City · Tuolumne County, California

Sonora, California

Sonora is a city in Tuolumne County, California, part of the Sonora, CA metro area. It has 4,919 residents. Sonora, California has a quality-of-life score of 31 out of 100 (low), ranking #10,754 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within California it ranks #600 of 1,062 cities and towns. It ranks best on drought exposure (low), dentists (high) and comfortable days (high). It ranks worst on distance to an emergency room (high), natural hazard risk (high) and new business applications (low).

31Low

Quality-of-life score: #10,754 of 15,651 cities and towns
California: #600 of 1,062 in CA
Population: 4,919 (2020-2024)
Land area: 3 mi²
Density: 1,555.4 /mi²
FIPS code: 0672674

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.

Safety47#8,309/15,637
Economy32#10,562/15,631
Housing7#13,891/14,977
Health35#10,085/15,609
Healthcare53#7,331/15,650
Environment75#3,910/15,453
Education15#13,306/15,649
Infrastructure26#11,546/15,650
Community27#11,459/15,651
Leisure & amenities91#1,450/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Sonora, California ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Tuolumne 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 NOAATuolumne County value
Dentists · high122 /100k
97/100California 95 /100kUnited States 75 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteTuolumne County value
Comfortable days · high35.2%
95/100California 34.8%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationTuolumne County value
Grocery stores · high3.0 /10k
94/100California 2.0 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsTuolumne County value
Homicide rate · low0.0 /100k
94/100California 3.7 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataTuolumne County value
Public EV charging ports · high13.0 /10k
88/100California 17.4 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyTuolumne County value

Weaknesses

Distance to an emergency room · high27.7 mi
1/100California 4.3 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesTuolumne County value
Natural hazard risk · high97.2
3/100California 87.32025Federal Emergency Management AgencyTuolumne County value
New business applications · low7.2 /1k
3/100California 14.1 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauTuolumne County value
Unemployment rate · high12.4%
5/100California 5.5%United States 4.3%2020-2024U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census table B23025
Violent crime rate · high574 /100k
6/100California 433 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationTuolumne County value
High school diploma or higher · low95.0%
8/100California 84.7%United States 89.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003

Trends

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

New homes permittedWorsening
1.6 /1k (2021) → 0.0 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−100%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Median household incomeImproving
$42,446 (2015-2019) → $82,690 (2020-2024)
+95%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
79.1% (2015-2019) → 90.4% (2020-2024)
+11 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
24.1% (2015-2019) → 33.2% (2020-2024)
+9.1 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
49.3% (2015-2019) → 57.8% (2020-2024)
+8.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Unemployment rateWorsening
5.6% (2015-2019) → 12.4% (2020-2024)
+6.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%

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, Sonora, California improved on 3 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 11 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.

Improved3

Household income+95%$42,446 → $82,690
Inequality−0.1000.527 → 0.427
Broadband+11 points79.1% → 90.4%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Sonora, California between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	23.3 min2015-2019	28.9 min2020-2024	+5.6 min	Within the margin of error	8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	24.1%2015-2019	33.2%2020-2024	+9.1 points	Within the margin of error	87%
Broadband subscriptions	79.1%2015-2019	90.4%2020-2024	+11 points	Improved	66%
Child poverty rate	27.2%2015-2019	24.2%2020-2024	−3 points	Within the margin of error	61%
Effective property tax rate	0.68%2015-2019	0.58%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	35%
High school diploma or higher	90.6%2015-2019	95.0%2020-2024	+4.4 points	Within the margin of error	78%
Home price to income ratio	6.4×2015-2019	5.1×2020-2024	−1.3×	Within the margin of error	99%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.5272015-2019	0.4272020-2024	−0.100	Improved	96%
Median household income	$42,4462015-2019	$82,6902020-2024	+95%	Improved	98%
Poverty rate	21.0%2015-2019	16.9%2020-2024	−4 points	Within the margin of error	76%
Rent as share of income	29.8%2015-2019	33.8%2020-2024	+4 points	Within the margin of error	27%
Rent-burdened households	49.3%2015-2019	57.8%2020-2024	+8.5 points	Within the margin of error	27%
Unemployment rate	5.6%2015-2019	12.4%2020-2024	+6.8 points	Within the margin of error	2%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	5.6%2015-2019	5.2%2020-2024	−0.4 points	Within the margin of error	51%

