Census-designated place · Lake County, California

Upper Lake, California

Upper Lake is a census-designated place in Lake County, California, part of the Clearlake, CA metro area. It has 1,374 residents. Upper Lake, California has a quality-of-life score of 19 out of 100 (very low), ranking #12,614 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within California it ranks #726 of 1,062 cities and towns. It ranks best on uninsured residents (under 65) (low), drought exposure (low) and grocery stores (high). It ranks worst on drug overdose deaths (high), natural hazard risk (high) and math scores (low).

19Very low

Quality-of-life score: #12,614 of 15,651 cities and towns
California: #726 of 1,062 in CA
Population: 1,374 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 801.5 /mi²
FIPS code: 0681358

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.

Safety15#13,340/15,637
Economy52#7,426/15,631
Housing—
Health15#13,250/15,609
Healthcare43#8,968/15,650
Environment82#2,838/15,453
Education1#15,533/15,649
Infrastructure31#10,832/15,650
Community10#14,042/15,651
Leisure & amenities41#9,200/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Uninsured residents (under 65) · low0.0%
99/100California 6.9%United States 9.8%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B27010
Drought exposure · low0%
98/100California 9%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAALake County value
Grocery stores · high3.3 /10k
96/100California 2.0 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsLake County value
Median Air Quality Index · low31
92/100California 602025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyLake County value
Comfortable days · high32.4%
88/100California 34.8%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationLake County value
Days with unhealthy air · low0.0%
84/100California 12.4%2025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyLake County value

Weaknesses

Drug overdose deaths · high89.9 /100k
0/100California 20.1 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataLake County value
Natural hazard risk · high99.5
0/100California 87.32025Federal Emergency Management AgencyLake County value
Math scores · low2.26
1/100California 2.79United States 3.032019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteLake County value
Injury deaths · high183 /100k
1/100California 67 /100kUnited States 87 /100k2019-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteLake County value
Reading scores · low2.44
1/100California 2.91United States 3.052019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteLake County value
Mental health care shortage · high19.0
4/100California 5.1United States 9.9Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationLake County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
896 (2015-2019) → 1,374 (2020-2024)
+53%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
100.0% (2015-2019) → 48.0% (2020-2024)
−52 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Median household incomeImproving
$47,375 (2015-2019) → $110,417 (2020-2024)
+133%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
78.4% (2015-2019) → 94.9% (2020-2024)
+16 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Child poverty rateWorsening
0.0% (2015-2019) → 16.1% (2020-2024)
+16 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Unemployment rateImproving
12.9% (2015-2019) → 2.2% (2020-2024)
−11 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, Upper Lake, California improved on 1 of 6 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 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

Inequality−0.1520.431 → 0.279

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 6 measures

Change of every measure of Upper Lake, California between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Bachelor's degree or higher	8.5%2015-2019	13.6%2020-2024	+5.1 points	Within the margin of error	69%
Broadband subscriptions	78.4%2015-2019	94.9%2020-2024	+16 points	Within the margin of error	84%
High school diploma or higher	95.9%2015-2019	95.4%2020-2024	−0.5 points	Within the margin of error	28%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4312015-2019	0.2792020-2024	−0.152	Improved	99%
Median household income	$47,3752015-2019	$110,4172020-2024	+133%	Within the margin of error	100%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%

“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 Upper Lake, California five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Upper Lake, 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 Upper Lake, California five years ago has more measures that improved than declined, with a higher standing among its peers today.

For comparison, Upper Lake, California itself moved +27.9 points in standing on average over the same 5 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

1,374 residents (±543)

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

430 households (±165)

Upper Lake, California
California share

Under $25k9.3%†40
$25k–50k11%†47
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

430 households (±165)

Upper Lake, California
California share

Own94%†405
Rent5.8%†25

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Rent (−13.5 points).

† 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

783 workers (±418)

Upper Lake, California
California share

Drive alone80%†626
Carpool5.1%†40
Public transit0.0%

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 Clearlake, 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 Lake County, the county holding most of Upper Lake's residents.

Lake County has 1,089 employer establishments, 160 for every 10,000 residents (0.64× the US rate of 248; 0.61× California's), with 10,063 paid employees at an average annual pay of $51,409. The Census Bureau also counts 3,891 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 1,089; 3,891 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 160; US 248 · California 263
Paid employees: 10,063
Average annual pay: $51,409; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	105	15.4	1.00×About typical	451	$65,186	249
Restaurants and other eating places	95	14	0.76×Fewer than typical	961	$23,175	17
Ambulatory health care services	68	10	0.48×Fewer than typical	758	$78,215	164
Lessors of real estate	67	9.8	0.80×Fewer than typical	152	$42,204	292
Construction of buildings	64	9.4	1.24×About typical	224	$52,263	232
Full-service restaurants	39	5.7	0.75×Fewer than typical	322	$24,034	8
Limited-service restaurants	39	5.7	0.71×Fewer than typical	477	$24,516	4
Building equipment contractors	34	5	0.83×About typical	149	$64,463	58
Automotive repair and maintenance	32	4.7	0.93×About typical	105	$47,581	75
Building finishing contractors	32	4.7	1.24×About typical	85	$37,847	83
Individual and family services	32	4.7	1.68×More than typical	545	$43,582	28
Grocery and convenience stores	31	4.6	1.54×More than typical	889	$35,042	5

Rank places for an industry Open Lake County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 68,026 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 $29.64 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Upper Lake, California: $0.02 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $29.64
Per resident: $0.02; US $1,994
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

Forest Service$432100%

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

4.4KFY2017
9.3KFY2018
5KFY2019
6.9KFY2020
4KFY2021
21.5KFY2022
10.7KFY2023
17.6KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Services to buildings and dwellings · 5617$228100%
Traveler accommodation · 7211$204100%

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 Upper Lake, California, so they do not add up across cities.

Upper Lake, California's figures are part of those of Lake County, CA ($10.1M 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: Upper Lake is mostly in Lake County.

See federal money in Lake 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.

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

House

Mike ThompsonD-CA-4 · 100% of residentsWith party 97%Missed 0.3%

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.

Lake County21100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Clearlake, CA14

Other cities and towns in Lake 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/0681358

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends