What is the cost of living in Visalia?

Visalia has a Regional Price Parity (RPP) of 99.8, where 100 represents the national average. Housing costs index at 84.1, which is below the national average. The average 2-bedroom rent is $1,474/month.

What is the median salary in Visalia?

The median salary in Visalia is $68,839 annually (mean: $71,990). Top occupations include Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse, Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Fast Food and Counter Workers.

The violent crime rate in the Visalia area is 477 per 100,000 population (state-level data). Property crime rate is 1986 per 100K.

What are the schools like in Visalia?

The state of CA has 10,006 schools (state-level data, no metro-level federal count exists) with an average student-teacher ratio of 21.5:1. Charter schools make up 12.8% of all schools.

How much does childcare cost in Visalia?

Infant center-based childcare in the Visalia area averages $17,920 per year. Preschool averages $11,385/year. These are state-level averages.

Is Visalia a good place to relocate?

Visalia has a Life Score of 43.8/100 (F), based on 7 of 7 available dimensions among cost of living, wages, rent, crime, schools, childcare, and environment (missing dims omitted, weights renormalized). This is a below-average score, several dimensions likely pull the composite down; compare specific dimensions to see which ones.

Where does Visalia sit among US metros on LiveAbility?

According to PlainRelocate's LiveAbility composite, Visalia ranks #367 of 387 scored US metros by LiveAbility Score (highest score = #1). That ordinal matches the /rankings/livability listing. See /methodology#corpus-placement for the exact sort basis.

Relocation profile · Federal data

Visalia, CA

LiveAbility 29.8/100 places Visalia #367 of 387 (bottom third of scored metros).

Compiled by PlainRelocate · June 15, 2026

99.8
Cost index (US=100): $1,474
2BR rent / mo: $68,839
Median salary: 29.8
LiveAbility Score

The verdict

As of June 2026, Visalia ranks #367 of 387 US metros on the LiveAbility Score (29.8/100), with its strongest marks in climate and job market.

#367
of 387 US metros · Well below median: 39,431,263
metro-area population: 477
violent crimes per 100K (state-level): 10,006
schools in the state (NCES)

Weakest dimension: air quality (1/100). Weigh every dimension against your own priorities, use the City Finder to re-rank by what matters to you.

According to PlainRelocate's LiveAbility composite (BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, EPA, NOAA, and FEMA inputs), Visalia ranks #367 of 387 scored US metros by LiveAbility Score (highest score = #1). Cost-of-living index 99.8 (100 = national average), median 2-bedroom rent $1,474/mo, median salary $68,839; LiveAbility Score 29.8/100, strongest in climate and job market.

Signature: LiveAbility 29.8/100 places Visalia #367 of 387 (bottom third of scored metros).

Purchasing power tightens: BEA RPP 99.8 lands in the dearer third of scored metros (cuts at 91.5 / 97.0). Median 2BR rent $1,474/mo.

LiveAbility 29.8/100 puts Visalia in the bottom third (#367 of 387).

BLS OEWS total employment in the Visalia area is 164,460.

Visalia vs all US metros by LiveAbility Score

Where this metro's LiveAbility Score falls among every scored US metro (composite placement, not a desirability verdict)

30 Top 95% higher than 5% of 387 US metros

Metros banded by LiveAbility Score (0–100)

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US metros. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source PlainRelocate LiveAbility Score · June 2026

Visalia housing and rent

HUD Fair Market Rents for the Visalia MSA; housing RPP 84.1 (100 = national average); 2BR $1,474/mo.

Studio

$1,116

/month

1 Bedroom

$1,123

/month

2 Bedroom

$1,474

/month

3 Bedroom

$2,028

/month

4 Bedroom

$2,393

/month

Visalia wages and employment

Visalia posts 164,460 total employment with median salary $68,839 against a dearer-than-average RPP.

Median Salary

$68,839

Mean Salary

$71,990

Total Employment

164,460

Top Occupations by Employment

Occupation	Median Salary
Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse	$34,800
Home Health and Personal Care Aides	$34,320
Fast Food and Counter Workers	$38,600
Cashiers	$34,770
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand	$39,960

Schools & Education

State-level education data for the Visalia area from NCES.

Schools

10,006

Enrollment

5,787,663

Student:Teacher

21.5:1

Title I %

Childcare Costs

State-average childcare costs for the Visalia area (DOL data).

Infant (Center)

$17,920

per year

Toddler (Center)

$12,300

per year

Preschool (Center)

$11,385

per year

Life Score Breakdown

Visalia's composite Life Score is 43.8/100 (F), computed across 7 of 7 dimensions.

Cost

24/100

Weak

Wages

76/100

Strong

Rent

32/100

Weak

Crime

8/100

Bottom decile

Schools

98/100

Elite

Childcare

2/100

Bottom decile

Environment

80/100

Elite

LiveAbility Score

View full rankings →

Visalia ranks #367 out of 387 metros with a LiveAbility Score of 29.8/100 - a composite of 8 of 8 quality-of-life dimensions from federal data. Customize the weights to match your priorities →

Strongest dimension: Climate (92/100)

Climate

92
Job market

76
Housing

32
Cost of living

24
Safety

8
Low hazard

7
Schools

2
Air quality

1

What this shows Visalia's strongest dimensions are climate and job market; its weakest among scored dims is air quality at 1/100. Default weights: cost 18%, jobs & housing 15% each, safety & schools 12%, air & hazard 10%, climate 8%.

Compare Visalia to

Albany Albany-Schenectady-Troy Albuquerque Alexandria Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton Altoona

Metros near Visalia on cost, LiveAbility, or wages

Nearest out-of-state neighbors to Visalia on BEA RPP, LiveAbility, or BLS median salary, a different lens than the size-ranked list.

Similar cost of living (BEA RPP)

Similar LiveAbility score

Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, HUD Fair Market Rents, BLS OES, FBI UCR, NCES, DOL, EPA June 2026

Visalia cost figures follow BEA Regional Price Parities and HUD Fair Market Rents; Visalia wages and LiveAbility inputs follow BLS OEWS plus the federal sources listed in methodology. This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Scores are federal-data percentiles, not a move recommendation. How this data is sourced.

Verify with BEA → · Verify with BLS → · Verify with HUD → · Verify with NOAA → · Verify with FEMA → · Verify with Census →

Thinking about Visalia?

Visalia runs a $68,839 median salary at a 99.8 cost index, ranking #367 of 387 nationally on LiveAbility.

See exactly what Visalia's pay and cost figures mean for your own budget. Salary calculator
Put Visalia head-to-head against another city on the same dimensions. Compare Visalia
Abilene is the closest related metro in this corpus -- see how it stacks up. Abilene profile
A cheaper cost index and a higher LiveAbility score don't always point the same direction -- here's how to weigh the trade-off. Cost vs quality guide

Cost, salary and score figures are federal-data percentiles, not a move recommendation.