona528
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Fresno
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Fresno metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Fresno metro?
- Median gross rent across the Fresno, CA Metro Area is $1,513 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Fresno.
- What is the median household income in the Fresno metro?
- A typical household in the Fresno, CA Metro Area earns $74,983 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Fresno expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Fresno, CA Metro Area runs about 2% 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 Fresno metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $73,399 (versus its face value of $74,983). CityLedger rates the Fresno, CA Metro Area expensive for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Fresno metro?
- The median home value across the Fresno, CA Metro Area is $416,200 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Fresno metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Fresno, CA Metro Area is 8.5% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).