City · Amador County, California

Jackson, California

Jackson is a city in Amador County, California. It has 5,048 residents. Jackson, California has a quality-of-life score of 33 out of 100 (low), ranking #10,528 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within California it ranks #586 of 1,062 cities and towns. It ranks best on drought exposure (low), food environment index (high) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) (low). It ranks worst on new business applications (low), broadband subscriptions (low) and students per teacher (high).

33Low

Quality-of-life score: #10,528 of 15,651 cities and towns
California: #586 of 1,062 in CA
Population: 5,048 (2020-2024)
Land area: 4 mi²
Density: 1,409.0 /mi²
FIPS code: 0636980

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.

Safety40#9,313/15,637
Economy54#7,224/15,631
Housing6#14,073/14,977
Health69#4,863/15,609
Healthcare66#5,359/15,650
Environment73#4,125/15,453
Education6#14,783/15,649
Infrastructure12#13,797/15,650
Community32#10,570/15,651
Leisure & amenities48#8,070/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Jackson, California ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Amador 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%
94/100California 9%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAAAmador County value
Food environment index · high9.2
92/100California 8.7United States 7.62019 & 2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteAmador County value
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · low5.9 µg/m³
91/100California 9.4 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyAmador County value
Primary care shortage · low0.0
90/100California 2.6United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationAmador County value
Job growth · high2.1%
89/100California 0.9%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataAmador County value
Grocery stores · high2.4 /10k
86/100California 2.0 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsAmador County value

Weaknesses

New business applications · low6.9 /1k
2/100California 14.1 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauAmador County value
Broadband subscriptions · low75.3%
2/100California 93.5%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
Students per teacher · high22.2×
3/100California 21.7×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsAmador County value
Natural hazard risk · high94.8
5/100California 87.32025Federal Emergency Management AgencyAmador County value
High school diploma or higher · low91.4%
7/100California 84.7%United States 89.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Home price to income ratio · high6.3×
7/100California 7.4×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077

Trends

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

PopulationRising
4,751 (2015-2019) → 5,048 (2020-2024)
+6.3%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
New homes permittedWorsening
0.4 /1k (2021) → 0.0 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−100%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Child poverty rateImproving
19.6% (2015-2019) → 6.4% (2020-2024)
−13 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Broadband subscriptionsWorsening
84.9% (2015-2019) → 75.3% (2020-2024)
−9.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$53,462 (2015-2019) → $70,239 (2020-2024)
+31%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Home price to income ratioWorsening
4.9× (2015-2019) → 6.3× (2020-2024)
+29%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×

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, Jackson, California improved on 0 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 12 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.

Improved0

No measure improved by more than its margin of error.

Declined1

Broadband−9.7 points84.9% → 75.3%

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Jackson, California between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	22.2 min2015-2019	20.2 min2020-2024	−2.0 min	Within the margin of error	71%
Bachelor's degree or higher	18.0%2015-2019	23.6%2020-2024	+5.6 points	Within the margin of error	72%
Broadband subscriptions	84.9%2015-2019	75.3%2020-2024	−9.7 points	Declined	1%
Effective property tax rate	0.69%2015-2019	0.62%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	29%
High school diploma or higher	89.6%2015-2019	91.4%2020-2024	+1.9 points	Within the margin of error	57%
Home price to income ratio	4.9×2015-2019	6.3×2020-2024	+1.4×	Within the margin of error	10%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4622015-2019	0.4612020-2024	−0.001	Within the margin of error	52%
Median household income	$53,4622015-2019	$70,2392020-2024	+31%	Within the margin of error	58%
Poverty rate	11.2%2015-2019	10.9%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Within the margin of error	47%
Rent as share of income	34.4%2015-2019	32.8%2020-2024	−1.6 points	Within the margin of error	67%
Rent-burdened households	61.9%2015-2019	58.7%2020-2024	−3.2 points	Within the margin of error	67%
Unemployment rate	6.9%2015-2019	4.3%2020-2024	−2.6 points	Within the margin of error	87%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	5.4%2015-2019	6.1%2020-2024	+0.7 points	Within the margin of error	38%

“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 Jackson, California five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Jackson, 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, Jackson, California itself moved −1.6 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

5,048 residents (±21)

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

2,385 households (±230)

Jackson, California
California share

Under $25k19%†465
$25k–50k19%†442
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

2,385 households (±230)

Jackson, California
California share

Own61%1,444
Rent39%941

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

1,948 workers (±268)

Jackson, California
California share

Drive alone76%1,479
Carpool13%†253
Public transit0.0%0

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 Amador County, the county holding most of Jackson's residents.

Amador County has 868 employer establishments, 208 for every 10,000 residents (0.84× the US rate of 248; 0.79× California's), with 7,776 paid employees at an average annual pay of $51,200. The Census Bureau also counts 2,802 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 868; 2,802 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 208; US 248 · California 263
Paid employees: 7,776
Average annual pay: $51,200; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	81	19.4	1.06×About typical	1,071	$24,948	15
Ambulatory health care services	70	16.8	0.80×About typical	485	$71,449	107
Specialty trade contractors	66	15.8	1.02×About typical	208	$65,889	201
Full-service restaurants	43	10.3	1.34×More than typical	714	$26,549	3
Lessors of real estate	34	8.1	0.66×Fewer than typical	93	$35,290	252
Offices of physicians	28	6.7	1.03×About typical	109	$118,101	12
Services to buildings and dwellings	27	6.5	0.96×About typical	106	$30,217	184
Automotive repair and maintenance	26	6.2	1.24×About typical	153	$58,013	40
Construction of buildings	25	6	0.79×Fewer than typical	60	$60,283	124
Building equipment contractors	24	5.7	0.95×About typical	96	$71,542	54
Limited-service restaurants	23	5.5	0.69×Fewer than typical	255	$22,694	4
Religious organizations	22	5.3	0.95×About typical	124	$23,782	—

Rank places for an industry Open Amador County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 41,783 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 $835.1K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Jackson, California: $165 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $835.1K; +880% vs FY2025
Per resident: $165; US $1,994
Sole-source: 0.0%; US 30%
Single offer: 2.5%; 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

Environmental Protection Agency$835.1K100%

Top recipients

APTIM HDR, LLC$814.9K98%
EA ENGINEERING, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY, INC., PBC$20.6K2.5%
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT, INC-$3840.0%

Spending by fiscal year

-766.6FY2017
6.4KFY2018
66.4KFY2019
117.8KFY2020
75.4KFY2021
19.3KFY2022
22KFY2023
39KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Remediation and other waste management services · 5629$835.1K100.0%

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

Jackson, California's figures are part of those of Amador County, CA ($15.6M in FY2026), never added to them: 5.4% of that total.

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

See federal money in Amador 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.

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

House

Tom McClintockR-CA-5 · 100% of residentsWith party 98%Missed 3.3%

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.

Amador County54100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Amador 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/0636980

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends