City · Colusa County, California

Colusa, California

Colusa is a city in Colusa County, California. It has 6,505 residents. Colusa, California has a quality-of-life score of 18 out of 100 (very low), ranking #12,909 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within California it ranks #752 of 1,062 cities and towns. It ranks best on job growth (high), drought exposure (low) and grocery stores (high). It ranks worst on new business applications (low), hospital quality rating (low) and natural hazard risk (high).

18Very low

Quality-of-life score: #12,909 of 15,651 cities and towns
California: #752 of 1,062 in CA
Population: 6,505 (2020-2024)
Land area: 4 mi²
Density: 1,491.5 /mi²
FIPS code: 0614946

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.

Safety62#5,898/15,637
Economy25#11,790/15,631
Housing12#13,113/14,977
Health43#8,915/15,609
Healthcare18#12,790/15,650
Environment51#7,575/15,453
Education2#15,292/15,649
Infrastructure44#8,792/15,650
Community8#14,404/15,651
Leisure & amenities44#8,817/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Colusa, California ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Colusa 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

Job growth · high5.8%
99/100California 0.9%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataColusa County value
Drought exposure · low0%
98/100California 9%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAAColusa County value
Grocery stores · high3.7 /10k
97/100California 2.0 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsColusa County value
Public libraries · high3.2 /10k
96/100California 0.3 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesColusa County value
Public EV charging ports · high18.8 /10k
94/100California 17.4 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyColusa County value
Homicide rate · low0.0 /100k
94/100California 3.7 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataColusa County value

Weaknesses

New business applications · low6.5 /1k
1/100California 14.1 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauColusa County value
Hospital quality rating · low1.0
1/100California 3.1United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesColusa County value
Natural hazard risk · high98.6
2/100California 87.32025Federal Emergency Management AgencyColusa County value
High school diploma or higher · low77.4%
3/100California 84.7%United States 89.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Traffic deaths · high34.6 /100k
5/100California 10.7 /100kUnited States 12.3 /100k2020-2024National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationProvisional dataColusa County value
Rent-burdened households · high68.4%
6/100California 55.3%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070

Trends

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

PopulationRising
6,106 (2015-2019) → 6,505 (2020-2024)
+6.5%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
47.7% (2015-2019) → 68.4% (2020-2024)
+21 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
78.9% (2015-2019) → 87.0% (2020-2024)
+8.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$51,364 (2015-2019) → $71,250 (2020-2024)
+39%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Unemployment rateWorsening
2.8% (2015-2019) → 10.3% (2020-2024)
+7.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
29.2% (2015-2019) → 35.8% (2020-2024)
+6.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%

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, Colusa, California improved on 2 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 10 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.

Improved2

Household income+39%$51,364 → $71,250
Broadband+8.2 points78.9% → 87.0%

Declined2

Unemployment+7.5 points2.8% → 10.3%
Rent burden+21 points47.7% → 68.4%

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Colusa, California between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	25.1 min2015-2019	19.7 min2020-2024	−5.4 min	Within the margin of error	91%
Bachelor's degree or higher	17.2%2015-2019	15.8%2020-2024	−1.4 points	Within the margin of error	19%
Broadband subscriptions	78.9%2015-2019	87.0%2020-2024	+8.2 points	Improved	50%
Child poverty rate	15.5%2015-2019	21.1%2020-2024	+5.5 points	Within the margin of error	19%
Effective property tax rate	0.72%2015-2019	0.60%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	42%
High school diploma or higher	79.4%2015-2019	77.5%2020-2024	−1.9 points	Within the margin of error	16%
Home price to income ratio	5.0×2015-2019	5.3×2020-2024	+0.3×	Within the margin of error	62%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4492015-2019	0.4572020-2024	+0.008	Within the margin of error	43%
Median household income	$51,3642015-2019	$71,2502020-2024	+39%	Improved	72%
Poverty rate	11.5%2015-2019	18.1%2020-2024	+6.5 points	Within the margin of error	9%
Rent as share of income	29.2%2015-2019	35.8%2020-2024	+6.6 points	Within the margin of error	16%
Rent-burdened households	47.7%2015-2019	68.4%2020-2024	+21 points	Declined	8%
Unemployment rate	2.8%2015-2019	10.3%2020-2024	+7.5 points	Declined	1%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	7.5%2015-2019	7.1%2020-2024	−0.4 points	Within the margin of error	52%

“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 Colusa, California five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Colusa, 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, Colusa, California itself moved −5.5 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

6,505 residents (±97)

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

2,477 households (±202)

Colusa, California
California share

Under $25k25%†630
$25k–50k13%†328
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

2,477 households (±202)

Colusa, California
California share

Own60%1,484
Rent40%993

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

2,409 workers (±285)

Colusa, California
California share

Drive alone86%2,071
Carpool7.3%†176
Public transit0.6%†

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 Colusa County, the county holding most of Colusa's residents.

Colusa County has 417 employer establishments, 189 for every 10,000 residents (0.76× the US rate of 248; 0.72× California's), with 4,552 paid employees at an average annual pay of $58,281. The Census Bureau also counts 1,086 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 417; 1,086 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 189; US 248 · California 263
Paid employees: 4,552
Average annual pay: $58,281; US $68,342

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

Truck transportation	41	18.6	3.68×More than typical	229	$88,838	98
Restaurants and other eating places	32	14.5	0.79×Fewer than typical	391	$27,808	6
Specialty trade contractors	22	10	0.64×Fewer than typical	80	$74,325	66
Lessors of real estate	19	8.6	0.70×Fewer than typical	56	$65,107	103
Ambulatory health care services	15	6.8	0.33×Fewer than typical	88	$61,580	15
Limited-service restaurants	15	6.8	0.85×About typical	129	$23,581	—
Full-service restaurants	14	6.3	0.83×About typical	219	$31,959	4
Construction of buildings	13	5.9	0.78×Fewer than typical	61	$67,541	31
Gasoline stations	13	5.9	1.82×More than typical	106	$31,217	—
Grocery and convenience stores	13	5.9	1.99×More than typical	151	$27,609	7
Automotive repair and maintenance	11	5	0.99×About typical	44	$52,659	31
Religious organizations	11	5	0.90×About typical	33	$18,879	—

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $790 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Colusa, California: $0.12 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $790
Per resident: $0.12; US $1,994
Sole-source: 0.0%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.0%; 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

Indian Health Service$790100%

Top recipients

CWE$790100%

Spending by fiscal year

648.3FY2017
90.2FY2018
49.2KFY2019
0FY2020
-32.9KFY2021
0FY2022
602.4FY2023
-350.6FY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Architectural, engineering, and related services · 5413$790100%

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

Colusa, California's figures are part of those of Colusa County, CA ($134K in FY2026), never added to them: 0.6% of that total.

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

See federal money in Colusa 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.

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

House

James GallagherR-CA-1 · 100% of residentsWith party 93%Missed 6.1%

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.

Colusa County29100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Colusa 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/0614946

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends