The county economy from official statistics, with source and year on every table.
Click any dot to open that city: jobs, pay, rent, commute, county economy and climate. Dot size follows population; colours follow the state flag.
By AtiveSite · Published 07/11/2026 · Updated 07/11/2026 · Every figure is linked to its source below.
Ventura County is a county of California with 837,469 residents. Its economy produced $69,606 million in 2024 (ranked #12 of 58 counties) and had 336,272 jobs with an average annual pay of $70,487 (#16 for pay). The unemployment rate was 4.9% in 2026M09. It is part of the Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA metropolitan area (central county).
Ventura County produced about $69,606 million of goods and services in 2024, which is 1.7% of the combined output of the 58 counties of California that BEA reports (about 2.1% of the state's population lives here), and ranks it 12th of 58 on that measure. Per resident that is $83,114, 19% below the state average; the average for all counties of the state taken together is $103,038. In current dollars output grew 6.3% from 2023 to 2024, before adjusting for inflation.
BLS counts 336,272 jobs located in Ventura County on average in 2024, spread over 31,435 employer sites (about 11 jobs per site). That is 0.40 jobs for every resident, above the 0.37 of the typical county in California, which tells you whether the county is a place people mostly commute to for work or a place they commute from. The average annual pay per job was $70,487, 22% below the average of all counties in the state ($70,487 against $90,721). Average pay is total wages divided by jobs, so it is pulled up by high earners and counts part-time jobs as whole jobs; it is not the pay of a typical worker. The number of jobs rose 1.9% from 2023 to 2024.
The three largest private industries are health care and social assistance (17.2% of private jobs, $57,825 a year on average), retail trade (12.3% of private jobs, $45,554 a year on average), accommodation and food services (11.5% of private jobs, $31,700 a year on average). Together they hold 41.0% of private-sector jobs. Among industries with at least 3% of jobs, the best paying is finance and insurance at $131,117 a year, followed by professional and technical services ($127,033). The county is specialised in an industry: agriculture, forestry, fishing (9.0 times the US share, 24,597 jobs). A location quotient above 1 means an industry employs a larger share of workers here than in the whole country, so these are the industries where local employers compete hardest for skills. Several of the biggest employers pay well below the county average: retail trade ($45,554), accommodation and food services ($31,700), agriculture, forestry, fishing ($42,916). Jobs there are plentiful but the pay is lower than the headline average suggests.
In 2026M09 the unemployment rate in Ventura County was 4.9%, 3% below the average of the state's counties (4.9% against 5.1%). The labour force (people working or looking for work) numbered 418,002. Over the last 12 months it ranged from 3.9% (2026M05) to 5.1% (2025M09); the latest month is preliminary and BLS revises it. These county rates are not seasonally adjusted, so compare the same month across years.
The median household income was $109,797 (ACS 2020–2024), 11% above the state median ($109,797 against $99,122). The guide covers 4 cities with this as the main county: Oxnard, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, San Buenaventura (Ventura). Open any of them for rent, home values, commuting and climate. Within the county, median rent runs from $2,032 in Oxnard to $2,664 in Thousand Oaks, so where you live matters as much as which county you pick.
Counties close to Ventura County in output are Riverside County, Contra Costa County, Fresno County, Kern County. Compare their jobs, pay and unemployment on their own pages.
| Measure ⇅ | Value ⇅ | Rank among the 58 counties of California ⇅ |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 837,469 | 12 of 58 |
| GDP 2024 | $69,606 million | 12 of 58 |
| GDP per resident | $83,114 | 19 of 58 |
| Jobs (QCEW 2024) | 336,272 | 14 of 58 |
| Average annual pay | $70,487 | 16 of 58 |
| Job change vs 2023 | +1.9% | 21 of 58 |
| Unemployment rate (lower is better) | 4.9% | 19 of 58 |
| Median household income | $109,797 | 12 of 58 |
Federal jobs in California (1,717) →All cities of CaliforniaState guide: California
These links go to official sources and open in a new window. The first one is the government's or company's own site as listed in Wikidata (property "official website"); check it before relying on it.
Cities of this guide whose main county is Ventura County.
| City ⇅ | Population ⇅ | Median household income ⇅ | Median rent ⇅ | Median home value ⇅ | Bachelor's+ ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oxnard | 200,928 | $96,212 | $2,032 | $652,700 | 19.5% |
| Simi Valley | 125,634 | $122,081 | $2,579 | $823,800 | 39.1% |
| Thousand Oaks | 125,205 | $135,603 | $2,664 | $991,600 | 51.4% |
| San Buenaventura (Ventura) | 109,857 | $103,069 | $2,198 | $827,300 | 41.5% |
| Industry ⇅ | Jobs ⇅ | Share of private jobs ⇅ | Average annual pay ⇅ | Concentration vs US (location quotient) ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 49,739 | 17.2% | $57,825 | 1.03 |
| Retail trade | 35,647 | 12.3% | $45,554 | 1.06 |
| Accommodation and food services | 33,250 | 11.5% | $31,700 | 1.09 |
| Manufacturing | 27,385 | 9.5% | $83,438 | 0.99 |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 24,597 | 8.5% | $42,916 | 9.04 |
| Construction | 17,879 | 6.2% | $75,869 | 1.01 |
| Administrative and waste services | 17,732 | 6.1% | $56,623 | 0.90 |
| Professional and technical services | 17,086 | 5.9% | $127,033 | 0.73 |
| Wholesale trade | 10,667 | 3.7% | $100,199 | 0.81 |
| Finance and insurance | 10,302 | 3.6% | $131,117 | 0.75 |
| Other services (except public administration) | 8,934 | 3.1% | $45,561 | 0.88 |
| Management of companies | 7,720 | 2.7% | $185,790 | 1.36 |
| Transportation and warehousing | 7,384 | 2.6% | $71,594 | 0.52 |
| Educational services | 5,875 | 2.0% | $40,921 | 0.84 |
| Arts, entertainment, recreation | 4,961 | 1.7% | $36,606 | 0.88 |
| Real estate and rental | 4,701 | 1.6% | $70,897 | 0.90 |
| Information | 3,465 | 1.2% | $99,952 | 0.55 |
| Mining, oil and gas | 1,009 | 0.3% | $120,780 | 0.79 |
| Utilities | 923 | 0.3% | $158,337 | 0.72 |
A location quotient above 1 means the industry is more concentrated here than in the US. BLS withholds sectors with too few employers.
| Measure ⇅ | Value ⇅ |
|---|---|
| Labour force | 418,002 |
| Employed residents | 397,367 |
| Unemployed residents | 20,635 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.9% |
| Jobs located in the county (QCEW) | 336,272 |
| Employer sites | 31,435 |
Residents employed and jobs located here differ: many residents commute to other counties.
| County ⇅ | Population ⇅ | GDP 2024 ⇅ | GDP per resident ⇅ | Jobs ⇅ | Average annual pay ⇅ | Unemployment ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles County | 9,808,667 | $1,002,965 million | $102,253 | 4,525,711 | $83,554 | 4.5% |
| San Diego County | 3,288,774 | $331,868 million | $100,909 | 1,536,541 | $82,854 | 4.7% |
| Orange County | 3,165,820 | $351,753 million | $111,109 | 1,661,276 | $81,403 | 4.3% |
| Riverside County | 2,478,600 | $134,757 million | $54,368 | 840,433 | $59,734 | 5.9% |
| San Bernardino County | 2,197,104 | $137,914 million | $62,771 | 845,908 | $62,368 | 5.5% |
| Santa Clara County | 1,902,047 | $438,483 million | $230,532 | 1,116,581 | $197,043 | 4.2% |
| Alameda County | 1,649,473 | $182,539 million | $110,665 | 790,358 | $98,026 | 4.7% |
| Sacramento County | 1,594,006 | $135,538 million | $85,030 | 726,937 | $80,125 | 5.1% |
| Contra Costa County | 1,165,012 | $96,579 million | $82,900 | 373,992 | $86,234 | 4.8% |
| Fresno County | 1,016,725 | $64,217 million | $63,161 | 427,076 | $57,904 | 7.4% |
| Kern County | 915,075 | $63,070 million | $68,923 | 347,664 | $60,066 | 7.9% |
| Ventura County | 837,469 | $69,606 million | $83,114 | 336,272 | $70,487 | 4.9% |
| San Francisco County | 830,235 | $268,322 million | $323,188 | 707,646 | $174,103 | 4.0% |
| San Joaquin County | 797,334 | $46,521 million | $58,346 | 287,828 | $63,300 | 6.2% |
| San Mateo County | 742,340 | $217,018 million | $292,343 | 416,422 | $196,441 | 3.9% |
