2025 Compare Cities Economy:
Boulder, CO vs Chico, CA

Change Cities
Highlights
- Household income in Chico, is 19% less than it is in Boulder and is 14% below the National Average.
- Boulder unemployment rate is 5.1%.
- Chico unemployment rate is 5.6%.
 Boulder, COChico, CAUnited States
 Unemployment Rate  Unlock5.6%6.0%
 Recent Job Growth  Unlock2.1%1.6%
 Future Job Growth44.4%  Unlock33.5%
 Sales Taxes8.8%  Unlock6.2%
 Income Taxes  Unlock8.0%4.6%
 Income per Cap.$52,057  Unlock$37,638
 Household Income  Unlock$60,507$69,021
 Family Median Income$134,583  Unlock$85,028
 space
 Est. Households By Income
 Boulder, COChico, CAUnited States
 Income Less Than 15K  Unlock13.5%9.4%
 Income between 15K and 20K3.7%  Unlock3.8%
 Income between 20K and 30K  Unlock9.9%8.1%
 Income between 30K and 40K5.6%  Unlock8.0%
 Income between 40K and 50K  Unlock6.9%7.6%
 Income between 50K and 60K5.8%  Unlock7.2%
 Income between 60K and 75K  Unlock8.9%9.6%
 Income between 75K and 100K9.5%  Unlock12.8%
 Income between 100K and 150K  Unlock15.0%16.3%
 Income between 150K and 200K9.6%  Unlock7.8%
 Income greater than 200K  Unlock7.4%9.5%
 space1
 Population By Occupation
 Boulder, COChico, CAUnited States
 Management, business, finance18.6%  Unlock16.4%
 Engineering, computers, science  Unlock5.3%6.5%
 Community, social services1.5%  Unlock1.8%
 Legal  Unlock0.5%1.2%
 Education, library10.1%  Unlock6.2%
 Arts, design, media, sports, entertainment  Unlock2.7%2.0%
 Healthcare practitioners and technology4.7%  Unlock6.2%
 Healthcare support  Unlock5.2%3.3%
 Firefighters, law enforcement1.3%  Unlock2.1%
 Food preparation, serving  Unlock8.0%5.4%
 Building maintenance1.1%  Unlock3.6%
 Personal care  Unlock2.9%2.6%
 Sales, office, administrative support17.5%  Unlock20.9%
 Farming, fishing, forestry  Unlock0.6%0.6%
 Construction, extraction, maintenance/repair2.1%  Unlock8.1%
 Production, transportation, material moving  Unlock8.6%13.1%
Reviews for Boulder    55 Reviews

Outside of the university, Boulder had a very distinctive "wealthy hippy" feel. A lot of alternative medicine and a matching ethos. This is changing some among my  More

   |    Reply

We moved here from Texas about 4 years ago and love it here! The amazing sense of community and high regard for the environment are two of the main reasons we love  More

   |    Reply

Over 5 years ago

Most people do much worse than Boulder. I'm the most critical person I've ever met who is never happy or satisfied -- so that's a pretty huge compliment.   More

   |    Reply

Start Your Review of Boulder

Reviews for Chico    31 Reviews

Chico is imperfect like most places, but it's still good. Any and all of it's issues proceed from it's main fault of growing increasingly liberal, which is to be  More

   |    Reply

Uuwuu · 
Over 3 years ago

Chico's decent. I've been living here for ~5 years now. Eveen though my brother loves Chico and would like to stay, I would like to leave. I have no issues with crime or  More

   |    Reply

I was born in Oroville and I grew up in Oroville and Biggs. I have heard all my life about crime in chico. Well I have lived in Chico near Chapman for almost 10 years  More

   |    Reply

Start Your Review of Chico


Premium Subscription
Includes Cost of Living compares for child care, utilities, transportation, health, taxes, housing for home owners vs renters, weather, insurance premiums and so much more.


The premier source for comprehensive city data for over 30 years.

© Best Places. All rights reserved.