Household income shrunk by more than $10,000 in this California city. They’re not alone.

The median household income in a San Joaquin Valley city decreased by more than $10,000 last year, making it one of the top places nationwide to see a sharp drop in income.

Madera, a city northwest of Fresno, had a median household income of $67,454 in 2022. That dropped to $55,622 last year, according to a study by SmartAsset.

The consumer finance website ranked 630 U.S. cities by the greatest percent decline in median household income from 2022 to 2023 based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The study comes as the Census Bureau reported in September that the U.S. median household income last year was $80,610, a 4% increase from 2022. The Economic Policy Institute said that falling inflation, millions more jobs and an increase in wages are responsible for the increase.

However, SmartAsset’s study shows that not all households experienced an increase in median income last year.

What cities in California experienced a decrease in median household income?

According to SmartAsset, Madera had the third greatest decline in median household income of the cities analyzed, or -17.54%. Cities were ranked by the percent change.

The central California city follows Marysville, Washington and Champaign, Illinois. Madera also saw a decrease in households earning $100,000 or more in the same period, dropping from approximately 30% to 23.6%. Yet the percentage of households earning $200,000 or more in Madera grew slightly from 3.8% in 2022 to 4% last year, according to SmartAsset.

Madera isn’t the only city in California to see a drop in the median household income. Here are 10 cities in California that were ranked high due to the decline in income.

Union City, No. 5

• Median income in 2022: $148,460
• Median income in 2023: $124,383
• Change in income: −16.22%

Merced, No. 6

• Median income in 2022: $64,160
• Median income in 2023: $53,931
• Change in income: −15.94%

Palmdale, No. 16

• Median income in 2022: $90,330
• Median income 2023: $78,743
• Change in income: −12.83%

Clovis, No. 23

• Median income in 2022: $100,399
• Median income in 2023: $88,828
• Change in income: −11.53%

Hawthorne, No. 24

• Median income in 2022: $73,515
• Median income in 2023: $65,166
• Change in income: −11.36%

More: These are five of the best paying jobs in California if you only graduated high school

Rocklin, No. 27

• Median income in 2022: $119,436
• Median income in 2023: $106,408
• Change in income: −10.91%

Carlsbad, No. 30

• Median income in 2022: $146,596
• Median income in 2023: $131,257
• Change in income: −10.46%

Antioch, No. 42

• Median income in 2022: $100,178
• Median income in 2023: $91,256
• Change in income: −8.91%

Hesperia, No. 43

• Median income in 2022: $73,821
• Median income in 2023: $67,348
• Change in income: −8.77%

San Leandro, No. 45

• Median income in 2022: $92,651
• Median income in 2023: $84,657
• Change in income: -8.63%

Paris Barraza is a trending reporter covering California news at The Desert Sun. Reach her at pbarraza@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @ParisBarraza.