Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Porterville earns a D−, 714th among California's 841 graded towns, mostly because of incomes and health. The median household income is $60K, and 17% of residents live below the poverty line. Residents are less healthy than 80% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. One bright spot: it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 64% of U.S. towns. Porterville’s July high is 98°F, above both California’s towns (89°F) and U.S. towns (85°F). Porterville's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 96% of U.S. towns. Porterville is home to Porterville College.
Where Porterville beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
| College | Students |
|---|---|
| Porterville College | 3,048 |
US Post Office-Porterville MainEach subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Porterville is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 202 in 1880, 62,623 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1910 and 4 maps from 1929 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Porterville, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Porterville.
Porterville fares better on crime within California than nationally, has a longer frost-free season than nearly all U.S. towns and has property taxes about half the California norm.
The median property tax bill is $1,946, against $5,124 across California, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The typical Porterville home is worth about $328,000, up 1.5% in a year, 57% below the California typical home. The median rent in Porterville is $1,148 a month.
| Porterville | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 54% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,148 a month | $1,898 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its public schools are run by the Porterville Unified school district. Two of its 26 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Fe ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 809 | – |
| Summit Charter AcademyLargest public high schoolGrades K–12 | Grades K–12 | 2,423 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 89% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 14 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Porterville.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
30% of Porterville adults worry about having enough food. Porterville beats the California average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 20. 67% of Porterville adults had a checkup this year.
| Porterville | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 16% | 14% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 67% | 72% | 79% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 9% | 8.1% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 22% | 19% |
| What stands out | Porterville | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.3% | 6.4% |
| More uninsured adults | 20% | 10.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 31.5 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 56% of California’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 1,572 to 1,039 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Porterville’s violent crime rate is 3.3 per 1,000 residents.
| Porterville | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.3 per 1,000 residents | 2.9 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 13 per 1,000 residents | 13.4 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
About one in 3 of Porterville’s working residents works in town. 2.6% of workers work from home in Porterville. The top destinations are Visalia (10%), Fresno (4%) and Terra Bella (3%).
| Porterville | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 31% | 6.6% | 8% |
| Work from home | 2.6% | 14% | 11% |
| Median household income | $60,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The Lindsay weather station, 10 miles away, records that the frost-free season runs about 284 days, longer than in 96% of U.S. towns. The Lindsay weather station, 10 miles away, records that about 116 days a year reach 90°, more than in 98% of U.S. towns.
Porterville has mild winters and hot summers, with very little rain. July afternoons reach 98°, January nights drop to 39° and snow is almost unheard of.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
4.5 miles of trail in 10 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is City of Porterville Sports Complex, at 56 acres.
| Porterville | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.8% | 4.3% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Veterans Park | 1.2 mi | 29 |
| 2. City of Porterville Sports Complex | 0.7 mi | 56 |
| 3. Zalud Park | 0.3 mi | 15 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
1 within 15 miles of the center of Porterville
About 7 of every 100 Porterville residents are enrolled in college, about the same as California.
54,165 counted in 2010 and 62,623 in 2020; an estimated 63,088 in 2025.
Growth has leveled off: within 1% of 2020, after 15.6% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
3 places in Porterville on the National Register of Historic Places.
21 notable people were born in Porterville.
City in California, United States
Porterville is a city at the base of Southern Sierra Nevada mountains on the eastern side of San Joaquin Valley, in Tulare County, California, United States. It is part of the Visalia-Porterville metropolitan statistical area. Serving as the economic hub of the Southern Sierra, the Sequoia National Forest is nearby, offering outdoor recreational opportunities such as hiking, camping, and fishing. Since its incorporation in 1902, the city's population has grown as it annexed nearby unincorporated areas. The city population (not including East Porterville) was 62,623 at the 2020 census. Porterville serves as a gateway to Sequoia National Forest, Giant Sequoia National Monument and Kings Canyo…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Porterville.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Porterville | #714 | D− | C | C | B− | C− |
| East Porterville | #811 | D− | C+ | — | C+ | D |
East Porterville reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Porterville with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Porterville grades D− overall, better than 5% of U.S. towns and #714 of 841 in California. It grades C− for health, C for safety and B− for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D.
That is 4.6 years of the area's median household income ($71,300 across the Visalia, CA metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
21 notable people were born here, including Joan Marsh and Rick Owens.
