West Carson, CA population, income and ZIP codes

West Carson CDP is a mid-size town in California, with 21,909 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #332 of 1,618 ranked by population — larger than 79% 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. Places under 65,000 residents only appear in the five-year release, never the one-year file, so these values pool sixty months of responses and lag the current year by design.

Households in West Carson CDP earn a median of $95,385 a year, 21.5% above the national figure of $78,538 and 5% above the $91,111 median for the 1,050 California cities we cover. This figure covers the household, not the worker: two people on ordinary wages at one address outrank a single professional in the same table. Poverty reaches 6.8% of residents here, below the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in West Carson CDP is valued at $647,100, 113.3% above the national figure and 10% above the $589,600 peer median, while median gross rent runs $1,833 a month, 30.4% above the national figure, or roughly $21,996 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 6.8×, 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. 73.2% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans toward owners. Rent is reported gross — contract rent plus tenant-paid utilities — which is why it runs above the advertised price on a listing for the same unit.

Home values sit at 6.8× 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.

No figure on this page is estimated by us; each one comes straight from the published ACS tables for this area. 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.