Photo of Madera, California
Photo by Tom Chang on Unsplash

City in California, United States

Madera

$411kMedian Home
341Sunny Days/yr
79°FAvg High Temp
Loading Weather
View on MapPopulation64kCenter elevation272 ft
Quick Read

Madera is a city in, and the county seat of, Madera County, located in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Founded in 1876 as a timber settlement at the terminus of a major log flume, the city grew around the lumber trade before transitioning to an agriculture-based economy during the 20th century. Irrigation from the San Joaquin River and nearby canals transformed the surrounding plains into fertile farmland that now supports vineyards, nut orchards, and row crops.

The Heart of California
Place

Where It Is

Location Context
Madera, California
Latitude36.96°
Longitude-120.06°
Population64k
Center elevation272 ft

State Context

CaliforniaU.S. state

California is a U.S. state in the Western United States that lies on the Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, and Nevada and Arizona to the east; it also shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California to the south. With over 39 million residents across an area of 163,696 square miles (423,970 km2), it is the largest U.S.Wikipedia

Income tax: 1.00% - 14.40%Avg sales tax: 8.85%Property tax: 0.69%Official school data available

About the Region

California

California contains multitudes in a way that makes any single characterization misleading. The Bay Area and Los Angeles operate as global city-states, with housing markets, income levels, and cultural gravity that put them in direct competition with London and Tokyo rather than with other American metros. Both have lost net domestic migrants to lower-cost states for most of the last decade — primarily to Texas, Arizona, and Nevada — though both also continue to be net draws for international migration and maintain labor markets of extraordinary depth and diversity.

But California's geography is vast. The Central Valley offers costs of living that rival the Midwest with driving distance to the Sierra Nevada; the North Coast is one of the most beautiful and least-crowded stretches of American coastline; and the smaller cities of the inland valleys represent genuinely different lifestyle profiles. For remote workers who can absorb the state income tax and housing cost, the combination of climate diversity, outdoor access, and cultural institution density remains difficult to replicate anywhere in the world.

Outdoors

Nature Access

Nature & Park Feeds

Closest protected landscapes, reserves, and big park systems surfaced from the same nearby feeds used in compare.

Distances in miles
National Park Service feed

Federal Park Sites

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OpenStreetMap feed

Local Nature & Reserves

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Sources: National Park Service and OpenStreetMap
People

City Profile

Median Age61 yrs
College Educated39%bachelor's or higher
Work From Home16%of workforce
Poverty Rate9%
Practical

Cost of Living

Housing
$2k/mo
Median rent
$411k
Median home price
Rent burden51% of income
Household Income
$54k
Median annual
Daily life

Livability

Transit Score
30
School Rating
5.5/10
Internet
No internet coverage data yet.
The year

Climate

Sunshine
341
sunny days per year
93% of the year
Avg High Temp
79°F
annual average
Annual precipitation
15"
inches per year
Typical Air Quality
50
Good · 2024 modeled average
Right now

Current Conditions

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