Orangevale 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 Orangevale

Orangevale is an unincorporated community in California with household incomes running above the national average. Those factors carry real weight for anyone weighing where to move next.

The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Orangevale deals with rent well above the national average, home prices well above the national average, commute times longer than most cities, and air quality that falls short of national benchmarks.

The good

  • Higher-than-average incomes

The not so good

  • Rent well above the national average
  • High home prices
  • Above-average commute times
  • Air quality concerns
  • High student-teacher ratio
  • High rent burden for renters

How Orangevale compares

Median household income

Orangevale$99,832
California avg$99,122
US$80,734

Median rent (per month)

Orangevale$1,932
California avg$2,036
US$1,413

Median home value

Orangevale$565,100
California avg$734,700
US$332,700

What it takes to move to Orangevale

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

To rent

$3,864

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

  • Income to keep rent under 30%: $77,280 a year
  • 56% of Orangevale renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent

To buy

$113,020

a 20% down payment on the median home

  • With 10% down: $56,510
  • Homes cost 5.7× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)

Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.

The details

Cost of living▲ 37% above US

$1,932/mo median rent

Rent is expensive here, at $1,932 a month median and well above the national average. This is the kind of city where housing costs deserve serious budgeting before committing to a move. Home prices are steep, with a median around $565,100. Renting first to get a feel for the city before buying is often the more practical route.

Median home value $565,100 · 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

Orangevale 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

28 min average commute

Commutes run about average, at 28.4 minutes. Fine day to day, but it adds up over a year, and where someone lives relative to where they work starts to matter. 8 in 10 workers drive to work; 19% work from home.

How workers get to work

Drive alone
69%
Work from home
19%
Carpool
8.4%
Other
2.9%
Walk
0.8%

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°50°70°90°110°4"Jan: 3.87" precipitationFeb: 3.63" precipitationMar: 2.82" precipitationApr: 1.44" precipitationMay: 0.86" precipitationJun: 0.21" precipitationJul: 0.00" precipitationAug: 0.02" precipitationSep: 0.15" precipitationOct: 0.93" precipitationNov: 1.78" precipitationDec: 3.49" precipitationJJan: high 57°F, low 41°FFFeb: high 62°F, low 44°FMMar: high 68°F, low 47°FAApr: high 74°F, low 49°FMMay: high 81°F, low 54°FJJun: high 89°F, low 59°F94°JJul: high 94°F, low 61°FAAug: high 94°F, low 61°FSSep: high 89°F, low 59°FOOct: high 79°F, low 53°FNNov: high 65°F, low 45°F41°DDec: high 56°F, low 41°F

30-year averages, 1991–2020

Education & workforce▼ 11% below US

32% bachelor's degree or higher

Education levels run about average, with 32% 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

13 public schools inside the boundary

There are 13 public schools inside the boundary and 3 private schools. The student-to-teacher ratio is 24:1, above the national average of 16:1.

Parks & recreation

The nearest national park or historic site is Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial (61 miles away). There are 8 national parks and sites within a day's drive.

Bottom line

Orangevale's strongest point is household incomes running above the national average; the main tradeoffs are rent well above the national average and home prices well above the national average. A year of median rent ($1,932/mo) equals 23% of the median household income here, about the same as the 21% typical nationwide. It tends to suit remote workers (19% of workers here already work from home). It may be a harder fit for renters on a tight budget.

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