City · Sutter County, California

Yuba City, California

Yuba City is a city in Sutter County, California, part of the Yuba City, CA metro area. It has 69,471 residents. Yuba City, California has a quality-of-life score of 16 out of 100 (very low), ranking #13,093 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within California it ranks #774 of 1,062 cities and towns. It ranks best on drought exposure (low), job growth (high) and grocery stores (high). It ranks worst on high school diploma or higher (low), students per teacher (high) and loneliness (high).

16Very low

Quality-of-life score: #13,093 of 15,651 cities and towns
California: #774 of 1,062 in CA
Population: 69,471 (2020-2024)
Land area: 17 mi²
Density: 4,192.6 /mi²
FIPS code: 0686972

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.

Safety28#11,288/15,637
Economy31#10,729/15,631
Housing20#11,907/14,977
Health44#8,693/15,609
Healthcare62#5,968/15,650
Environment21#12,229/15,453
Education4#15,050/15,649
Infrastructure33#10,509/15,650
Community6#14,648/15,651
Leisure & amenities53#7,290/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Yuba City, California ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Sutter 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 NOAASutter County value
Job growth · high3.3%
95/100California 0.9%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataSutter County value
Grocery stores · high3.0 /10k
94/100California 2.0 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsSutter County value
Days with unhealthy air · low0.0%
84/100California 12.4%2025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencySutter County value
Dental care shortage · low0.0
84/100California 1.5United States 5.7Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationSutter County value
Adult obesity · low29.3%
81/100California 30.4%United States 38.2%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate

Weaknesses

High school diploma or higher · low79.2%
2/100California 84.7%United States 89.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Students per teacher · high21.3×
5/100California 21.7×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsSutter County value
Loneliness · high38.6%
6/100California 37.8%United States 33.2%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Drug overdose deaths · high31.6 /100k
7/100California 20.1 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataSutter County value
Hot days · high110 days
7/100California 66 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationSutter County value
Social associations · low5.3 /10k
7/100California 6.2 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSutter County value

Trends

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

New homes permittedImproving
0.8 /1k (2021) → 6.2 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+676%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
82.7% (2015-2019) → 91.1% (2020-2024)
+8.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$56,816 (2015-2019) → $75,477 (2020-2024)
+33%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Home price to income ratioWorsening
4.9× (2015-2019) → 5.8× (2020-2024)
+18%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Child poverty rateImproving
21.0% (2015-2019) → 17.7% (2020-2024)
−3.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Uninsured residents (under 65)Improving
10.0% (2015-2019) → 6.9% (2020-2024)
−3.1 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%

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, Yuba City, California improved on 3 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 10 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

Uninsured−3.1 points10.0% → 6.9%
Household income+33%$56,816 → $75,477
Broadband+8.4 points82.7% → 91.1%

Declined1

Price / income+0.9×4.9× → 5.8×

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Yuba City, California between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	27.4 min2015-2019	26.9 min2020-2024	−0.5 min	Within the margin of error	54%
Bachelor's degree or higher	18.9%2015-2019	20.4%2020-2024	+1.5 points	Within the margin of error	38%
Broadband subscriptions	82.7%2015-2019	91.1%2020-2024	+8.4 points	Improved	52%
Child poverty rate	21.0%2015-2019	17.7%2020-2024	−3.3 points	Within the margin of error	62%
Effective property tax rate	0.94%2015-2019	0.84%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	36%
High school diploma or higher	77.4%2015-2019	79.2%2020-2024	+1.8 points	Within the margin of error	56%
Home price to income ratio	4.9×2015-2019	5.8×2020-2024	+0.9×	Declined	27%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4432015-2019	0.4482020-2024	+0.005	Within the margin of error	46%
Median household income	$56,8162015-2019	$75,4772020-2024	+33%	Improved	61%
Poverty rate	15.5%2015-2019	14.3%2020-2024	−1.2 points	Within the margin of error	56%
Rent as share of income	31.4%2015-2019	31.7%2020-2024	+0.3 points	Within the margin of error	52%
Rent-burdened households	53.2%2015-2019	52.8%2020-2024	−0.5 points	Within the margin of error	58%
Unemployment rate	8.7%2015-2019	7.0%2020-2024	−1.7 points	Within the margin of error	79%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	10.0%2015-2019	6.9%2020-2024	−3.1 points	Improved	77%

