Palmdale, California population is 161,845 as of July 1, 2025 (U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 estimate), ranking #164 nationally and #33 in California. Cost of living runs 14% above the U.S. average (BEA RPP 2024); a family of four needs roughly $145,731/yr to break even (2025 modeled). This profile draws on 13 federal datasets covering population, housing, income, employment, climate, and risk.
At a glance.
2025 population
161,845
-645 in the last year
Top 1% of 19,483 U.S. cities
Census Vintage 2025
Cost of living
RPP 113.6
+14% vs US
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metro · BEA 2024
Family-of-4 budget
$145,730/yr
+82% vs US
Modeled 2025 · federal sources
Median HH income
$81,770
+5.2% vs US
ACS 2020–2024 5-yr
Median home value
$471,000
+55% vs US
ACS 2020–2024 5-yr
2-BR fair-market rent
$2,903/mo
HUD FY2026 · 40th pct
Avg July high
96°F
NOAA 1991–2020
Gigabit broadband
12%
ISP-reported, FCC BDC
How many people live in Palmdale?
161,845 people live in Palmdale as of July 1, 2025 (U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025), the #164 largest U.S. city.
Source detail
2025 population
Source agency
U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division
Dataset
Census PEP
Vintage / period
Vintage 2025 (Jul 1, 2025)
Native geography
Census PEP subcounty place records for the included city universe.
Transformation
Copied from POPESTIMATE2025, joined by Census GEOID, and used for ranks, filters, and city pages.
Known limit: Annual estimate, not a decennial count; each new PEP vintage can revise the prior series.
Population shrank 4.5% from the April 2020 base to mid-2025.
Vintage 2025 · annual estimates
Recent history (V2025 series, 2020 base → 2025).
2020 base: 169,413 → 2025: 161,845 (-4.5%)
Year
Population
Reference date
2020 base
169,413
April 1, 2020
2020
168,896
July 1, 2020
2021
165,566
July 1, 2021
2022
163,521
July 1, 2022
2023
162,629
July 1, 2023
2024
162,490
July 1, 2024
2025
161,845
July 1, 2025
Earlier history (2010–2019, prior Census vintage)
These figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Vintage 2019 release — a separate, earlier methodology. They’re shown here as historical context only; the 2010 and 2019 values aren’t directly comparable to the 2020–2025 series above.
Population grew 1.5% from 2010 to 2019 (V2019 — see seam note below).
Palmdale is the #164 largest of 19,483 U.S. cities and #33 in California.
▸ Show the analyst detail (9 rows)
Measure
Value
Note
2020 base
169,413
April 1, 2020 census base
5-yr change
-7,568
2020 base → 2025; within V2025
5-yr change %
-4.5%
within V2025 only
1-yr change
-645
2024 → 2025 estimate
1-yr change %
-0.4%
within V2025 only
Density
1,526
people per sq mi, land only
Land area
106.1
sq mi (2025 Gazetteer)
U.S. rank by population
#164
of 19,483 cities
State rank by population
#33
of 483 in California
What is the median household income in Palmdale?
Median household income is 5% above the U.S. median ($81,770 vs $77,719); 15.7% live in poverty — 3.2 points above the 12.5% U.S. rate.
Median household income$81,770
US
Palmdale: $81,770 — 5% above the US median of $77,719.
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of cities with ACS income data
Palmdale
$81,770
United States
$77,719
Income and poverty estimates for Palmdale from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year estimates (window 2020–2024). Every figure is shown with its 90% margin of error (MOE). Cells where the ± margin exceeds half the estimate are flagged "low precision." See methodology §12.
Measure
Estimate
± margin / note
Median household income
81,770+5.2% vs US
±2,952
Per capita income
29,441-32.0% vs US
±982
Population in poverty
15.7%
share of population for whom poverty status is determined
Median home value is 55% above the U.S. median ($471,000 vs $303,400); median rent is 34% above ($1,802 vs $1,348); price-to-income ratio is 5.8×, making it 1.5× as cost-burdened as the typical U.S. city (3.9×).
Median home value$471,000
US
Palmdale: $471,000 — 55% above the US median of $303,400.
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of cities with ACS home-value data
HUD 2-BR fair-market rent$2,903/mo
US
Palmdale: $2,903/mo — 170% above the US median of $1,077/mo.
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of cities with a HUD Fair Market Rent
Poverty (Census SAIPE 2024, model-based), unemployment (BLS LAUS 2024 annual averages), and remote-work share (ACS 2020–2024) for Palmdale. Numbers are labeled at their native grain — place-grain when BLS publishes it, otherwise per-county. We do not compute population-weighted county averages. See methodology §13.
