Lake County vs Mendocino County

A side-by-side comparison of Lake County and Mendocino County: population, income, housing, and more.

Lake County and Mendocino County are counties in California. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Mendocino County has the higher population (90,709 vs 68,139 in Lake County). Mendocino County has the higher median household income ($64,688 vs $58,738 in Lake County). Mendocino County has the higher median home value ($486,000 vs $316,800 in Lake County).

Population, income & housing

	Lake County	Mendocino County
Population	68,139	90,709
Median age	44.2 yrs	43.9 yrs
Median household income	$58,738	$64,688
Median home value	$316,800	$486,000
Median gross rent	$1,292	$1,325
Housing units	34,271	41,495
Homeownership rate	70.9%	60.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher	17.7%	24.9%
Unemployment rate	11.5%	9.3%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Lake County	Mendocino County
Population	64,195 → 68,139 (+6.1%)	87,224 → 90,709 (+4.0%)
Median household income	$47,040 → $58,738 (+24.9%)	$51,416 → $64,688 (+25.8%)
Median home value	$219,400 → $316,800 (+44.4%)	$377,500 → $486,000 (+28.7%)
Median gross rent	$978 → $1,292 (+32.1%)	$1,146 → $1,325 (+15.6%)

Lake County

Population

64,19568,139

Median household income

$47,040$58,738

Median home value

$219,400$316,800

Median gross rent

$978$1,292

Mendocino County

Population

87,22490,709

Median household income

$51,416$64,688

Median home value

$377,500$486,000

Median gross rent

$1,146$1,325

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Lake County	Mendocino County
Under 5	5.5%	5.4%
5 to 17	16.3%	15.7%
18 to 24	6.4%	7.0%
25 to 34	11.1%	10.8%
35 to 44	11.5%	12.2%
45 to 54	10.9%	11.5%
55 to 64	14.7%	13.3%
65 to 74	14.4%	15.0%
75 and over	9.3%	9.0%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Lake County	Mendocino County
White (non-Hispanic)	65.3%	62.1%
Black or African American	1.9%	0.8%
American Indian & Alaska Native	2.0%	2.7%
Asian	1.0%	2.2%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.3%	0.1%
Some other race	0.2%	0.7%
Two or more races	5.5%	4.4%
Hispanic or Latino	23.8%	26.9%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Lake County	Mendocino County
No high school diploma	12.9%	13.8%
High school graduate	28.8%	26.1%
Some college or associate's	40.5%	35.1%
Bachelor's degree	11.7%	15.1%
Graduate or professional degree	6.0%	9.8%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Lake County	Mendocino County
Drove alone	67.9%	71.5%
Carpooled	11.2%	9.1%
Public transit	0.8%	0.4%
Walked	2.8%	6.5%
Bicycle	0.4%	0.3%
Worked from home	15.8%	11.7%
Other means	1.1%	0.6%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Lake County	Mendocino County
1-unit, detached	70.0%	73.2%
1-unit, attached	2.5%	2.5%
2 to 4 units	2.5%	6.1%
5 to 19 units	2.6%	4.7%
20 or more units	2.3%	3.0%
Mobile home & other	20.2%	10.4%

Poverty & households

	Lake County	Mendocino County
Poverty rate	16.7%	15.2%
Average household size	2.55	2.56
Mean commute (minutes)	30	22
Median year structure built	1980	1977