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Thornton, CA

817 people · typical household income $73,333 · typical home price $435,400 · typical rent $865 a month

Compare towns All towns in California · County: San Joaquin County

At a glance

  • Stronger than most towns on: Diversity & community, Airport access and Home internet and working from home.
  • Weaker than most towns on: Clean air and low disaster risk, Safety and State taxes.
  • The 1103rd largest of the 1,375 towns we track in California.
  • Typical household income is 18% below the typical town in California.
  • We don't have figures yet for: Schools.

A score of 60 or more is stronger than most towns. Under 40 is weaker than most.

Quick answers about Thornton

Where is Thornton?

Thornton is in San Joaquin County, California. Nearby towns include Walnut Grove, Galt and Woodbridge.

What is the ZIP code for Thornton?

Thornton has one ZIP code: 95686 . ZIP codes are mail delivery areas, not town borders, so check an address with the US Postal Service lookup.

How many people live in Thornton?

About 817 people live in Thornton , the 1103rd largest of the 1,375 towns we track in California. This is a US Census Bureau estimate.

Is Thornton safe?

Thornton scores 15 out of 100 for safety, which is weaker than most towns we track. A higher score means lower crime. That includes 9.5 homicides per 100,000 people in the county. The state figure is 527 violent crimes per 100,000 people across the whole state.

How expensive is it to live in Thornton?

Thornton has everyday prices of 96.1 (100 is typical for the US), typical rent of $865 a month and a typical home price of $435,400. Its cost of living scores 57 out of 100 (a higher score means cheaper), which is close to the middle of the towns we track.

We compare this town with all 27,850 towns we track. A higher score is always better.

Cost of living 57 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
Everyday prices (100 = typical for the US) 96.1 53%
Typical rent $865 66%

Jobs and income 32 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
Typical household income $73,333 57%
Unemployment 11.4% 9%
Poverty rate 20.9% 19%

A place that is growing 47 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
Change in population (5 years) -20.9% 13%
Change in income (5 years) +151.6% 99%

Home internet and working from home 66 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
Homes with fast internet (whole county) 91.3% 77%
People who work from home 7.4% 44%

State taxes 15 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
State taxes per resident $7,001 6%
State income tax per resident $3,276 4%
State sales tax per resident $1,362 50%

Property taxes 62 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
Property tax as a share of home price 0.64% 77%
Typical property tax paid $2,786 34%

Housing affordability 34 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
Home price compared with yearly income 5.9× 9%
Share of income spent on rent 14.2% 80%
Typical home price $435,400 17%

Space and yard size 41 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
Typical rooms per home 5.3 27%
Stand-alone houses 71.5% 40%
People per square mile 383 71%

Schools no figures yet

We don't rate schools for every town. This one has no high school of its own, or too little data, so we show what we have without a score.

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
High-school students in AP or IB classes We don't have this yet —
High-school students taking college classes We don't have this yet —
Students who miss 15+ days a year 37.6% 19%
Graduation rate (class of 2018 or 2019) We don't have this yet —
Students per teacher 16.8 20%
Children in poverty (context, not scored) 7.9% 76%

Diversity & community 87 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
Variety of backgrounds (0 to 100) 54 84%
Residents born outside the US 24.0% 94%

Health and medical care 47 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
Family doctors per 100,000 people (whole county) 59 51%
Dentists per 100,000 people (whole county) 60 55%
Mental-health providers per 100,000 people (whole county) 291 65%
Hospitals in town 0 43%
People without health insurance 10.2% 27%

Long, healthy lives 39 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
Life expectancy (years) (whole county) 76.4 50%
Early deaths (before age 75) (whole county) 8,730 51%
Adults in fair or poor health 31.8% 5%
Adults who had a checkup this year 68.9% 9%

Safety 15 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
Homicides per 100,000 people (whole county) 9.5 18%
Violent crime per 100,000 people (whole state) 527 8%

Clean air and low disaster risk 5 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
Fine-particle air pollution (whole county) 15.1 3%
Risk of floods, storms and other disasters (0 to 100) (whole county) 99 6%

Short commute 16 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
Average commute 32 min 16%

Walkability 31 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
Walkability (1 = car needed, 20 = very walkable) 4.8 30%
People who walk, bike or ride to work 0.9% 38%

Public transit 40 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
Buses and trains per hour 0.0 39%
Distance to the nearest stop (meters) 5,000 41%

Airport access 74 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
Miles to major airport 33 74%

Dining and entertainment 18 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
Restaurants and bars per 1,000 residents (whole county) 1.6 26%
Entertainment and recreation businesses per 1,000 residents (whole county) 0.18 7%

