Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA population, income and ZIP codes

Carmel-by-the-Sea city is a small town in California, with 3,186 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #781 of 1,618 ranked by population — larger than 51% of them. The median age here is 68.9 years against 39.1 nationally, a markedly older profile that usually tracks retirees staying put and younger households leaving for work. At this population the ACS sample is small, so the margin of error around every dollar figure below is wide — treat the numbers as a band, not a point, and expect them to move between annual releases without the place itself changing.

Households in Carmel-by-the-Sea city earn a median of $115,729 a year, 47.4% above the national figure of $78,538 and 27% above the $91,111 median for the 1,050 California cities we cover. Household income here is measured before tax and pooled across everyone at the address, which is why it reads higher than typical individual earnings in the same area. Poverty reaches 4.9% of residents here, less than half the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in Carmel-by-the-Sea city is valued at $2,000,001, 559.2% above the national figure and 239% above the $589,600 peer median, while median gross rent runs $2,933 a month, 108.6% above the national figure, or roughly $35,196 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 30.4% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is a stretch on median earnings. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 17.3×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is out of reach on local earnings alone and the ownership market leans on outside income, equity or dual high earners. 57.9% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans more heavily on renters. The rent line includes utilities paid by the tenant, a definition worth remembering when comparing it against a landlord's quoted rate.

Home values sit at 17.3× median household income, far past the 3.9× national mark, so ownership costs here are set by something other than local wages — second homes, retirees with equity, or commuters earning elsewhere. A median age of 68.9 puts Carmel-by-the-Sea city well into retirement-weighted territory, which pulls median household income down even where household wealth is high, because retirement draws are counted differently from wages.

Every value on this page is published directly by the Census for this area — nothing is modelled or interpolated. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.