Chico, CA — Momentum Score, Home Values & Best-For

All states·California·Chico

Butte County · Chico · population 102,911

Chico, CA
Image: Wikipedia · Chico, California
OverviewCost of livingMoving guide
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54
Stable
Momentum score · 0–100

Where Chico stands

Steady, no major recent move.

Median home $466,126
1-year +1.0%
5-yr CAGR +1.2%
vs 5-yr peak -5.6%
Population +0.4%/yr

Home value trajectory · last 10 years

Zillow ZHVI · monthly
peak 2022-06$466k$0k$171k$342k$514k201620182020202220242026

Lifestyle scores

🚶
Walkability
40/100
Car-dependent
Estimated from population density. Higher = denser, more amenities within walking distance.
🚉
Public transit
30/100
Minimal transit
Curated list of major US transit systems + population-based estimate. Higher = real subway/rail/bus options.
💻
Remote work fit
68/100
Strong remote-work fit
Composite of city size, housing cost, state tax structure, and region's remote-work track record.

Scores are heuristic estimates from population density, state, and known transit/walkable cities. Not based on a paid Walk Score / Transit Score API — see methodology for the formula.

Rent trajectory · last 5 years

Zillow ZORI · monthly
$1,632/mo$1,284$1,507$1,730202220242026

Home value vs rent · indexed to 100

Both rebased at first month of ZORI data (~2015)
Home valueRent106119100120202220242026

Rent vs buy

Price-to-rent ratio: 23.8
Lean rent

At a 23.8 price-to-rent ratio, the math is starting to lean toward renting in Chico. Owner-occupier ROI requires longer holds and the assumption that prices keep appreciating roughly at the rate of rent.

How the momentum score breaks down

methodology →
Home YoY
55 · w22%
Home 5-yr CAGR
42 · w22%
Distance from peak
58 · w18%
Population growth
52 · w16%
Rent YoY
63 · w12%
Home 10-yr CAGR
58 · w10%
Long thesis

Chico has held up across the cycle: home values at $466,126 with +1.2% 5-year CAGR. The bull case is structural — population, location, employer base — and holds even if next year's print is soft.

Short thesis

Chico is a West Coast market off recent highs, and the regional fundamentals (taxes, regulation, out-migration) are still working against it. The bear case isn't that prices go to zero — it's that they don't recover meaningfully for years.

About Chico

Chico is a city in Butte County, California, with an estimated population of 102,911. The median home value in Chico is $466,126 as of 2026-04, up 1.0% over the last 12 months. Over the last five years, home values have averaged +1.2% annual growth (-5.6% from the 5-year peak). Rents in Chico average $1,632 per month, roughly flat year-over-year (+2.8%). The composite momentum score is 54 of 100 (Stable). Conditions are neither hot nor cold, so the local fit matters more than market timing.

▲ Bull case

○The data is the data: Chico has at least 5 years of Zillow tracking, full Census identification, and is included in the 1-criteria momentum score on this page.

▼ Bear case

○Local nuance: city-level data smooths over neighborhood differences. School zones, HOA rules, and street-level character matter — visit before deciding.

About Chico (Wikipedia)

Chico is the most populous city in Butte County, California, United States. Located in the Sacramento Valley region of Northern California, the city had a population of 101,475 in the 2020 census, an increase from 86,187 in the 2010 census. Chico is the cultural and economic center of the northern Sacramento Valley, as well as the most populous city in California north of the capital city of Sacramento. The city is known as a college town, as the home of California State University, Chico, and for Bidwell Park, one of the largest urban parks in the world.

Source: Wikipedia · this summary is contributed and licensed under CC-BY-SA.

City facts

MayorKacey Reynolds
Area34.62 sq mi
Elevation243 ft
Founded1860
Density2945.57/sq mi

Extracted from the Wikipedia infobox. Values may be slightly out of date relative to the latest sources.

Playbook

Buyer

Lifestyle fit matters more than market timing in a Stable market. Take your time on the home and neighborhood; the macro trend isn't urgent. Negotiate normally.

Seller

Price competitively from day one or risk a 60+ day listing. Staging, photography, and presentation matter more in Stable markets than in Hot ones.

Investor

Stable cap rates, no big appreciation story to lean on. Underwrite this as a pure cash-flow play — the math has to work on rent alone.

Local safety & alerts

No active National Weather Service alerts for Butte County right now.

NWS active alerts (CA)California Emergency ManagementHow to prepare (NWS)

Public-safety links are official .gov sources, not curated by us. Butte County routes NWS alerts; check the state EM portal for non-weather emergencies.

Neighborhoods of Chico

4 tracked · ranked by median home value
1Mansion park$548,336+0.8%
2The Avenues$428,267+1.0%
3South Campus$388,798+6.0%
4Chapmantown$272,700-5.4%

Cities like Chico

South San Francisco, CA55 · StableSan Rafael, CA51 · StableSan Mateo, CA54 · StableYuba City, CA55 · Stable

Run the numbers for Chico

ToolCan I afford Chico?Income → city shortlistToolROI on a Chico rentalCap rate, cash-on-cash, DSCRToolCompare Chico to anywhereSide-by-side up to 3 citiesToolChico cost-of-livingEquivalent income elsewhere

Sources: Zillow ZHVI (home values), Zillow ZORI (rents), US Census ACS + place population. Updated when source agencies publish revisions.

Climate & natural-disaster risk

Winter (Jan)
60° / 41°
avg high / low
Summer (Jul)
82° / 60°
avg high / low
Sunny days/yr
258
~71% of year
Annual precip
22″ rain
8″ snow
Disaster risk (1=very low, 5=very high)
Hurricane
Very low
Tornado
Very low
Wildfire
Very high
Earthquake
Very high
Flood
Moderate

State-level averages from NOAA Climate Normals (1991-2020) and FEMA National Risk Index. City-level conditions can vary significantly within a state.

Current weather

Loading current conditions…

7-day forecast on weather.gov →

Find rentals & listings

Open current Chico listings on the major real-estate sites.

Links open the live search on the destination site — results are always current.

Local news & community

Updated 2026-05-21 from Google News + Reddit RSS. Headlines link to original sources.

Local sports teams

Major professional teams the Chico area cheers for. Detailed stats, schedules, and player pages on intherafters.com.

Local economy & environment

Humidity
65%
Moderate climate
Median household income
$91,500
California state median
Top industries (state-level)
TechEntertainmentAgriculture

Humidity is annual average relative humidity (NOAA). Income is Census ACS 5-year estimate. Industries are largest employment sectors statewide (BLS); the local mix in a given city may vary.

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