City · San Bernardino County, California

Colton, California

Colton is a city in San Bernardino County, California, part of the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA metro area. It has 53,772 residents. Colton, California has a quality-of-life score of 8 out of 100 (very low), ranking #14,349 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within California it ranks #886 of 1,062 cities and towns. It ranks best on public EV charging ports (high), depression (low) and distance to an Amtrak station (low). It ranks worst on high ozone days (high), days with unhealthy air (high) and median Air Quality Index (high).

8Very low

Quality-of-life score: #14,349 of 15,651 cities and towns
California: #886 of 1,062 in CA
Population: 53,772 (2020-2024)
Land area: 16 mi²
Density: 3,452.9 /mi²
FIPS code: 0614890

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.

Safety25#11,656/15,637
Economy36#10,011/15,631
Housing9#13,665/14,977
Health44#8,689/15,609
Healthcare41#9,255/15,650
Environment0#15,407/15,453
Education2#15,391/15,649
Infrastructure47#8,350/15,650
Community5#14,792/15,651
Leisure & amenities20#12,532/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Colton, California ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “San Bernardino 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 · high12.8 /10k
88/100California 17.4 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergySan Bernardino County value
Depression · low19.0%
87/100California 20.5%United States 20.7%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Distance to an Amtrak station · low7 mi
86/100California 10 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauSan Bernardino County value
Comfortable days · high31.7%
85/100California 34.8%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationSan Bernardino County value
Suicide rate · low9.6 /100k
85/100California 9.9 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataSan Bernardino County value
Income inequality (Gini index) · low0.391
81/100California 0.489United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083

Weaknesses

High ozone days · high108 days
0/100California 38 daysUnited States 7 days2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencySan Bernardino County value
Days with unhealthy air · high30.1%
0/100California 12.4%2025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencySan Bernardino County value
Median Air Quality Index · high77
1/100California 602025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencySan Bernardino County value
High school diploma or higher · low75.4%
1/100California 84.7%United States 89.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Mammography screening · low29.0%
2/100California 38.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSan Bernardino County value
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · high10.3 µg/m³
2/100California 9.4 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencySan Bernardino County value

Trends

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

Broadband subscriptionsImproving
82.4% (2015-2019) → 90.8% (2020-2024)
+8.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$53,838 (2015-2019) → $71,208 (2020-2024)
+32%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Home price to income ratioWorsening
4.8× (2015-2019) → 6.2× (2020-2024)
+30%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
New homes permittedWorsening
0.8 /1k (2021) → 0.7 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−20%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
58.7% (2015-2019) → 56.9% (2020-2024)
−1.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Poverty rateImproving
15.1% (2015-2019) → 13.7% (2020-2024)
−1.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%

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, Colton, California improved on 2 of 15 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 11 moved within the margin of error and 1 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.

Improved2

Household income+32%$53,838 → $71,208
Broadband+8.3 points82.4% → 90.8%

Declined1

Price / income+1.4×4.8× → 6.2×

All 15 measures

Change of every measure of Colton, California between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	26.2 min2015-2019	27.5 min2020-2024	+1.3 min	Within the margin of error	33%
Bachelor's degree or higher	17.3%2015-2019	16.6%2020-2024	−0.8 points	Within the margin of error	23%
Broadband subscriptions	82.4%2015-2019	90.8%2020-2024	+8.3 points	Improved	51%
Child poverty rate	21.7%2015-2019	20.7%2020-2024	−1 points	Within the margin of error	51%
Effective property tax rate	0.92%2015-2019	0.68%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Little change	65%
High school diploma or higher	76.4%2015-2019	75.5%2020-2024	−1 points	Within the margin of error	23%
Home price to income ratio	4.8×2015-2019	6.2×2020-2024	+1.4×	Declined	10%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3982015-2019	0.3912020-2024	−0.007	Within the margin of error	57%
Median household income	$53,8382015-2019	$71,2082020-2024	+32%	Improved	60%
Poverty rate	15.1%2015-2019	13.7%2020-2024	−1.4 points	Within the margin of error	57%
Public transit commuters	1.5%2015-2019	1.4%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	23%
Rent as share of income	34.7%2015-2019	33.5%2020-2024	−1.2 points	Within the margin of error	64%
Rent-burdened households	58.7%2015-2019	56.9%2020-2024	−1.8 points	Within the margin of error	62%
Unemployment rate	7.1%2015-2019	7.5%2020-2024	+0.4 points	Within the margin of error	40%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	8.8%2015-2019	10.1%2020-2024	+1.3 points	Within the margin of error	31%

“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 Colton, California five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Colton, 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, Colton, California itself moved +0.8 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

53,772 residents (±47)

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

16,897 households (±615)

Colton, California
California share

Under $25k12%1,983
$25k–50k21%3,464
$50k–75k20%3,362

Homes

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

Owners and renters

16,897 households (±615)

Colton, California
California share

Own53%8,920
Rent47%7,977

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

24,784 workers (±892)

Colton, California
California share

Drive alone74%18,458
Carpool13%3,135
Public transit1.4%†348

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 Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, 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 San Bernardino County, the county holding most of Colton's residents.

San Bernardino County has 42,571 employer establishments, 193 for every 10,000 residents (0.78× the US rate of 248; 0.74× California's), with 718,612 paid employees at an average annual pay of $54,598. The Census Bureau also counts 186,837 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 42,571; 186,837 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 193; US 248 · California 263
Paid employees: 718,612
Average annual pay: $54,598; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	4,067	18.5	0.89×About typical	48,080	$72,914	7,701
Restaurants and other eating places	3,721	16.9	0.92×About typical	69,303	$25,267	911
Specialty trade contractors	2,708	12.3	0.79×Fewer than typical	27,193	$73,471	9,074
Truck transportation	2,532	11.5	2.27×More than typical	23,246	$62,728	12,343
Lessors of real estate	1,898	8.6	0.70×Fewer than typical	7,041	$61,729	12,165
Limited-service restaurants	1,879	8.5	1.06×About typical	36,805	$23,556	366
Offices of physicians	1,273	5.8	0.89×About typical	11,477	$108,046	997
Full-service restaurants	1,245	5.6	0.74×Fewer than typical	25,016	$27,912	260
Automotive repair and maintenance	1,225	5.6	1.10×About typical	8,143	$53,194	4,044
Building equipment contractors	1,114	5.1	0.84×About typical	11,801	$83,858	2,262
Construction of buildings	1,097	5	0.66×Fewer than typical	5,851	$71,086	6,041
Offices of dentists	963	4.4	1.08×About typical	6,183	$51,494	409

Rank places for an industry Open San Bernardino County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 2,203,706 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 -$65.2K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Colton, California: -$1.21 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: -$65.2K; −151% vs FY2025
Per resident: -$1.21; US $1,994
Sole-source: —; US 30%
Single offer: —; 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

Defense Logistics Agency$21.9K0.0%
Defense Information Systems Agency$59.650.0%

Top recipients

CLARIANT CORP$21.9K0.0%
VERIZON BUSINESS NETWORK SERVICES LLC$59.650.0%
ASPEN ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP-$87.2K0.0%

Spending by fiscal year

1.1MFY2017
587.8KFY2018
615.7KFY2019
588.7KFY2020
493.6KFY2021
216.9KFY2022
210KFY2023
186.2K

Top industries (NAICS)

Navigational, measuring, electromedical, and control instruments manufacturing · 3345$21.9K0.0%
Other telecommunications · 5179$59.650.0%

Largest awards whose ZIP code lies mostly in Colton, California

8511862585!INDICATOR,HUMIDITY,$28.2K
CLARIANT CORP· San Bernardino County, CA· Other equipment & supplies· Jan 15, 2026 – Jan 15, 2026· SPE7M126F1486
NEPA FOR COMP STATELINE DESERT TORTOISE$25K
ASPEN ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP· San Bernardino County, CA· Construction & real property· Sep 16, 2020 – Dec 8, 2025· 140L1220F0046

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 Colton, California, so they do not add up across cities.

Colton, California's figures are part of those of San Bernardino County, CA ($840.1M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

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

See federal money in San Bernardino 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.

Colton, California is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).

House

County

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

San Bernardino County29100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA27

Other cities and towns in San Bernardino 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/0614890

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends