ArnoldCA
A town of 2,482, settled in 1934.
Is Arnold a good place to live?
The best of Arnold’s subject grades is an A− for health; the weakest is a D for hazard risk. Arnold’s average trip to work is 15 minutes, below both the California town median (28 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes). Among 848 California towns, just 6 have a higher median age than Arnold. The biggest park or preserve is Calaveras Big Trees State Park, at 81 acres. Arnold has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
What makes Arnold stand out
Where Arnold beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Arnold has shrunk 14% from 2010 to 2020
3,843 counted in 2010 and 3,288 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
How Arnold grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Arnold is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Arnold: who provides what
Arnold is unincorporated, so Calaveras County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Arnold.
48% of residents are 65 or older
People 65 and older are 48% of residents (16% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 10% of residents (24% statewide). 44% of Arnold adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more, where California’s towns sit at 29% and U.S. towns at 29%.
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
56% women, 44% men
About 78 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±5.2 points). Across California, 50.1% of residents are women.
| Arnold | CA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 4% | 11.4% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 5.7% | 10.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 0.4% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 9.9% | 14.8% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 14.1% | 13.9% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 4.4% | 12.5% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13.1% | 12.1% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 35.5% | 9.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 12.8% | 6.5% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.5% | 15.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 20.5% | 20.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 20.7% | 19.3% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.5% | 7.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 23.5% | 22.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 20.3% | 14.4% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,500, single groups can be off by several points
Arnold’s schools rank ahead of 73% of California districts
Its public schools are run by the Vallecito Union school district. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hazel Fischer ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 172 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
The typical home in Arnold is valued at about $413K
The typical Arnold home is worth about $413,000, down 3.6% in a year, 46% below the California typical home. 84% of Arnold households own their home.
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Arnold stands out in California and nationally: a smaller share of its adults feel lonely
29% of adults feel lonely in Arnold. Arnold beats the California average on 16 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 7. 14% of adults report frequent mental distress in Arnold.
| Arnold | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 36% | 33% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 17% | 17% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 35% | 36% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 29% | 35% |
| What stands out | Arnold | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 4.6% | 10.6% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 8% | 17.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 13% | 6.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Most of Arnold’s workers commute out: the town has 0.3 jobs for each of them
Most working residents leave Arnold for work: only 7% work in town. Jobs based in Arnold fell to 530 in 2023, 220 fewer than in 2013. The top destinations are Sacramento (3%), San Jose (3%) and San Francisco (3%).
| Arnold | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 4.2% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $92,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Arnold faces a high natural-hazard risk, led by wildfire
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 77% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
In Arnold, expect mild winters and pleasant summers
Arnold has mild winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 87°, January nights drop to 34° and snow is almost unheard of.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Arnold has set aside 10.2% of its land for conservation
11 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve. The trail density in Arnold is 1.2 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Calaveras Big Trees State Park | — | 81 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Yosemite National Park and 8 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Arnold. Close and well known come first.
Big draw29 mi National ParkYosemite National Park4.3M visitors a year
37 mi LakeHetch Hetchy
4 mi State parkCalaveras Big Trees State Park
19 mi National forestStanislaus National Forest
21 mi MuseumRailtown 1897 State Historic Park
23 mi Ski areaDodge Ridge Ski Area61 runs · 1,576 ft verticalPhoto credits
Yosemite National Park: Thomas Wolf, www.foto-tw.de, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Hetch Hetchy: Vulpinus2, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Calaveras Big Trees State Park: John J. O'Brien (talk · contribs), Public domain · Stanislaus National Forest: U.S. National Park Service, Public domain · Railtown 1897 State Historic Park: Ed Bierman, CC BY 2.0 · Dodge Ridge Ski Area: IanGad, CC BY-SA 3.0
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Everything we know about Arnold
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Arnold; the nearest are
About 0 of every 100 Arnold residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across California.
93% of working residents leave Arnold for work
Where Arnold’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About Arnold
Census-designated place in Calaveras County, California, United States
Arnold is a census-designated place (CDP) in Calaveras County, California, United States. The population was 3,288 at the 2020 census. Arnold is located on State Route 4.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 15 sq mi
- Elevation
- 3,999 ft
- ZIP code
- 95223
- Area code
- 209
Questions about Arnold
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Arnold, CA expensive?
Yes. That is 5.3 years of the area's median household income ($78,647 across the county). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.