Measure
Value
Grain
Unemployment rate (annual avg)
7.0%
Palmdale (BLS sub-state LAUS)
Civilian labor force
74,056
2024 annual avg
Worked from home
9.1%-35.0% vs US
share of workers 16+ commuting from home · U.S. median: 14% · ACS
County context — Palmdale sits in Los Angeles County:
County
Poverty rate
Median HH income
Unemployment
Los Angeles County
13.3%
$90,757
5.8%
Top industries by private employment — NAICS supersectors rolled up from Palmdale's linked county in the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW, 2024 annual averages). See methodology §11.
#
Industry (NAICS supersector)
Private employment
Avg weekly wage
#1
Health care and social assistance (62)
818,122
$1,102 / wk
#2
Accommodation and food services (72)
436,540
$707 / wk
#3
Retail trade (44-45)
398,015
$972 / wk
#4
Manufacturing (31-33)
311,242
$1,845 / wk
#5
Professional and technical services (54)
305,604
$2,574 / wk
What workers earn in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metro — top occupations by employment plus six curated benchmarks (registered nurse, software developer, elementary teacher, general manager, retail salesperson, truck driver). Wages are metro-area medians from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). See methodology §25.
Home Health and Personal Care Aides is the largest tracked occupation in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metro (385,530 jobs, median $34,320/yr).
▸ Show all 13 occupations
Occupation
Employment
Median annual
Median hourly
Home Health and Personal Care Aides
385,530
$34,320
$16.50
Fast Food and Counter Workers
160,270
$42,110
$20.24
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand
120,720
$42,390
$20.38
Office Clerks, General
112,270
$48,100
$23.13
Cashiers
109,940
$36,980
$17.78
Stockers and Order Fillers
85,630
$38,650
$18.58
Waiters and Waitresses
85,210
$35,850
$17.24
Retail Salespersons · benchmark
130,650
$37,700
$18.13
Registered Nurses · benchmark
109,360
$135,560
$65.18
General and Operations Managers · benchmark
104,610
$125,830
$60.50
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers · benchmark
61,270
$60,340
$29.01
Software Developers · benchmark
55,540
$160,920
$77.37
Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education · benchmark
All items run 13.6% above the U.S. average (RPP 113.6); rents run 70.4% above (RPP 170.4) — the metro's housing premium is the main driver.
Cost of living (RPP, all items)RPP 113.6
US
Palmdale's cost of living runs 13.6% above the U.S. average (RPP 113.6 vs 100).
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of metro/non-metro areas with a BEA price parity
BEA Regional Price Parity (all items)
RPP 113.6
+13.6% vs U.S. average · BEA 2024 · Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metro
HUD Fair Market Rent, 2-BR
$2,903/mo
FY2026 · Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA HUD Metro FMR Area
State income tax (top marginal rate)
12.30%
9 brackets · TY2025
Family-of-four monthly budget total
$12,144/mo
3BR rent + food + childcare + taxes + transport · federal sources
Single-adult monthly budget total
$6,491/mo
1BR rent + food + taxes + transport · federal sources
Local income tax
—
not applicable in California · no modeled local income tax
Household budget figures are arithmetic floors using current federal sources at the grains documented in methodology. Not a recommended salary, not a poverty threshold, not a composite score.
25.4% foreign-born (U.S. median 14%); Spanish is the most-spoken language at home other than English (48.7% of residents 5+).
A quick read on Palmdale's residents — nativity and languages spoken at home shown above, from the ACS 5-Year 2020–2024. The full demographic breakdown (age, race and ethnicity, household types, and educational attainment, each with its margin of error) lives on the demographics page.
These are K-12 public school districts. Higher education (colleges and universities) is not represented in this dataset.
7 districts serve Palmdale, from the NCES EDGE Geographic Relationship Files (GRF25, 2024–25 school year boundaries). The join is many-to-many — large cities often span multiple districts. Expand the list below to see every district sorted primary first. See methodology §12.
Source: NCES EDGE GRF25 · school year 2024–25 · methodology →
What is the climate like in Palmdale?
Hottest month: July (96°F avg high). Coldest: December (34°F avg low). Annual precipitation: 6.4 in.
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) for Palmdale from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. See methodology §15 for the gridded vs. station source path.
Average monthly highs & lows · 30-year normal (NOAA 1991–2020). Every number on this chart is an average.
bar = avg daily high → avg daily lowprecip in inches below each barprecip in millimeters below each bar
Composite risk score: 100.0/100 — Very High nationally; top hazard: Riverine Flooding (100.0).
Natural-hazard exposure for Palmdale from the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index (FEMA NRI December 2025 v1.20.0). NRI is an expected-annual-loss composite calibrated on 1996–2019 historical losses, published at the U.S. county grain. See methodology §17.
County
NRI composite
Rating
Top hazards
Los Angeles County
100.0
Very High
Riverine Flooding 100.0 Very High · Earthquake 100.0 Very High · Wildfire 99.9 Very High
Source: FEMA National Risk Index · FEMA NRI December 2025 v1.20.0 · methodology →
How fast is home internet in Palmdale?
14 non-satellite ISPs serve the area; 12% of locations have gigabit-capable service per ISP filings.
Fixed broadband availability for Palmdale from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's Broadband Data Collection (BDC), as of June 30, 2025. Every speed and provider count below is an ISP-reported advertised maximum — not measured throughput. Actual delivered speeds typically run 60–80% of advertised. See methodology §16.
Measure
Value
Note
Providers serving this city
14 + satellite
distinct ISPs, excluding satellite-only
Fiber providers
11
offer fiber-to-the-premises somewhere in the BDC
Units with ≥100/20 Mbps fixed
100.0%
share of broadband-serviceable units, ISP-reported max
Locations with ≥100 Mbps upload
12.1%
derived: max(fiber ≥100/20, gigabit). Fiber is symmetric; gigabit is ≥100 up by definition
Units with ≥1 Gbps fixed
12.1%
share of broadband-serviceable units, ISP-reported max
Total broadband-serviceable units
53,117
residential locations in the FCC Fabric (not households)
Source: FCC BDC · as of June 30, 2025 · methodology →
How much crime is reported in Palmdale?
In 2024, law enforcement reported 876 violent and 2,965 property offenses in the Palmdale jurisdiction — a violent-crime rate of 551.0 per 100,000, above the U.S. estimate of 359.1.
Reported offenses known to law enforcement from the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program (CIUS Table 8), 2024. Figures describe the FBI agency jurisdiction: Palmdale — an FBI jurisdiction population of 158,983, versus the Census place population of 161,845. The rate per 100,000 is the FBI's own (count ÷ that jurisdiction population), never divided by the Census place figure. These are reported crimes under voluntary participation — not measured or victimization crime — and the FBI cautions against using them to rank or compare places. See methodology §31.
Offenses known, 2024
Count
Rate /100k
U.S. rate
Violent crime
876
551.0
359.1
Property crime
2,965
1,865.0
1,760.1
▸ Offense breakdown and 3-year trend
Offense, 2024
Count
Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter
9
Rape
45
Robbery
241
Aggravated assault
581
Burglary
399
Larceny-theft
1,742
Motor vehicle theft
824
Arson (12-month reporters only)
39
Year
Violent /100k
Property /100k
Jurisdiction pop.
2022
556.9
1,550.1
162,316
2023
507.4
1,653.9
160,829
2024
551.0
1,865.0
158,983
Only years the agency reported a complete 12 months appear; the FBI does not estimate missing agency-years, so a gap is a non-reporting year, not zero crime.
U.S. rate is the FBI national estimate (imputes non-reporting agencies); the city figures are reported-only. Source: FBI UCR CIUS Table 8 (2022–2024) · FBI agency jurisdiction: Palmdale · methodology → · FBI Crime Data Explorer →
In-state context.
Palmdale sits at state rank #33 among 483 cities in California. Nearby in the state ranking:
Just above in the profiled set: Killeen, TX · #163 · 161,883 residents.
Just below in the profiled set: Paterson, NJ · #165 · 161,793 residents.
Quick travel facts for Palmdale
Quick travel facts.
Nearest commercial airport
Hollywood Burbank/Bob Hope Airport(BUR) ·
30 mi 49 km from city centroid
Best months to visit
Apr · months when the avg high sits in 65–80°F and precipitation is at or below the city's median monthly precip
Sources: elevation from USGS Elevation Point Query Service (3DEP) · nearest airport from OurAirports CSV (FAA-aligned, type=large/medium, scheduled_service=yes) · best months derived from NOAA 1991-2020 normals · methodology →
Frequently asked questions about Palmdale.
How many people live in Palmdale, CA?
Palmdale has 161,845 residents as of July 1, 2025, making it the #164 largest city in the United States and #33 in California. Source: U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025.
Is Palmdale growing or shrinking?
Palmdale has shrunk 4.5% since the April 2020 census baseline, losing 7,568 residents, including a 0.4% decline from 2024 to 2025. Source: Census PEP Vintage 2025.
What was Palmdale's population in the 2020 census?
Palmdale covers 106.1 square miles of land, with a population density of about 1,526 residents per square mile. Source: Census Gazetteer 2025.
What is the median household income in Palmdale?
$81,770, about 5% above the U.S. median. Source: ACS 5-year estimates, 2020–2024.
SourceU.S. Census · PEP
VintageV2025
Reference2025-07-01
Place typeIncorporated place
GEOID0655156
Last build2026-07-02
Sources · provenance
Every listed dataset is used on this page.
The GEOID for Palmdale is 0655156. These are the official datasets used by this profile's main data modules; click "methodology" for inclusion rules and the V2019 ↔ V2025 seam, or "source" for the raw publisher page. The headline population value above includes a source-detail disclosure with publisher, dataset, vintage, native geography, transformation, and caveat.
