Humboldt County, California: commercial real estate data.

Humboldt County

How many people live in Humboldt County

• Population, American Community Survey 2020-2024134,541
• Households54,922
• Average household size2.45
• Median household income$61,160
• Median age39.9
• Median gross rent$1,287 per month
• Median owner-occupied home value$446,900
• Home value to household income7.3 times
• Annual rent as a share of median income25.3 percent
• Adults 25 and over with a bachelor degree or higher33.1 percent
• Adults 25 and over with a graduate degree11.9 percent
• Adults 25 and over93,031
• Population under 1825,301
• Share under 1818.8 percent
• Population 65 and over26,660
• Share 65 and over19.8 percent
• Working age population, 18 to 6482,580
• Civilian labor force63,659
• Unemployment rate9.0 percent
• Labor force participation, adults 18 and over58.3 percent
• Rank by population among California counties35th of 58
• Rank by population among US county-equivalents, Puerto Rico included491st of 3,222

Humboldt County is the 35th largest of 58 California counties by population. A median home costs 7.3 times median household income, which is severely unaffordable by national standards. Residents 65 and over outnumber those under 18, at 19.8 percent against 18.8 percent, which points demand at health care, services and single story product rather than schools.

US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, 2020-2024 5-year.

Humboldt County

Where are people moving to Humboldt County from?

• Tax returns filed by households arriving2,736
• People arriving, from those returns4,062
• Tax returns filed by households leaving3,082
• Net household movement-346
• Adjusted gross income arriving$165.3 m
• Net adjusted gross income movement$-22.5 m
• Average income of an arriving household$60,412
• Average income of a leaving household$60,916
• Largest single originLos Angeles County (200 households)
• Largest single destinationShasta County (146 households)

Households arriving report $504 less average income than households leaving, which drains spending power even where headcount holds up. The largest single source of arrivals is Los Angeles County, which is the catchment a retail or multifamily study should look at first.

US Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income county migration flows, 2021 to 2022 filing years.

Humboldt County

Employment by industry in Humboldt County

• Covered employment, annual average51,858
• Establishments reporting7,685
• Average annual pay$55,212
• Average weekly wage$1,062
• Health care and social assistance, employment10,998
• Health care and social assistance, average annual pay$50,774
• Retail trade, employment6,018
• Retail trade, average annual pay$41,561
• Accommodation and food services, employment4,722
• Accommodation and food services, average annual pay$27,146
• Construction, employment2,602
• Construction, average annual pay$78,552
• Manufacturing, employment2,193
• Other services, except public administration, employment2,175

Health care and social assistance is the largest private sector at 10,998 jobs, 21.2 percent of covered employment.

US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2024 annual averages.

Humboldt County

Building permits in Humboldt County

• Housing units authorized by permit, 2024194
• Declared construction value permitted$37.1 m
• Single family units authorized148
• Multifamily units authorized46
• Multifamily share of units23.7 percent
• Average declared value per unit$191,394
• Units authorized per 1,000 households3.5

Single-family homes are 76.3 percent of units authorized, so the pipeline is predominantly single-family.

US Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, 2024 annual.

Humboldt County

SBA loan default and charge-off rates in Humboldt County

Do SBA loans in Humboldt County get paid back?

• Loans with a final outcome recorded23
• Paid in full18
• Charged off5
• Status: Paid in full18
• Status: Exempt from disclosure81
• Status: Committed, not yet disbursed9
• Status: Cancelled12
• Status: Charged off5

Only 23 loans have reached a final outcome, fewer than the 30 a charge-off rate needs, so no rate is published.

Compare against the national and state SBA charge-off rates, computed the same way over resolved loans only.

US Small Business Administration, 7(a) FOIA release, FY2020 to FY2026 year to date, as of 2026-06-30.

Humboldt County

How large is Humboldt County?

• Land area3,568 sq mi
• Rank by land area among California counties14th of 58
• Width, east to west52.5 mi
• Height, north to south101.1 mi
• Geographies sharing a boundary4
• Residents per square mile of land38
• Establishments per square mile0.89

US Census Bureau county boundary geometry, TIGER, adjacency computed from shared boundary vertices, TIGER county boundaries. US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, 2020-2024 5-year. US Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, 2023.

Feasibility studies

When a Humboldt County site needs a document a lender will accept.

The same data layer behind this page is the one the studies are written from. A study for a Humboldt County site starts with the figures you are reading, carrying the same source and period into the credit file.

• Population, American Community Survey 2020-2024134,541
• Households54,922
• Average household size2.45
• Median household income$61,160
• Median age39.9

How a feasibility study works →

Humboldt County

Cities and places in Humboldt.

40 Census places lie wholly or partly in Humboldt County. All 40 carry enough published place level data for a page of their own and are linked.

A further 4 of the county's 125 SBA 7(a) approvals are to borrowers in cities that match no Census place in Humboldt County, the largest being Whitethorn (4). Those are postal cities, unincorporated areas and cities outside the county, so no place row claims them; they are counted in the county total above.