BuckhornCA
Population 3,504: a town in California.
Is Buckhorn a good place to live?
Buckhorn’s weakest subject is cost of living — the typical home is worth about $361K, 4.1 years of the county’s $88K median household income. It also trails on hazard risk (D−): FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 97% of U.S. communities, with wildfire at the top. Where it does best is health: residents are healthier than 56% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. The overall grade lands at D, better than 13% of U.S. towns. In the ranking it comes 578th of 841 in California. Only 76 of California’s 1,064 towns score lower on the outdoors. The town’s average commute is 51 minutes, where California’s towns sit at 28 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes. Only 83 of California’s 1,063 towns score lower on history.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · FEMA National Risk Index · USGS PAD-US · National Register of Historic Places.
99% of working residents leave Buckhorn for work
Where Buckhorn’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Buckhorn grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Buckhorn is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Buckhorn: who provides what
Buckhorn is unincorporated, so Amador 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 Buckhorn.
Buckhorn sends most of its workers to Jackson and beyond and has milder winter nights than most of the country, though not than most of California.
The biggest natural risk in Buckhorn is wildfire, at a very high overall level
Expected losses in Buckhorn break down as 58% from wildfires and 27% from avalanches.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
0% of Buckhorn is conserved land
The concentration of trails in Buckhorn is 1.1 miles per square mile. 5.2 miles of trail.
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Buckhorn stands out in California and nationally, with the average trip to work longer than most
Buckhorn has 107 jobs for its 1,333 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. The average commute takes 51.2 minutes, against 28.7 across California.
Most working residents leave Buckhorn for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Jackson (7%), Sacramento (6%) and San Francisco (3%). Half of commuters travel less than 54 miles.
| Buckhorn | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 51 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 1.3% | 6.6% | 8% |
| Median household income | $90,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Mild winters and hot summers in Buckhorn
January nights average 34.6°: milder than most of the country, but colder than 83% of California places with climate records; July afternoons average 90.1°.
Buckhorn’s July high is 90°F. About 4 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Buckhorn | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 35°F | 41°F | 22°F |
| July high | 90°F | 89°F | 85°F |
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Buckhorn’s grade for health is a B
The share of adults in Buckhorn who have obesity: 30%. The town beats the California average on 12 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 9. In Buckhorn, 31% of adults feel lonely, and 14% binge drink.
| Buckhorn | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 43% | 31% | 35% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 36% | 33% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 16% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 35% | 36% |
| What stands out | Buckhorn | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5.7% | 10.6% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 8.6% | 14.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 12.8% | 6.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Everything we know about Buckhorn
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Buckhorn; the nearest are
About 7 of every 100 Buckhorn residents are enrolled in college, about the same as California.
About Buckhorn
Census-designated place in California, United States
Buckhorn is a census-designated place in Amador County, California, United States. Buckhorn sits at an elevation of 3,238 feet (987 m). The community is served by ZIP code 95666 and area code 209. The 2020 United States census reported Buckhorn's population as 2,597.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 5.9 sq mi
- Elevation
- 3,238 ft
- Area code
- 209
Buckhorn’s neighbors
2 towns share a border with Buckhorn.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buckhorn | #578 | D | C− | — | B− | B |
| Amador Pines | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Pioneer | — | — | C− | — | B− | B+ |
Pioneer has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Buckhorn and Pioneer report no FBI crime data of their own. Amador Pines isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Buckhorn with a neighbor →
Questions about Buckhorn
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Buckhorn, CA a good place to live?
Buckhorn grades D overall, better than 13% of U.S. towns and #578 of 841 in California. It grades B for health and B− for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D−.
Is Buckhorn, CA expensive?
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.