2025 Compare Cities Economy:
Ridgecrest, CA vs South Lake Tahoe, CA

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Highlights
- Household income in South Lake Tahoe, is 25% less than it is in Ridgecrest and is 19% below the National Average.
- Ridgecrest unemployment rate is 4.1%.
- South Lake Tahoe unemployment rate is 6.3%.
 Ridgecrest, CASouth Lake Tahoe, CAUnited States
 Unemployment Rate  Unlock6.3%6.0%
 Recent Job Growth  Unlock1.7%1.6%
 Future Job Growth26.0%  Unlock33.5%
 Sales Taxes8.3%  Unlock6.2%
 Income Taxes  Unlock8.0%4.6%
 Income per Cap.$36,966  Unlock$37,638
 Household Income  Unlock$57,976$69,021
 Family Median Income$91,994  Unlock$85,028
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 Est. Households By Income
 Ridgecrest, CASouth Lake Tahoe, CAUnited States
 Income Less Than 15K  Unlock10.1%9.4%
 Income between 15K and 20K3.1%  Unlock3.8%
 Income between 20K and 30K  Unlock9.8%8.1%
 Income between 30K and 40K6.0%  Unlock8.0%
 Income between 40K and 50K  Unlock7.2%7.6%
 Income between 50K and 60K7.3%  Unlock7.2%
 Income between 60K and 75K  Unlock9.7%9.6%
 Income between 75K and 100K12.8%  Unlock12.8%
 Income between 100K and 150K  Unlock16.2%16.3%
 Income between 150K and 200K10.5%  Unlock7.8%
 Income greater than 200K  Unlock7.1%9.5%
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 Population By Occupation
 Ridgecrest, CASouth Lake Tahoe, CAUnited States
 Management, business, finance14.1%  Unlock16.4%
 Engineering, computers, science  Unlock3.9%6.5%
 Community, social services3.4%  Unlock1.8%
 Legal  Unlock0.2%1.2%
 Education, library5.2%  Unlock6.2%
 Arts, design, media, sports, entertainment  Unlock3.2%2.0%
 Healthcare practitioners and technology3.7%  Unlock6.2%
 Healthcare support  Unlock3.0%3.3%
 Firefighters, law enforcement3.4%  Unlock2.1%
 Food preparation, serving  Unlock13.2%5.4%
 Building maintenance1.9%  Unlock3.6%
 Personal care  Unlock6.1%2.6%
 Sales, office, administrative support16.6%  Unlock20.9%
 Farming, fishing, forestry  Unlock0.9%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 South Lake Tahoe    10 Reviews

Over 5 years ago

Pretty boring town. Very run down and seedy too. Lake is nothing special either. I much prefer the Pacific coast or even the Atlantic coast or great  More

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Seriously I don't get what the big deal about this dump is everything is grossly overpriced scenery is boring and not at all interesting very boring nothing to do very  More

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Over 5 years ago

Beautiful place to live. This site has most of the details wrong, has somehow lumped it together with Sacramento. Elevation is 6250 feet at the lake. Weather is cold in  More

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