Arcata vs McKinleyville

A side-by-side comparison of Arcata and McKinleyville: population, income, housing, and more.

Arcata and McKinleyville are places in California. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Arcata has the higher population (18,578 vs 17,152 in McKinleyville). McKinleyville has the higher median household income ($66,096 vs $48,731 in Arcata). Arcata has the higher median home value ($466,600 vs $414,200 in McKinleyville).

Population, income & housing

	Arcata	McKinleyville
Population	18,578	17,152
Median age	28.0 yrs	39.2 yrs
Median household income	$48,731	$66,096
Median home value	$466,600	$414,200
Median gross rent	$1,287	$1,441
Housing units	8,376	7,414
Homeownership rate	33.9%	59.4%
Bachelor's degree or higher	45.1%	37.3%
Unemployment rate	13.2%	9.3%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Arcata	McKinleyville
Population	18,178 → 18,578 (+2.2%)	17,208 → 17,152 (-0.3%)
Median household income	$35,506 → $48,731 (+37.2%)	$54,614 → $66,096 (+21.0%)
Median home value	$341,000 → $466,600 (+36.8%)	$296,700 → $414,200 (+39.6%)
Median gross rent	$1,023 → $1,287 (+25.8%)	$964 → $1,441 (+49.5%)

Arcata

Population

18,17818,578

Median household income

$35,506$48,731

Median home value

$341,000$466,600

Median gross rent

$1,023$1,287

McKinleyville

Population

17,20817,152

Median household income

$54,614$66,096

Median home value

$296,700$414,200

Median gross rent

$964$1,441

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Arcata	McKinleyville
Under 5	2.3%	5.2%
5 to 17	10.3%	18.0%
18 to 24	30.0%	8.9%
25 to 34	17.5%	12.2%
35 to 44	12.4%	16.0%
45 to 54	7.1%	10.3%
55 to 64	7.4%	11.5%
65 to 74	8.7%	11.0%
75 and over	4.4%	6.8%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Arcata	McKinleyville
White (non-Hispanic)	70.9%	70.1%
Black or African American	2.1%	0.4%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.6%	3.9%
Asian	2.2%	3.3%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.5%	0.0%
Some other race	1.5%	0.1%
Two or more races	6.8%	10.3%
Hispanic or Latino	15.4%	11.9%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Arcata	McKinleyville
No high school diploma	5.0%	5.9%
High school graduate	14.2%	20.3%
Some college or associate's	35.7%	36.6%
Bachelor's degree	28.3%	23.8%
Graduate or professional degree	16.7%	13.4%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Arcata	McKinleyville
Drove alone	59.2%	78.4%
Carpooled	9.7%	8.1%
Public transit	1.4%	0.5%
Walked	12.8%	1.0%
Bicycle	1.8%	0.1%
Worked from home	13.4%	9.6%
Other means	1.7%	2.1%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Arcata	McKinleyville
1-unit, detached	44.8%	72.6%
1-unit, attached	6.3%	6.8%
2 to 4 units	17.4%	7.6%
5 to 19 units	18.9%	2.1%
20 or more units	6.7%	1.9%
Mobile home & other	6.0%	9.0%

Poverty & households

	Arcata	McKinleyville
Poverty rate	29.6%	14.8%
Average household size	2.21	2.52
Mean commute (minutes)	18	21
Median year structure built	1976	1992