Census-designated place · Mendocino County, California

Talmage, California

Talmage is a census-designated place in Mendocino County, California, part of the Ukiah, CA metro area. It has 1,128 residents. Talmage, California has a quality-of-life score of 24 out of 100 (low), ranking #11,880 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within California it ranks #665 of 1,062 cities and towns. It ranks best on grocery stores (high), broadband subscriptions (high) and public EV charging ports (high). It ranks worst on home price to income ratio (high), natural hazard risk (high) and math scores (low).

24Low

Quality-of-life score: #11,880 of 15,651 cities and towns
California: #665 of 1,062 in CA
Population: 1,128 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 709.5 /mi²
FIPS code: 0677784

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.

Safety24#11,894/15,637
Economy18#12,839/15,631
Housing2#14,604/14,977
Health41#9,281/15,609
Healthcare47#8,357/15,650
Environment60#6,125/15,453
Education0#15,581/15,649
Infrastructure64#5,662/15,650
Community14#13,397/15,651
Leisure & amenities94#937/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Grocery stores · high5.0 /10k
99/100California 2.0 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsMendocino County value
Broadband subscriptions · high100.0%
99/100California 93.5%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
Public EV charging ports · high26.9 /10k
98/100California 17.4 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyMendocino County value
Comfortable days · high38.6%
96/100California 34.8%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationMendocino County value
Mental health providers · high668 /100k
96/100California 487 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMendocino County value
Drought exposure · low1%
94/100California 9%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAAMendocino County value

Weaknesses

Home price to income ratio · high9.8×
2/100California 7.4×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Natural hazard risk · high98.0
2/100California 87.32025Federal Emergency Management AgencyMendocino County value
Math scores · low2.45
2/100California 2.79United States 3.032019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMendocino County value
Drug overdose deaths · high39.3 /100k
3/100California 20.1 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataMendocino County value
Reading scores · low2.55
3/100California 2.91United States 3.052019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMendocino County value
Mental health care shortage · high19.0
4/100California 5.1United States 9.9Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationMendocino County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
1,003 (2015-2019) → 1,128 (2020-2024)
+12%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Child poverty rateImproving
58.0% (2015-2019) → 18.1% (2020-2024)
−40 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Bachelor's degree or higherWorsening
38.3% (2015-2019) → 6.8% (2020-2024)
−32 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
77.0% (2015-2019) → 58.1% (2020-2024)
−19 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
85.3% (2015-2019) → 100.0% (2020-2024)
+15 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Rent as share of incomeImproving
51.0% (2015-2019) → 36.7% (2020-2024)
−14 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, Talmage, California improved on 3 of 7 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 4 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

Inequality−0.2520.623 → 0.371
Rent / income−14 points51.0% → 36.7%
Broadband+15 points85.3% → 100.0%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 7 measures

Change of every measure of Talmage, California between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	12.7 min2015-2019	13.9 min2020-2024	+1.3 min	Within the margin of error	34%
Broadband subscriptions	85.3%2015-2019	100.0%2020-2024	+15 points	Improved	79%
High school diploma or higher	86.5%2015-2019	82.5%2020-2024	−4 points	Within the margin of error	8%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.6232015-2019	0.3712020-2024	−0.252	Improved	100%
Median household income	$29,4382015-2019	$44,6472020-2024	+52%	Within the margin of error	86%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	51.0%2015-2019	36.7%2020-2024	−14 points	Improved	97%

“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 Talmage, California five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Talmage, 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.

No place that looked like Talmage, California five years ago has more measures that improved than declined, with a higher standing among its peers today.

For comparison, Talmage, California itself moved +19.6 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

1,128 residents (±379)

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

323 households (±105)

Talmage, California
California share

Under $25k29%†94
$25k–50k33%†106
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

323 households (±105)

Talmage, California
California share

Own46%†148
Rent54%†175

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

391 workers (±146)

Talmage, California
California share

Drive alone62%†242
Carpool4.1%†16
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 Ukiah, 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 Mendocino County, the county holding most of Talmage's residents.

Mendocino County has 2,432 employer establishments, 272 for every 10,000 residents (1.10× the US rate of 248; 1.04× California's), with 23,356 paid employees at an average annual pay of $52,521. The Census Bureau also counts 7,563 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 2,432; 7,563 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 272; US 248 · California 263
Paid employees: 23,356
Average annual pay: $52,521; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	204	22.8	1.24×About typical	2,519	$27,475	34
Specialty trade contractors	144	16.1	1.04×About typical	712	$68,645	504
Ambulatory health care services	135	15.1	0.73×Fewer than typical	1,420	$63,460	357
Lessors of real estate	123	13.8	1.12×About typical	414	$43,215	582
Construction of buildings	115	12.9	1.70×More than typical	361	$55,895	370
Full-service restaurants	106	11.9	1.54×More than typical	1,277	$28,578	20
Traveler accommodation	81	9.1	5.02×More than typical	1,009	$32,438	82
Limited-service restaurants	68	7.6	0.95×About typical	954	$24,671	7
Automotive repair and maintenance	66	7.4	1.47×More than typical	310	$48,058	81
Services to buildings and dwellings	58	6.5	0.96×About typical	341	$66,924	666
Grocery and convenience stores	54	6	2.04×More than typical	1,363	$37,608	7
Building equipment contractors	51	5.7	0.95×About typical	264	$64,523	97

Rank places for an industry Open Mendocino County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 89,341 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

No federal contract obligations recorded here in FY2026.

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

See federal money in Mendocino 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.

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

House

Jared HuffmanD-CA-2 · 100% of residentsWith party 100%Missed 2.5%

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.

Mendocino County40100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Ukiah, CA38

Other cities and towns in Mendocino 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/0677784

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends