Census-designated place · Sacramento County, California

Herald, California

Herald is a census-designated place in Sacramento County, California, part of the Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA metro area. It has 1,521 residents. Herald, California has a quality-of-life score of 37 out of 100 (low), ranking #9,896 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within California it ranks #539 of 1,062 cities and towns. It ranks best on drought exposure (low), access to exercise opportunities (high) and new business applications (high). It ranks worst on students per teacher (high), loneliness (high) and high school diploma or higher (low).

37Low

Quality-of-life score: #9,896 of 15,651 cities and towns
California: #539 of 1,062 in CA
Population: 1,521 (2020-2024)
Land area: 8 mi²
Density: 193.0 /mi²
FIPS code: 0633294

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 74 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#11,748/15,637
Economy69#4,786/15,631
Housing—
Health55#6,956/15,609
Healthcare67#5,136/15,650
Environment16#12,926/15,453
Education3#15,120/15,649
Infrastructure69#4,866/15,650
Community30#10,976/15,651
Leisure & amenities52#7,462/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Drought exposure · low0%
98/100California 9%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAASacramento County value
Access to exercise opportunities · high98.9%
95/100California 94.3%United States 84.5%2022 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSacramento County value
New business applications · high22.1 /1k
94/100California 14.1 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauSacramento County value
Public EV charging ports · high15.9 /10k
91/100California 17.4 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergySacramento County value
Poverty rate · low3.8%
89/100California 11.8%United States 12.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001
Average weekly wage · high$1,577
88/100California $1,865United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsSacramento County value

Weaknesses

Students per teacher · high23.1×
0/100California 21.7×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsSacramento County value
Loneliness · high39.3%
4/100California 37.8%United States 33.2%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
High school diploma or higher · low73.8%
4/100California 84.7%United States 89.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Home price to income ratio · high7.0×
4/100California 7.4×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Public libraries · low0.2 /10k
7/100California 0.3 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesSacramento County value
Mammography screening · low36.0%
9/100California 38.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSacramento County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
967 (2015-2019) → 1,521 (2020-2024)
+57%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
50.0% (2015-2019) → 100.0% (2020-2024)
+50 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
High school diploma or higherWorsening
90.5% (2015-2019) → 73.8% (2020-2024)
−17 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%
Income inequality (Gini index)Worsening
0.377 (2015-2019) → 0.559 (2020-2024)
+49%5 yearsCensus table B19083US 0.482 → 0.483
Poverty rateImproving
12.6% (2015-2019) → 3.8% (2020-2024)
−8.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Child poverty rateImproving
8.6% (2015-2019) → 0.0% (2020-2024)
−8.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%

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, Herald, California improved on 1 of 7 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 5 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.

Improved1

Poverty−8.8 points12.6% → 3.8%

Declined1

Inequality+0.1830.377 → 0.559

All 7 measures

Change of every measure of Herald, California between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Bachelor's degree or higher	25.1%2015-2019	18.9%2020-2024	−6.3 points	Within the margin of error	5%
Broadband subscriptions	86.8%2015-2019	81.4%2020-2024	−5.4 points	Within the margin of error	2%
High school diploma or higher	90.5%2015-2019	73.8%2020-2024	−17 points	Within the margin of error	0%
Home price to income ratio	5.9×2015-2019	7.0×2020-2024	+1.1×	Within the margin of error	17%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3772015-2019	0.5592020-2024	+0.183	Declined	1%
Median household income	$92,7082015-2019	$93,0362020-2024	+0.4%	Within the margin of error	8%
Poverty rate	12.6%2015-2019	3.8%2020-2024	−8.8 points	Improved	91%

“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 Herald, California five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Herald, 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, Herald, California itself moved −37.1 points in standing on average over the same 6 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

1,521 residents (±559)

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

467 households (±169)

Herald, California
California share

Under $25k20%†92
$25k–50k2.1%†10
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

467 households (±169)

Herald, California
California share

Own83%†387
Rent17%†80

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

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

810 workers (±447)

Herald, California
California share

Drive alone77%†622
Carpool1.2%†10
Public transit

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 Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, 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 Sacramento County, the county holding most of Herald's residents.

Sacramento County has 34,280 employer establishments, 215 for every 10,000 residents (0.86× the US rate of 248; 0.82× California's), with 533,709 paid employees at an average annual pay of $71,257. The Census Bureau also counts 135,917 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 34,280; 135,917 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 215; US 248 · California 263
Paid employees: 533,709
Average annual pay: $71,257; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	2,956	18.5	1.01×About typical	52,485	$25,508	593
Ambulatory health care services	2,865	17.9	0.86×About typical	46,292	$95,154	4,750
Specialty trade contractors	2,241	14	0.91×About typical	29,077	$77,249	5,372
Lessors of real estate	1,750	11	0.89×About typical	8,301	$64,042	9,888
Limited-service restaurants	1,313	8.2	1.03×About typical	23,702	$22,655	240
Truck transportation	1,204	7.5	1.49×More than typical	5,380	$53,925	8,745
Full-service restaurants	1,124	7	0.92×About typical	21,930	$29,413	224
Management, scientific and technical consulting	1,103	6.9	1.03×About typical	8,224	$97,600	4,136
Construction of buildings	1,010	6.3	0.84×About typical	8,897	$93,764	4,585
Legal services	945	5.9	1.10×About typical	6,749	$115,882	1,417
Services to buildings and dwellings	916	5.7	0.85×About typical	13,640	$43,205	6,960
Building equipment contractors	841	5.3	0.88×About typical	14,102	$82,269	1,200

Rank places for an industry Open Sacramento County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 1,596,637 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 $3,273 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Herald, California: $2.15 per resident (US $1,995).

Obligations: $3,273; +70% vs FY2025
Per resident: $2.15; US $1,995
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

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention$2,52377%
Bureau of Land Management$75023%

Top recipients

ANINTAH$2,52377%
PRAVEEN CHAND$75023%

Spending by fiscal year

1.2KFY2017
2.3KFY2018
393.6FY2019
393.6FY2020
28.3KFY2021
2.5KFY2023
9KFY2024
1.9KFY2025

Top industries (NAICS)

Household appliance manufacturing · 3352$2,52377%
Services to buildings and dwellings · 5617$75023%

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 6, 2026, loaded Oct 6, 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 Herald, California, so they do not add up across cities.

Herald, California's figures are part of those of Sacramento County, CA ($625.6M 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: Herald is mostly in Sacramento County.

See federal money in Sacramento 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.

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

House

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.

Sacramento County52100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA65

Other cities and towns in Sacramento 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
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/0633294

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends