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Rio Linda.

All Rio Linda data Compare Rio Linda

16,335people live here $96,364median household income▲ 19% above US $1,839median rent per month▲ 30% above US $458,300median home value▲ 38% above US

Rio Linda 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 Rio Linda

Rio Linda 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. Rio Linda 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
Low college degree attainment
High student-teacher ratio

How Rio Linda compares

Median household income

Rio Linda$96,364

California avg$99,122

US$80,734

Median rent (per month)

Rio Linda$1,839

California avg$2,036

US$1,413

Median home value

Rio Linda$458,300

California avg$734,700

US$332,700

What it takes to move to Rio Linda

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

To rent

$3,678

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

Income to keep rent under 30%: $73,560 a year
49% of Rio Linda renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent

To buy

$91,660

a 20% down payment on the median home

With 10% down: $45,830
Homes cost 4.8× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)

Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.

The details

Cost of living▲ 30% above US

$1,839/mo median rent

Rent runs on the higher side, at $1,839 a month median. Whether that premium makes sense usually comes down to the local job market and what it pays. Home prices run above average, with a median around $458,300. Buyers should expect to stretch their budget here.

Median home value $458,300 · 49% 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

Rio Linda 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 around▲ 10% above US

29 min average commute

Commutes run about average, at 28.7 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; 13% work from home.

How workers get to work

Drive alone

77%

Work from home

13%

Carpool

7.1%

Public transit

1.8%

Walk

1.0%

Other

0.4%

Climate

Summers are hot and humid, with highs regularly hitting 92°F, and winters are chilly but manageable, with lows around 39°F. It's a dry climate with limited rainfall.

Average month

High °FLow °FPrecip (in)

30-year averages, 1991–2020

Education & workforce▼ 56% below US

16% bachelor's degree or higher

This is a working-class city, and college degree rates reflect that. Trades, manufacturing, and service industries tend to dominate the local economy, which is a strength for some fields and a real constraint for others.

Schools

7 public schools inside the boundary

There are 7 public schools inside the boundary. The student-to-teacher ratio is 23:1, above the national average of 16:1.

Parks & recreation

The nearest national park or historic site is Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial (54 miles away). There are 8 national parks and sites within a day's drive.

Bottom line

Rio Linda'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 ($1,839/mo) equals 23% of the median household income here, about the same as the 21% typical nationwide. It may be a harder fit for renters on a tight budget and anyone who doesn't drive.

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