Stockton, CA
Stockton-Lodi, CA Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Stockton-Lodi, CA Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Stockton ranks 67th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 45th for income. A household earns $93,038 a year while median rent runs $1,788/mo, making it moderately affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 5% above the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is household income (45th of 300), while commute is the soft spot (298th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 267th and home prices 267th 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 Stockton, your take-home is worth about $55,473 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
- 45th of 300↑34.8%$93,038
- 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.
- 272nd of 300105 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $88,533
- Per-capita income
- $37,318
- Full-time pay
- $47,185
Housing
- Median rent
- 267th of 300↑41.9%$1,788/mo
- Home value
- 267th of 300↑45.9%$562,500
- Property tax
- $4,267/yr · 0.8%
- Sales tax
- 8.80%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 289th of 3007.9%
- Bachelor's+
- 248th of 30025.4%
- Avg commute
- 298th of 30034.6 min
People
- Population
- 816,108
- Population change
- +7.1%
- Median age
- 36.2 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 26.8%
- Broadband
- 94.2%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 234th of 30051
- Natural-hazard loss
- 219th of 300$17/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 275th of 30024.1%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 13%
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
- + Affordability
- + Household income
Watch-outs
- – Cost of living
- – Rent
- – Home prices
- – Job market
- – Education
- – Commute
- – Air quality
- – Hazard safety
- – Health
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — stockton ap.
What jobs pay in Stockton
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $277,180
- Lawyers
- $174,880
- IT managers
- $165,260
- Pharmacists
- $162,440
- Financial managers
- $152,090
- Software developers
- $138,550
- Registered nurses
- $134,580
- Civil engineers
- $116,990
- General & operations managers
- $105,040
- Secondary school teachers
- $100,590
- Police officers
- $99,900
- Elementary school teachers
- $97,400
- Accountants & auditors
- $83,570
- Electricians
- $76,410
- Carpenters
- $69,160
- Plumbers
- $62,900
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $60,470
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $59,590
- Construction laborers
- $57,450
- Web developers
- $50,300
- Customer service reps
- $49,990
- Janitors
- $40,140
- Retail salespersons
- $37,660
- Cashiers
- $36,340
- Waiters & waitresses
- $34,460
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 Stockton 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.
- Nebraska851
- Texas542
- Arizona538
- Nevada463
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Stockton
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Stockton metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Stockton metro?
- Median gross rent across the Stockton-Lodi, CA Metro Area is $1,788 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Stockton.
- What is the median household income in the Stockton metro?
- A typical household in the Stockton-Lodi, CA Metro Area earns $93,038 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Stockton expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Stockton-Lodi, CA Metro Area runs about 5% 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 Stockton metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $88,533 (versus its face value of $93,038). CityLedger rates the Stockton-Lodi, CA Metro Area moderately affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Stockton metro?
- The median home value across the Stockton-Lodi, CA Metro Area is $562,500 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Stockton metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Stockton-Lodi, CA Metro Area is 7.9% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).