City · Humboldt County, California

Arcata, California

Arcata is a city in Humboldt County, California, part of the Eureka-Arcata, CA metro area. It has 18,607 residents. Arcata, California has a quality-of-life score of 32 out of 100 (low), ranking #10,600 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within California it ranks #591 of 1,062 cities and towns. It ranks best on public EV charging ports (high), mental health providers (high) and comfortable days (high). It ranks worst on home price to income ratio (high), drug overdose deaths (high) and mental health care shortage (high).

32Low

Quality-of-life score: #10,600 of 15,651 cities and towns
California: #591 of 1,062 in CA
Population: 18,607 (2020-2024)
Land area: 9 mi²
Density: 1,976.0 /mi²
FIPS code: 0602476

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 76 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety15#13,213/15,637
Economy6#14,669/15,631
Housing7#13,900/14,977
Health21#12,302/15,609
Healthcare64#5,677/15,650
Environment92#1,210/15,453
Education20#12,594/15,649
Infrastructure70#4,733/15,650
Community31#10,796/15,651
Leisure & amenities87#1,950/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Arcata, California ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Humboldt County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Public EV charging ports · high21.6 /10k
97/100California 17.4 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyHumboldt County value
Mental health providers · high690 /100k
96/100California 487 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteHumboldt County value
Comfortable days · high36.7%
96/100California 34.8%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationHumboldt County value
Grocery stores · high3.0 /10k
94/100California 2.0 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsHumboldt County value
Job growth · high2.8%
93/100California 0.9%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataHumboldt County value
Average commute time · low17.8 min
85/100California 28.7 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013

Weaknesses

Home price to income ratio · high10.4×
1/100California 7.4×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Drug overdose deaths · high47.0 /100k
2/100California 20.1 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataHumboldt County value
Mental health care shortage · high19.0
4/100California 5.1United States 9.9Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationHumboldt County value
Suicide rate · high29.1 /100k
4/100California 9.9 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataHumboldt County value
Income inequality (Gini index) · high0.508
4/100California 0.489United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
Poverty rate · high27.2%
4/100California 11.8%United States 12.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

New homes permittedWorsening
2.8 /1k (2021) → 1.1 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−62%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Rent as share of incomeImproving
51.0% (2015-2019) → 40.0% (2020-2024)
−11 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Poverty rateImproving
38.0% (2015-2019) → 27.2% (2020-2024)
−11 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Child poverty rateImproving
32.1% (2015-2019) → 21.2% (2020-2024)
−11 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
73.2% (2015-2019) → 62.4% (2020-2024)
−11 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Median household incomeImproving
$35,506 (2015-2019) → $46,713 (2020-2024)
+32%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Arcata, California improved on 5 of 15 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 9 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved5

Poverty−11 points38.0% → 27.2%
Rent / income−11 points51.0% → 40.0%
Uninsured−3.5 points8.0% → 4.5%
Household income+32%$35,506 → $46,713
Broadband+3.6 points89.4% → 93.0%

Declined1

Transit use−3.5 points4.9% → 1.4%

All 15 measures

Change of every measure of Arcata, California between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	17.2 min2015-2019	17.8 min2020-2024	+0.6 min	Within the margin of error	41%
Bachelor's degree or higher	48.6%2015-2019	46.3%2020-2024	−2.3 points	Within the margin of error	15%
Broadband subscriptions	89.4%2015-2019	93.0%2020-2024	+3.6 points	Improved	24%
Child poverty rate	32.1%2015-2019	21.2%2020-2024	−11 points	Within the margin of error	84%
Effective property tax rate	0.74%2015-2019	0.60%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	44%
High school diploma or higher	92.2%2015-2019	96.0%2020-2024	+3.8 points	Within the margin of error	75%
Home price to income ratio	9.6×2015-2019	10.4×2020-2024	+0.8×	Within the margin of error	32%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.5262015-2019	0.5082020-2024	−0.018	Within the margin of error	66%
Median household income	$35,5062015-2019	$46,7132020-2024	+32%	Improved	59%
Poverty rate	38.0%2015-2019	27.2%2020-2024	−11 points	Improved	94%
Public transit commuters	4.9%2015-2019	1.4%2020-2024	−3.5 points	Declined	9%
Rent as share of income	51.0%2015-2019	40.0%2020-2024	−11 points	Improved	94%
Rent-burdened households	73.2%2015-2019	62.4%2020-2024	−11 points	Within the margin of error	84%
Unemployment rate	11.7%2015-2019	11.9%2020-2024	+0.2 points	Within the margin of error	45%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	8.0%2015-2019	4.5%2020-2024	−3.5 points	Improved	80%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Arcata, California five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Arcata, California in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Arcata, California itself moved +2.6 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

