2025 Compare Cities Economy:
Ridgecrest, CA vs Mesa, AZ

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Highlights
- Household income in Mesa, is 15% less than it is in Ridgecrest and is 5% below the National Average.
- Ridgecrest unemployment rate is 4.1%.
- Mesa unemployment rate is 6.1%.
 Ridgecrest, CAMesa, AZUnited States
 Unemployment Rate  Unlock6.1%6.0%
 Recent Job Growth  Unlock3.3%1.6%
 Future Job Growth26.0%  Unlock33.5%
 Sales Taxes8.3%  Unlock6.2%
 Income Taxes  Unlock3.4%4.6%
 Income per Cap.$36,966  Unlock$37,638
 Household Income  Unlock$65,725$69,021
 Family Median Income$91,994  Unlock$85,028
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 Est. Households By Income
 Ridgecrest, CAMesa, AZUnited States
 Income Less Than 15K  Unlock7.6%9.4%
 Income between 15K and 20K3.1%  Unlock3.8%
 Income between 20K and 30K  Unlock7.7%8.1%
 Income between 30K and 40K6.0%  Unlock8.0%
 Income between 40K and 50K  Unlock8.7%7.6%
 Income between 50K and 60K7.3%  Unlock7.2%
 Income between 60K and 75K  Unlock10.6%9.6%
 Income between 75K and 100K12.8%  Unlock12.8%
 Income between 100K and 150K  Unlock17.1%16.3%
 Income between 150K and 200K10.5%  Unlock7.8%
 Income greater than 200K  Unlock6.2%9.5%
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 Population By Occupation
 Ridgecrest, CAMesa, AZUnited States
 Management, business, finance14.1%  Unlock16.4%
 Engineering, computers, science  Unlock6.6%6.5%
 Community, social services3.4%  Unlock1.8%
 Legal  Unlock0.7%1.2%
 Education, library5.2%  Unlock6.2%
 Arts, design, media, sports, entertainment  Unlock1.8%2.0%
 Healthcare practitioners and technology3.7%  Unlock6.2%
 Healthcare support  Unlock3.1%3.3%
 Firefighters, law enforcement3.4%  Unlock2.1%
 Food preparation, serving  Unlock5.7%5.4%
 Building maintenance1.9%  Unlock3.6%
 Personal care  Unlock2.6%2.6%
 Sales, office, administrative support16.6%  Unlock20.9%
 Farming, fishing, forestry  Unlock0.2%0.6%
 Construction, extraction, maintenance/repair6.7%  Unlock8.1%
 Production, transportation, material moving  Unlock10.9%13.1%
Reviews for Ridgecrest    7 Reviews

For context, I grew up in Ridgecrest and moved away after graduating high school. I have since lived in LA and the Bay Area but I visit RC often. RC is in the high  More

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Ridgecrest and Kern County are red state bastions in a land of blue voting counties. If you want a concealed weapons permit, you'll get it. Want to own any firearm  More

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Over 13 years ago

The hardest thing to get used to in Ridgecrest is the weather. It can get quite windy. And hot. 115 hot. But it's a dry heat! It does cool off in the evening, and it  More

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Reviews for Mesa    61 Reviews

Mesa is a really good city despite some trouble with Superstition Springs and the failure that is Fiesta Mall, there is nice areas throughout and some areas that need to  More

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Over 2 years ago

As someone who was born in Mesa and has lived here in the 85210 in Dobson Ranch for the last 13 years after moving out from Chandler. I can tell you that most of the  More

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I’m a native to Arizona and growing up here has taught me that people just don’t care, and the Mormon community is huge! It’s normal in the state of AZ for kids to start  More

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