Moving to
Carmichael.

All Carmichael data Compare Carmichael

76,948people live here $85,914median household incomeNear US average $1,702median rent per month▲ 20% above US $579,500median home value▲ 74% above US

Carmichael is an unincorporated community in Sacramento County, CA. It has no city government: the county runs it, and the Census counts it as its own place.

What it's like to live in Carmichael

Carmichael is a large unincorporated community in California. The numbers below lay out what daily life there actually looks like.

The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Carmichael deals with rent well above the national average, home prices well above the national average, air quality that falls short of national benchmarks, and larger class sizes than the national average.

The not so good

Rent well above the national average
High home prices
Air quality concerns
High student-teacher ratio
High rent burden for renters
Hot summers

How Carmichael compares

Median household income

Carmichael$85,914

California avg$99,122

US$80,734

Median rent (per month)

Carmichael$1,702

California avg$2,036

US$1,413

Median home value

Carmichael$579,500

California avg$734,700

US$332,700

What it takes to move to Carmichael

Based on Carmichael's median rent, home value and household income

To rent

$3,404

up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit

Income to keep rent under 30%: $68,080 a year
56% of Carmichael renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent

To buy

$115,900

a 20% down payment on the median home

With 10% down: $57,950
Homes cost 6.7× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)

Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.

The details

Cost of living▲ 20% above US

$1,702/mo median rent

Rent runs on the higher side, at $1,702 a month median. Whether that premium makes sense usually comes down to the local job market and what it pays. Home prices are steep, with a median around $579,500. Renting first to get a feel for the city before buying is often the more practical route.

Median home value $579,500 · 56% of renters cost-burdened

Job market

5.0% county unemployment

Unemployment in Sacramento County is 5.0%, somewhat above the national average of 4.3%. Lining up work before the move is the safer route. That's the county-wide rate; BLS doesn't measure a place this size on its own.

Sacramento County (county-wide)

Safety

473 violent crimes per 100k, whole jurisdiction

Carmichael doesn't have its own police department, so there's no crime rate for it alone. The figures shown are for the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office jurisdiction as a whole, which runs above the national average for violent crime and covers many communities. Individual neighborhoods can differ a lot from that overall rate.

Property crime 1357/100k · Policed by Sacramento County Sheriff's Office (county-wide rate) · 2025 data

Getting aroundNear US average

27 min average commute

Commutes run about average, at 27.1 minutes. Fine day to day, but it adds up over a year, and where someone lives relative to where they work starts to matter. 7 in 10 workers drive to work; 21% work from home.

How workers get to work

Drive alone

66%

Work from home

21%

Carpool

8.2%

Other

1.9%

Walk

1.7%

Public transit

1.3%

Climate

Summers are hot and humid, with highs regularly hitting 92°F, and winters are chilly but manageable, with lows around 42°F. It's a dry climate with limited rainfall.

Average month

High °FLow °FPrecip (in)

30-year averages, 1991–2020

Healthcare

1 hospital

There's one Medicare-certified hospital inside city limits, rated 3.0 out of 5 by Medicare. Hospitals in neighboring towns aren't counted here.

Medicare-certified hospitals

Education & workforceNear US average

37% bachelor's degree or higher

Education levels run about average, with 37% college-educated. It's a mix of white-collar and blue-collar work, which can be an asset or a limitation depending on the field.

Schools

19 public schools inside the boundary

There are 19 public schools inside the boundary and 5 private schools. The student-to-teacher ratio is 25:1, above the national average of 16:1.

Parks & recreation

The nearest national park or historic site is Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial (55 miles away). There are 8 national parks and sites within a day's drive.

Bottom line

Nothing in Carmichael's numbers stands out as a clear strength, and the main tradeoffs are rent well above the national average and home prices well above the national average. A year of median rent ($1,702/mo) equals 24% of the median household income here, more than the 21% typical nationwide. It tends to suit remote workers (21% of workers here already work from home).

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