“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 Yuba City, California five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Yuba City, 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, Yuba City, California itself moved +0.1 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

69,471 residents (±40)

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

23,634 households (±552)

Yuba City, California
California share

Under $25k13%3,143
$25k–50k19%4,528
$50k–75k17%4,083

Homes

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

Owners and renters

23,634 households (±552)

Yuba City, California
California share

Own57%13,535
Rent43%10,099

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+3.7 points).

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

29,673 workers (±1,086)

Yuba City, California
California share

Drive alone74%22,058
Carpool16%4,723
Public transit0.6%†169

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 Yuba City, 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 Sutter County, the county holding most of Yuba City's residents.

Sutter County has 2,243 employer establishments, 227 for every 10,000 residents (0.92× the US rate of 248; 0.86× California's), with 23,969 paid employees at an average annual pay of $54,506. The Census Bureau also counts 6,840 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 2,243; 6,840 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 227; US 248 · California 263
Paid employees: 23,969
Average annual pay: $54,506; US $68,342

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

Truck transportation	373	37.8	7.47×More than typical	1,479	$48,560	1,205
Ambulatory health care services	201	20.4	0.98×About typical	2,240	$85,264	195
Restaurants and other eating places	163	16.5	0.90×About typical	3,086	$23,542	26
Specialty trade contractors	148	15	0.97×About typical	867	$66,932	288
Lessors of real estate	81	8.2	0.67×Fewer than typical	271	$42,480	565
Limited-service restaurants	78	7.9	0.99×About typical	1,376	$21,147	5
Services to buildings and dwellings	72	7.3	1.08×About typical	360	$49,708	323
Automotive repair and maintenance	71	7.2	1.43×More than typical	365	$43,814	117
Offices of physicians	71	7.2	1.11×About typical	754	$127,658	30
Building equipment contractors	60	6.1	1.01×About typical	403	$69,186	73
Full-service restaurants	57	5.8	0.75×Fewer than typical	1,321	$25,548	13
Construction of buildings	49	5	0.66×Fewer than typical	273	$69,612	175

Rank places for an industry Open Sutter County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 98,693 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 $3.9M of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Yuba City, California: $56.74 per resident (US $1,995).

Obligations: $3.9M; −37% vs FY2025
Per resident: $56.74; US $1,995
Sole-source: 0.6%; US 30%
Single offer: 100%; 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$4M100%
Agricultural Marketing Service$17.2K0.4%
U.S. Geological Survey$7,9470.2%
Department of Veterans Affairs$5,0080.1%
Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Indian Education$1,0080.0%
Federal Prison System / Bureau of Prisons$3710.0%

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

5.4MFY2017
4.4MFY2018
10.5MFY2019
2.5MFY2020
1.1MFY2021
4.8MFY2022
5.4MFY2023
4.5M

Top industries (NAICS)

Nonscheduled air transportation · 4812$4M100%
Fruit and vegetable preserving and specialty food manufacturing · 3114$17.2K0.4%
Computer systems design and related services · 5415$7,9470.2%
Agriculture, construction, and mining machinery manufacturing · 3331$5,0080.1%
Other schools and instruction · 6116$2,8860.1%
Other miscellaneous manufacturing · 3399

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 6, 2026, loaded Oct 6, 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 Yuba City, California, so they do not add up across cities.

Yuba City, California's figures are part of those of Sutter County, CA ($38M in FY2026), never added to them: 10% of that total.

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

See federal money in Sutter 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.

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

House

James GallagherR-CA-1 · 100% of residentsWith party 93%Missed 6.1%

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.

Sutter County35100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Yuba City, CA21

Other cities and towns in Sutter 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/0686972

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends