WhereDoIMove · Relocation report
West · California · pop 165.5K
Palmdale, CA
Fair match
at the reference profile: one person earning $6,700/mo gross, default weights.
Personalize this score →After estimated taxes in CA, your $6,700/mo income nets about $5,120, while estimated essentials run about $5,330/mo — roughly $210 short.
There's plenty to do — roughly 2821 restaurants, arts, and recreation spots per 10k residents.
Reported crime rates sit below most similar-sized cities in this dataset.
Tradeoff: home prices run high relative to local incomes, so buying may take longer than elsewhere.
The Palmdale fit print
Est. monthly cost
$5,330/mo
Typical rent
$2,720/mo
Home value ÷ income
5.4×
Score breakdown
The data behind the score
Money (Census ACS · HUD)
- Median gross rent
- $2,720/mo
- Median home value
- $435,300
- Median household income
- $81,151
- Population
- 165,487
Work (BLS)
- Unemployment rate
- 0.0%
- Job growth (1yr)
- 0.0%
Safety (FBI CDE, per 100k)
- Violent crime rate
- 0
- Property crime rate
- 0
Climate (NOAA normals)
- Avg. summer high
- 98°F
- Avg. winter low
- 34°F
- Sunny days / year
- 0
- Days ≥100°F by 2050 (air temp)
- ≈60/yr
- Dangerous humid days by 2050 (feels-like)
- ≈0/yr
- Unhealthy air days
- ≈10/yr
- Annual rain
- 7"
- Annual snow
- 0"
Community & access (approx.)
- 2024 county margin
- D+33
- Bachelor's degree or higher
- ≈17%
- Major airport
- ≈15 mi
- Time zone
- PT
- Walkability
- 40/100
- Transit
- 30/100
- Disaster risk
- 64/100
- Top natural hazard
- Earthquake
Data vintage: acs2023-5yr+zori-2026-06-30. Sources & methodology
Natural-hazard risk
Wildfire
high risk
Hurricanes
low risk
Tornadoes
high risk
Flooding
moderate risk
Earthquakes
high risk
Severe winter
low risk
Per-hazard risk-index scores from FEMA's National Risk Index for this city's county, with any hazard FEMA doesn't score filled in by our model. Screen by hazard from search.
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Go deeper
Buy vs. rent the median home
Owning the median Palmdale home would run about $2,986/mo (PITI + upkeep) versus $2,720/mo to rent — roughly a wash at today's 6.60% rate.
- Mortgage (P&I)
- $2,224
- Property tax
- $272
- Insurance (state avg)
- $127
- Maintenance
- $363
Buying costs about $266/mo more.
Median home $435,300 · $87,060 down
Estimate only: 30-year fixed, state-average property tax and homeowners insurance, ~1%/yr maintenance. Part of the mortgage payment builds equity, which a pure outlay comparison ignores; and the median home is typically larger than the median rental, which biases the gap toward renting. Ignores closing costs, HOA dues, PMI on low down payments, and the opportunity cost of the down payment. Not a lending quote.
What will the move cost?
Moving to Palmdale
About 2,423 mi from New York, NY.
DIY — rental truck
$3,000–$4,300
One-way truck, mileage, and fuel. Your labor.
Full-service movers
$7,400–$10,650
Pros load, drive, and unload. Packing usually extra.
Rough estimates from distance and household size — real quotes vary with season, access, exact inventory, and fuel. Get a few binding quotes before you book.
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