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Small town

Living in Chester, CA

Chester is a small town of 1,759 people in Plumas County, California. It's about 49 miles from Chico, CA and 120 miles from Sacramento, CA, the nearest major city. Summer highs average 86°F and winter highs 42°F, with about 110 inches of snow a year. The typical home is valued around $305k and rent runs about $1k a month.

1,759people
$305kTypical home
$1,110/moRent
86° / 42°Summer / winter
110"Snow
279Sunny days
86Rain/snow days

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Size & setting

  • Small town of 1,759
  • A standalone small town, not a suburb
  • About 241 people per sq mi
  • 120 mi to Sacramento, CA
  • 49 mi to Chico, CA
  • 33 mi to the nearest town of 10k+

Money

  • Typical home $305k (≈$1,922/mo)
  • Median rent $1,110/mo
  • Median household income $47k
  • Property tax about 0.8% of value
  • 5.0% unemployment

Weather

  • Summer highs around 86°F
  • Winter highs around 42°F
  • Dry summers (dew point 35°F)
  • 279 sunny days a year (169 totally clear)
  • 86 cloudy days a year
  • 38 of 90 winter days are gray
  • 86 days a year with rain or snow
  • 110" of snow a year
  • 19 days a year with 1"+ of snow
  • Rarely hits 100°F
  • 7 nights a year below 10°F
  • Usually calm

Safety

  • Low violent crime (299 per 100k), county-wide
  • Very low property crime (819 per 100k), county-wide

People

  • Median age 62
  • 13% of households have kids
  • 40% are 65 or older
  • 20% have a college degree
  • Not very diverse
  • 2% of residents are college students

Getting around & homes

  • Average commute 28 min
  • 1% walk or take transit to work
  • 58 mi to RDD airport
  • 95 mi to RNO (major hub)
  • 52 mi to the nearest Amtrak station
  • 81% single-family homes
  • Typical home built around 1974
  • 92% of homes have broadband

Outdoors

  • Hilly terrain
  • Elevation 4,541 ft
  • 142 mi to the ocean
  • 40 mi to a big lake
  • 6 mi to the nearest trailhead
  • 82 mi to the nearest ski area
  • 2 mi to the nearest campground
  • 4 golf courses within 25 mi

Things to do

  • 7 sit-down restaurants within 25 mi
  • Few or no bars within 25 mi
  • Few or no coffee shops within 25 mi
  • No music venues & clubs within 25 mi
  • 1 museum within 25 mi
  • No breweries & distilleries within 25 mi
  • 52 mi to the nearest farmers market

Everyday

  • Schools in the bottom 44% of California districts (reading)
  • Grocery store in town
  • 2 mi to the nearest ER hospital
  • 64 mi to a 4–5★ hospital
  • 31 mi to the nearest vet
  • 49 mi to the nearest dog park
  • 8 congregations per 10k people
  • 28 mi to the nearest college

Politics

  • Plumas County: R+17 in 2024
  • California: D+20 in 2024

Natural hazards

  • Very low hurricane risk
  • Very low tornado risk
  • High wildfire risk
  • High earthquake risk
  • Very low flood risk
  • High drought risk
  • High winter storm risk
  • Low heat wave risk
  • Low volcano risk

Places near Chester

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