| Stanislaus County | 553,990 | $32,065 million | $57,881 | 199,396 | $63,795 | 6.6% |
| Sonoma County | 485,040 | $39,448 million | $81,329 | 206,849 | $71,422 | 4.3% |
| Tulare County | 478,693 | $25,415 million | $53,092 | 177,657 | $53,038 | 9.8% |
| Solano County | 451,918 | $37,695 million | $83,411 | 143,366 | $71,403 | 5.3% |
| Santa Barbara County | 443,701 | $41,425 million | $93,361 | 216,323 | $69,664 | 4.5% |
| Monterey County | 437,613 | $38,345 million | $87,624 | 200,244 | $61,375 | 5.5% |
| Placer County | 419,156 | $34,304 million | $81,841 | 186,942 | $72,804 | 4.4% |
| Merced County | 290,201 | $13,282 million | $45,769 | 84,952 | $54,952 | 8.1% |
| San Luis Obispo County | 281,555 | $24,505 million | $87,036 | 121,958 | $61,334 | 4.6% |
| Santa Cruz County | 264,926 | $21,092 million | $79,615 | 104,514 | $67,622 | 5.1% |
| Marin County | 257,969 | $36,854 million | $142,861 | 110,934 | $93,552 | 4.3% |
| Yolo County | 220,564 | $20,507 million | $92,977 | 110,302 | $76,659 | 5.5% |
| Butte County | 207,929 | $12,901 million | $62,045 | 78,999 | $57,521 | 5.9% |
| El Dorado County | 192,662 | $11,555 million | $59,978 | 58,585 | $66,226 | 5.0% |
| Shasta County | 181,436 | $11,870 million | $65,421 | 70,090 | $59,352 | 5.2% |
| Imperial County | 180,202 | $12,907 million | $71,628 | 67,166 | $54,639 | 20.8% |
| Madera County | 160,940 | $8,846 million | $54,966 | 56,858 | $56,070 | 7.0% |
| Kings County | 153,298 | $9,220 million | $60,146 | 50,796 | $56,351 | 8.1% |
| Napa County | 134,869 | $14,592 million | $108,193 | 80,265 | $70,866 | 4.2% |
| Humboldt County | 134,541 | $7,591 million | $56,418 | 51,858 | $55,212 | 5.2% |
| Nevada County | 102,481 | $6,221 million | $60,707 | 35,000 | $62,734 | 4.8% |
| Sutter County | 98,857 | $5,238 million | $52,989 | 32,774 | $55,174 | 7.1% |
| Mendocino County | 90,244 | $4,693 million | $51,998 | 32,084 | $53,903 | 5.2% |
| Yuba County | 84,507 | $4,508 million | $53,346 | 21,061 | $66,931 | 6.5% |
| Lake County | 68,152 | $2,695 million | $39,543 | 17,522 | $53,849 | 7.1% |
| San Benito County | 67,290 | $3,285 million | $48,814 | 18,032 | $60,013 | 5.7% |
| Tehama County | 65,167 | $2,870 million | $44,033 | 19,740 | $57,144 | 5.9% |
| Tuolumne County | 54,498 | $3,306 million | $60,669 | 18,221 | $58,725 | 5.5% |
| Calaveras County | 46,248 | $2,074 million | $44,852 | 10,263 | $57,838 | 6.2% |
| Siskiyou County | 43,466 | $2,304 million | $53,000 | 14,205 | $53,720 | 6.7% |
| Amador County | 41,428 | $2,112 million | $50,988 | 12,492 | $58,581 | 5.8% |
| Lassen County | 30,356 | $1,471 million | $48,443 | 9,174 | $59,583 | 6.2% |
| Glenn County | 28,494 | $1,468 million | $51,523 | 9,835 | $54,056 | 6.5% |
| Del Norte County | 27,107 | $1,088 million | $40,143 | 8,328 | $53,835 | 6.0% |
| Colusa County | 21,984 | $2,010 million | $91,423 | 9,354 | $60,337 | 8.6% |
| Plumas County | 19,423 | $1,482 million | $76,276 | 6,678 | $59,864 | 5.6% |
| Inyo County | 18,739 | $1,555 million | $83,007 | 7,718 | $61,041 | 4.6% |
| Mariposa County | 17,082 | $1,036 million | $60,632 | 6,075 | $52,414 | 5.5% |
| Trinity County | 15,860 | $598 million | $37,722 | 2,918 | $56,151 | 5.4% |
| Mono County | 13,148 | $1,565 million | $118,998 | 8,150 | $52,503 | 4.4% |
| Modoc County | 8,600 | $688 million | $79,960 | 2,768 | $50,973 | 6.1% |
| Sierra County | 2,746 | $127 million | $46,304 | 611 | $50,525 | 4.1% |
| Alpine County | 1,616 | $146 million | $90,517 | 975 | $48,463 | 10.0% |
837,469 (Census Bureau ACS 2020–2024).
$69,606 million in 2024 (BEA, current dollars).
4.9% in 2026M09 (BLS, not seasonally adjusted; the latest month may be revised).
336,272 jobs on average in 2024 with an average annual pay of $70,487 (BLS QCEW).