Redding, CA
Redding, CA Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Redding, CA Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Redding ranks 247th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 195th for income. A household earns $71,140 a year while median rent runs $1,420/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 (65th of 300), while hazard safety is the soft spot (261st). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 187th and home prices 202nd 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 Redding, your take-home is worth about $57,900 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
- 195th of 300↑12.8%$71,140
- 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.
- 232nd of 300101 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $70,657
- Per-capita income
- $38,481
- Full-time pay
- $44,708
Housing
- Median rent
- 187th of 300↑27.2%$1,420/mo
- Home value
- 202nd of 300↑35.4%$377,900
- Property tax
- $2,678/yr · 0.7%
- Sales tax
- 8.80%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 208th of 3005%
- Bachelor's+
- 254th of 30025%
- Avg commute
- 65th of 30021.7 min
People
- Population
- 181,121
- Population change
- +0.6%
- Median age
- 41.8 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 5.3%
- Broadband
- 93.4%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 116th of 30044
- Natural-hazard loss
- 261st of 300$30/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 211th of 30020.5%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 7.4%
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
- – Home prices
- – Job market
- – Education
- – Hazard safety
- – Health
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — redding ap.
What jobs pay in Redding
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $267,600
- Pharmacists
- $166,800
- IT managers
- $162,220
- Financial managers
- $138,350
- Registered nurses
- $134,350
- Lawyers
- $133,900
- Software developers
- $129,230
- Civil engineers
- $126,000
- Police officers
- $107,270
- General & operations managers
- $98,510
- Elementary school teachers
- $83,780
- Accountants & auditors
- $78,990
- Carpenters
- $71,750
- Electricians
- $69,540
- Plumbers
- $61,300
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $57,350
- Construction laborers
- $55,790
- Customer service reps
- $47,890
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $47,820
- Janitors
- $37,860
- Retail salespersons
- $36,450
- Cashiers
- $34,900
- 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 Redding 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.
- Texas309
- Washington221
- Colorado186
- Oregon171
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Redding
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Redding metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Redding metro?
- Median gross rent across the Redding, CA Metro Area is $1,420 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Redding.
- What is the median household income in the Redding metro?
- A typical household in the Redding, CA Metro Area earns $71,140 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Redding expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Redding, 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 Redding metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $70,657 (versus its face value of $71,140). CityLedger rates the Redding, CA Metro Area expensive for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Redding metro?
- The median home value across the Redding, CA Metro Area is $377,900 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Redding metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Redding, CA Metro Area is 5% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).