Weather 44 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
Average temperature 64°F —
January low 43°F —
July high 100°F —
Yearly rain 28 in —
Yearly snow 0 in —

Pleasant weather for being outdoors 49 out of 100

What we measuredThis townBeats this share of towns
Comfortable days per year 95 30%
Sunshine hours per year 3,705 87%

Other facts

Typical age36
Adults with a college degree12.1%
Hot days per year (90°F+)96
Freezing days per year (low 32°F or less)0
Residents who belong to a religious group (whole county)38.1%

More towns to explore

Nearby towns in California

Largest towns in San Joaquin County

Free tools for Thornton

Each calculator opens with this town's figures filled in. You can change any of them.

How we score towns, and where the figures come from

How we score

  • Cost of living: How expensive everyday life is compared with the rest of the US, adjusted for local rent, plus the typical rent.
  • Jobs and income: Typical household income, how many people are out of work, and how many live in poverty.
  • A place that is growing: How much the number of people and the typical income have grown between the two most recent Census survey periods (each covers five years).
  • Home internet and working from home: How many homes in the county have fast internet, and how many people work from home.
  • State taxes: Taxes each state government collects per resident: all taxes, income tax and sales tax (US Census). These are amounts collected, not what you would personally pay.
  • Property taxes: The typical property tax homeowners pay, and that tax as a share of the typical home price (US Census).
  • Housing affordability: Home prices compared with income, rent as a share of income, and the typical home price.
  • Space and yard size: Rooms per home, how many homes are stand-alone houses, and how spread out people are. We do not have yard or lot sizes from free sources.
  • Schools: The public schools located in the town: how many high-school students take AP/IB or college classes, how many students miss a lot of school, the graduation rate (older data) and class size. Child poverty is shown for context and is not scored. Towns with no high school or too little data are not rated. We do not have test scores yet.
  • Diversity & community: The mix of racial and ethnic backgrounds, and the share of residents born outside the US.
  • Health and medical care: Open hospitals in each town, family doctors, dentists and mental-health providers per person (county), and how many people have no health insurance.
  • Long, healthy lives: How long people live and how many die early (county), and how many residents report fair or poor health or get regular checkups (CDC).
  • Safety: Homicides in the county (County Health Rankings) and the state rate of violent crime (FBI, when available).
  • Clean air and low disaster risk: Fine-particle air pollution (county) and the risk of floods, storms, fires and other disasters (county, from FEMA).
  • Short commute: Average commute time of people who travel to work.
  • Walkability: How easy it is to get around on foot near the town center (connected streets, shops close to homes), and how many people walk or bike to work.
  • Public transit: How often buses and trains run near the town center, and how far the nearest stop is.
  • Airport access: Distance in a straight line to the nearest large airport with passenger flights.
  • Dining and entertainment: Restaurants, cafes and bars for every 1,000 residents, and arts, entertainment and recreation businesses for every 1,000 residents, across the whole county (US Census).
  • Weather: How close the average temperature and seasons are to the climate you pick, plus comfortable days.
  • Pleasant weather for being outdoors: Days that are 65–85°F and dry, and hours of sunshine.

The religious group figure counts members and regular attendees of congregations (US Religion Census 2020). It comes from congregations, not a survey, so every town in a county shows the same figure.

Where the figures come from

  • Population, income, housing and jobs: American Community Survey (US Census), 2024, five-year estimates
  • Walkability and public transit: EPA Smart Location Database (neighborhoods near the town center)
  • County health figures: County Health Rankings 2025 (San Joaquin County)
  • Disaster risk: FEMA National Risk Index (county)
  • Hospitals: US Homeland Security hospital list (HIFLD)
  • Nearest airport: OurAirports: nearest is Sacramento International Airport (SMF)
  • Health of residents: CDC local health estimates
  • Cost of living: US Bureau of Economic Analysis regional prices 2024 (state), adjusted by local rent
  • Safety: FBI crime data 2023 (state level)
  • State taxes: Census State Tax Collections FY2025 (state level, per resident)
  • Dining and entertainment: Census County Business Patterns 2023 (county, for every 1,000 residents)
  • Religious groups: US Religion Census 2020 (county level: members divided by population)
  • Weather: Open-Meteo archive 2024
  • Schools: US school district records (NCES) 2023 (1 public school in town), US Education Department Civil Rights Data Collection (AP/IB, college classes, absences) 2021-22, graduation rates 2019, Census child poverty estimates 2024

These are estimates. Please check current listings and official sources before you decide.

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