“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 Sonora, California five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Sonora, 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, Sonora, California itself moved +6.1 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

4,919 residents (±20)

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

2,216 households (±229)

Sonora, California
California share

Under $25k21%†468
$25k–50k17%†386
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

2,216 households (±229)

Sonora, California
California share

Own43%949
Rent57%1,267

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

2,167 workers (±271)

Sonora, California
California share

Drive alone83%1,796
Carpool4.7%†102
Public transit0.1%†

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 Sonora, 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 Tuolumne County, the county holding most of Sonora's residents.

Tuolumne County has 1,266 employer establishments, 234 for every 10,000 residents (0.94× the US rate of 248; 0.89× California's), with 12,548 paid employees at an average annual pay of $54,148. The Census Bureau also counts 4,094 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 1,266; 4,094 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 234; US 248 · California 263
Paid employees: 12,548
Average annual pay: $54,148; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	132	24.4	1.17×About typical	802	$85,395	183
Restaurants and other eating places	113	20.9	1.14×About typical	1,436	$26,880	16
Specialty trade contractors	111	20.5	1.32×More than typical	483	$64,371	298
Construction of buildings	76	14	1.86×More than typical	282	$89,305	251
Lessors of real estate	66	12.2	0.99×About typical	171	$49,982	418
Full-service restaurants	61	11.3	1.47×More than typical	762	$29,542	7
Offices of physicians	55	10.2	1.57×More than typical	355	$114,437	23
Building equipment contractors	46	8.5	1.41×More than typical	241	$60,979	63
Services to buildings and dwellings	46	8.5	1.26×More than typical	235	$46,030	292
Offices of other health practitioners	32	5.9	0.97×About typical	91	$45,538	90
Automotive repair and maintenance	31	5.7	1.14×About typical	145	$52,883	58
Offices of dentists	31	5.7	1.42×More than typical	191	$60,366	6

Rank places for an industry Open Tuolumne County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 54,172 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 $135.1K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Sonora, California: $27.47 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $135.1K; −43% vs FY2025
Per resident: $27.47; US $1,994
Sole-source: 4.8%; US 30%
Single offer: 25%; 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

Forest Service$96.5K71%
Bureau of Reclamation$25.3K19%
Department of Veterans Affairs$5,3564.0%
Federal Highway Administration$2,6201.9%
Social Security Administration$2,3561.7%
Consumer Product Safety Commission$1,6361.2%
Offices, Boards and Divisions$1,3111.0%

Top recipients

INTERMOUNTAIN HELICOPTER, INC.$33.2K25%
MIKE MCCONNELL$30.2K22%
WHITE BEAR CONSTRUCTION, INC.$28.1K21%
CALIFORNIA WASTE RECOVERY SYSTEMS, LLC$10K7.4%
BLACK FOX TIMBER MANAGEMENT GROUP, INC.$9,5717.1%

Spending by fiscal year

424.4KFY2017
200.7KFY2018
77KFY2019
72.3KFY2020
191.2KFY2021
137.4KFY2022
310.5KFY2023
157.1K

Top industries (NAICS)

Nonscheduled air transportation · 4812$33.2K25%
Highway, street, and bridge construction · 2373$28.1K21%
Other heavy and civil engineering construction · 2379$24.5K18%
Waste collection · 5621$10K7.4%
Support activities for forestry · 1153$9,9857.4%
Remediation and other waste management services · 5629$6,6764.9%

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

Sonora, California's figures are part of those of Tuolumne County, CA ($14.3M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.9% of that total.

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

See federal money in Tuolumne 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.

Sonora, 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.

Tuolumne County52100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Sonora, CA60

Other cities and towns in Tuolumne 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/0672674

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends