Census-designated place · Monterey County, California

Prunedale, California

Prunedale is a census-designated place in Monterey County, California, part of the Salinas, CA metro area. It has 19,723 residents. Prunedale, California has a quality-of-life score of 45 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #8,652 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within California it ranks #461 of 1,062 cities and towns. It ranks best on comfortable days (high), drought exposure (low) and job growth (high). It ranks worst on high school diploma or higher (low), home price to income ratio (high) and math scores (low).

45Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #8,652 of 15,651 cities and towns
California: #461 of 1,062 in CA
Population: 19,723 (2020-2024)
Land area: 46 mi²
Density: 428.2 /mi²
FIPS code: 0658870

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 75 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.

Safety46#8,442/15,637
Economy45#8,601/15,631
Housing21#11,883/14,977
Health70#4,635/15,609
Healthcare61#6,138/15,650
Environment94#891/15,453
Education3#15,179/15,649
Infrastructure50#7,763/15,650
Community22#12,139/15,651
Leisure & amenities63#5,825/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Comfortable days · high46.7%
99/100California 34.8%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationMonterey County value
Drought exposure · low0%
98/100California 9%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAAMonterey County value
Job growth · high3.7%
96/100California 0.9%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataMonterey County value
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · low5.2 µg/m³
95/100California 9.4 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyMonterey County value
Grocery stores · high2.7 /10k
92/100California 2.0 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsMonterey County value
Firearm deaths · low4.6 /100k
90/100California 6.7 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataMonterey County value

Weaknesses

High school diploma or higher · low79.3%
3/100California 84.7%United States 89.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Home price to income ratio · high8.0×
3/100California 7.4×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Math scores · low2.49
3/100California 2.79United States 3.032019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMonterey County value
Reading scores · low2.58
4/100California 2.91United States 3.052019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMonterey County value
Students per teacher · high21.3×
5/100California 21.7×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsMonterey County value
New business applications · low8.1 /1k
7/100California 14.1 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauMonterey County value

Trends

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

Broadband subscriptionsImproving
83.5% (2015-2019) → 94.5% (2020-2024)
+11 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Child poverty rateWorsening
7.3% (2015-2019) → 13.0% (2020-2024)
+5.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
6.4× (2015-2019) → 8.0× (2020-2024)
+26%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Poverty rateWorsening
6.0% (2015-2019) → 11.1% (2020-2024)
+5.1 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
39.4% (2015-2019) → 44.3% (2020-2024)
+5 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
24.4% (2015-2019) → 28.5% (2020-2024)
+4.1 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, Prunedale, California improved on 2 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 3. 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.

Improved2

Broadband+11 points83.5% → 94.5%
Household income+16%$89,137 → $103,819

Declined3

Price / income+1.7×6.4× → 8.0×
Unemployment+3.4 points5.1% → 8.5%
Poverty+5.1 points6.0% → 11.1%

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Prunedale, California between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	30.8 min2015-2019	30.9 min2020-2024	+0.1 min	Within the margin of error	46%
Bachelor's degree or higher	22.6%2015-2019	23.8%2020-2024	+1.2 points	Within the margin of error	36%
Broadband subscriptions	83.5%2015-2019	94.5%2020-2024	+11 points	Improved	64%
Child poverty rate	7.3%2015-2019	13.0%2020-2024	+5.7 points	Within the margin of error	19%
Effective property tax rate	0.67%2015-2019	0.62%2020-2024	−0 points	Within the margin of error	25%
High school diploma or higher	79.1%2015-2019	79.4%2020-2024	+0.3 points	Within the margin of error	37%
Home price to income ratio	6.4×2015-2019	8.0×2020-2024	+1.7×	Declined	7%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4302015-2019	0.4842020-2024	+0.053	Within the margin of error	15%
Median household income	$89,1372015-2019	$103,8192020-2024	+16%	Improved	26%
Poverty rate	6.0%2015-2019	11.1%2020-2024	+5.1 points	Declined	12%
Rent as share of income	24.4%2015-2019	28.5%2020-2024	+4.1 points	Within the margin of error	26%
Rent-burdened households	39.4%2015-2019	44.3%2020-2024	+5 points	Within the margin of error	38%
Unemployment rate	5.1%2015-2019	8.5%2020-2024	+3.4 points	Declined	8%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	8.2%2015-2019	8.3%2020-2024	+0.1 points	Within the margin of error	45%

“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 Prunedale, California five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Prunedale, 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, Prunedale, California itself moved −6.9 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

19,723 residents (±2,077)

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

5,652 households (±441)

Prunedale, California
California share

Under $25k13%†712
$25k–50k8.2%†462
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

5,652 households (±441)

Prunedale, California
California share

Own77%4,337
Rent23%1,315

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

7,680 workers (±869)

Prunedale, California
California share

Drive alone75%5,789
Carpool12%†888
Public transit0.2%†

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 Salinas, 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 Monterey County, the county holding most of Prunedale's residents.

Monterey County has 9,212 employer establishments, 212 for every 10,000 residents (0.85× the US rate of 248; 0.81× California's), with 116,784 paid employees at an average annual pay of $60,396. The Census Bureau also counts 28,349 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 9,212; 28,349 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 212; US 248 · California 263
Paid employees: 116,784
Average annual pay: $60,396; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	818	18.8	1.03×About typical	14,568	$29,732	163
Ambulatory health care services	766	17.6	0.85×About typical	6,481	$78,295	1,260
Specialty trade contractors	681	15.7	1.01×About typical	4,057	$70,112	1,209
Lessors of real estate	456	10.5	0.85×About typical	1,481	$59,182	2,805
Construction of buildings	405	9.3	1.23×About typical	2,064	$69,577	940
Full-service restaurants	380	8.8	1.14×About typical	7,385	$34,088	53
Services to buildings and dwellings	319	7.3	1.09×About typical	1,942	$41,626	2,153
Limited-service restaurants	305	7	0.88×About typical	5,469	$24,822	51
Building equipment contractors	268	6.2	1.03×About typical	1,532	$72,736	296
Offices of physicians	267	6.2	0.95×About typical	1,788	$112,636	314
Truck transportation	247	5.7	1.13×About typical	1,132	$67,152	468
Building finishing contractors	241	5.6	1.46×More than typical	1,303	$59,276	402

Rank places for an industry Open Monterey County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 434,107 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 $18K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Prunedale, California: $0.91 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $18K; +6.9% vs FY2025
Per resident: $0.91; US $1,994
Sole-source: 100%; 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

Department of the Army$18K100%

Top recipients

JIMENEZ MASONRY CONTRACTOR INC$18K100%

Spending by fiscal year

100.9KFY2017
125.3KFY2018
113.8KFY2019
215.6KFY2020
477.9KFY2021
346.9KFY2022
596.8KFY2023
109.1K

Top industries (NAICS)

Specialized freight trucking · 4842$18K100%

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

Prunedale, California's figures are part of those of Monterey County, CA ($571.5M 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: Prunedale is mostly in Monterey County.

See federal money in Monterey 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.

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

House

Senate

County

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

Monterey County59100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Salinas, CA61

Other cities and towns in Monterey 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/0658870

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends