Walnut Creek, CA population, income and ZIP codes

Walnut Creek city is a small city in California, with 69,790 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #132 of 1,618 ranked by population — larger than 91% of them. The median age here is 46.1 years against 39.1 nationally, a markedly older profile that usually tracks retirees staying put and younger households leaving for work. At this size the Census also publishes one-year estimates; the five-year values used here are steadier and let you compare against smaller neighbours on the same basis.

Households in Walnut Creek city earn a median of $135,665 a year, 72.7% above the national figure of $78,538 and 49% above the $91,111 median for the 1,050 California cities we cover. The median is the midpoint household, not an average, so a handful of very high earners cannot drag it upward the way they distort a mean. Poverty reaches 5.9% of residents here, less than half the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in Walnut Creek city is valued at $1,031,100, 239.8% above the national figure and 75% above the $589,600 peer median, while median gross rent runs $2,613 a month, 85.8% above the national figure, or roughly $31,356 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 23.1% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is within the standard affordability guideline. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 7.6×, 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. 64.5% 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 7.6× 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.

All values below were released by the Census for this exact geography, with no gap-filling on our side. 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.