18,607 residents (±32)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

7,884 households (±452)

Arcata, California
California share

Under $25k28%2,169
$25k–50k24%1,881
$50k–75k15%1,163

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

7,884 households (±452)

Arcata, California
California share

Own36%2,873
Rent64%5,011

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

8,922 workers (±632)

Arcata, California
California share

Drive alone59%5,227
Carpool9.5%†846
Public transit1.4%†

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Eureka-Arcata, CA

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Humboldt County, the county holding most of Arcata's residents.

Humboldt County has 3,178 employer establishments, 237 for every 10,000 residents (0.96× the US rate of 248; 0.90× California's), with 34,729 paid employees at an average annual pay of $49,984. The Census Bureau also counts 10,789 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 3,178; 10,789 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 237; US 248 · California 263
Paid employees: 34,729
Average annual pay: $49,984; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Humboldt County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Restaurants and other eating places	281	21	1.14×About typical	3,749	$23,936	39
Ambulatory health care services	220	16.4	0.79×Fewer than typical	2,341	$71,706	564
Construction of buildings	167	12.5	1.65×More than typical	884	$62,178	601
Specialty trade contractors	162	12.1	0.78×Fewer than typical	1,092	$70,118	647
Lessors of real estate	152	11.3	0.92×About typical	443	$46,350	893
Full-service restaurants	145	10.8	1.41×More than typical	1,863	$25,598	15
Limited-service restaurants	93	6.9	0.87×About typical	1,440	$21,181	15
Automotive repair and maintenance	84	6.3	1.25×About typical	428	$53,136	123
Building equipment contractors	74	5.5	0.92×About typical	349	$67,645	93
Offices of other health practitioners	73	5.4	0.90×About typical	404	$44,564	388
Management, scientific and technical consulting	64	4.8	0.71×Fewer than typical	237	$71,734	332
Individual and family services	63	4.7	1.68×More than typical	1,224	$37,319	93

Rank places for an industry Open Humboldt County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 133,956 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $912.4K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Arcata, California: $49.04 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $912.4K; −41% vs FY2025
Per resident: $49.04; US $1,994
Sole-source: 5.0%; US 30%
Single offer: 21%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Department of the Army$514.6K56%
Defense Logistics Agency$249.2K27%
Bureau of Land Management$101.7K11%
U.S. Special Operations Command$39.8K4.4%
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service$4,3140.5%
U.S. Geological Survey$3,0680.3%
U.S. Coast Guard$1,2630.1%

Top recipients

KOKATAT INC$514.6K56%
WING INFLATABLES INC$289K32%
EASY STREET GRAVEL ROAD REPAIR LLC$55.9K6.1%
PONDEROSA TIMBERLAND, INC.$39K4.3%
STEVES SEPTIC SERVICE, LLC$8,6580.9%

Spending by fiscal year

2MFY2017
2MFY2018
1.5MFY2019
675.3KFY2020
1.1MFY2021
754.4KFY2022
2.6MFY2023
1.9M

Top industries (NAICS)

Cut and sew apparel manufacturing · 3152$514.6K56%
Ship and boat building · 3366$128.9K14%
Fishing · 1141$114.7K13%
Highway, street, and bridge construction · 2373$55.9K6.1%
Support activities for forestry · 1153$37.2K4.1%
Plastics product manufacturing · 3261$23.3K2.6%

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Arcata, California, so they do not add up across cities.

Arcata, California's figures are part of those of Humboldt County, CA ($25.6M in FY2026), never added to them: 3.6% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Arcata is mostly in Humboldt County.

See federal money in Humboldt County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Arcata, California is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Jared HuffmanD-CA-2 · 100% of residentsWith party 100%Missed 2.5%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Humboldt County52100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Eureka-Arcata, CA58

Other cities and towns in Humboldt County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/0602476

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends