Round Valley Flour Mills · National Register of Historic Places
Covelo’s story
156 years in pictures
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
- 1870Covelo is settled
CoveloCA
A town of 1,286, settled in 1870.
Photo: AnonymousEditor95 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Population
1,286
Census survey, 2020–24
Typical home
$245K
−3.7% in a year
Household income
$35K
median
Median age
32.3
years
Jobs based here
256
Balanced
Is Covelo a good place to live?
The best of Covelo’s subject grades are a B+ for walkability and a B for history; the weakest is a D− for incomes. Only 98 of California’s 1,063 towns score higher on history. The biggest park or preserve is Hidden Oaks Park, at 49 acres. Covelo has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Small town
1,286 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
How Covelo grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Covelo is from typical.
Jobs & income$35K median household incomeD−Open →Hazard riskinland flooding tops the listD−Open →HealthLess healthy than 91% of U.S. towns; Jerold Phelps Community Hospital 35.4 miles awayDOpen →SchoolsDOpen →Cost of livingC−Open →WalkabilityEPA walkability 6 of 20; 14.4% of households have no car; 7.7% of workers walk, bike or ride transitB+Open →
Character Graded, but not part of the overall grade.
Outdoors2 miles of trailsCOpen →History1 place on the National Register; 2 notable people born hereBOpen →
Described, not graded Taste, not quality: snow or an older crowd is neither good nor bad.
Climate–Open →Housing market–Open →Who lives hereMedian age 32.3; 13% of adults have a four-year degree–Open →
How TownRatings grades towns →
Getting set up
Moving to Covelo: who provides what
Covelo is unincorporated, so Mendocino County and regional agencies provide most services.
PowerPG&E37.5¢/kWh · EIA 2025HIFLD · EIA
WaterRound Valley Piner water system2 health-based violations in 5 years · EPAEPA
InternetProviders and speedsData pending · D4
Trash & county servicesMendocino CountyMendocino County provides services here
Register to voteOnlineIn California you can register online until 15 days before Election Day, in person up to and including Election Day, or by mail (postmarked 15 days before).vote.govWho runs elections hereMendocino County Clerk-ElectionsMendocino County; contacts on the Handbook page.FVAP, Jul 2021
ZIP code9542895428 100%Census 2020
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 Covelo.
HousingCost of living grade C−
A home in Covelo is worth about $245K, on Zillow’s estimate
53% of Covelo households live in a home they own, against 64% in California’s towns and 73% across U.S. towns. The town’s midpoint rent stands at $1,281 a month. In the year to September 2026, typical home values slipped 3.7%.
$245KZillow home value
| Covelo | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 53% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,281 a month | $1,896 a month | $1,185 a month |
Typical home value
Covelo$245K
California$762K
−3.7%
value change, 1 year
1
homes sold in May
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
SchoolsD
On state tests, Covelo’s schools trail 88% of California districts
The public schools here belong to the Round Valley Unified school district. Two of the 4 schools are below, and why each made the list. The 4 public schools in Covelo teach 510 students between them.
12%of CA districts it outscoresDSchool Grade
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Round Valley ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–8 | Grades K–8 | 313 | D |
| Round Valley HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 113 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
Natural hazardsHazard risk grade D−
Very high risk in Covelo, with inland flooding at the top
Storm and flood damage is expected to run higher than in 98% of U.S. communities. Of the losses FEMA expects in Covelo, 64% come from inland flooding and 16% from earthquakes. Federal aid has come to Covelo households in 4 declared disasters; the latest was in 2023.
98risk score of 100
FEMA risk score
Inland floodingEarthquakesWildfire
4
federal disasters paid out here
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
HealthD
Compared with most of California and the rest of the country, more of Covelo’s adults report frequent mental distress
A quarter of Covelo adults have been diagnosed with depression, above both California’s towns (22%) and U.S. towns (23%). In Covelo, a third of adults say their health is fair or poor. Only 3 of the 848 California towns we compare have a higher share of adults who smoke cigarettes than Covelo.
9%healthier than U.S. townsDHealth Grade
| Covelo | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 22% | 19% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 11% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 17% | 17% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 14% | 14% |
32 measures vs. California
0 better10 too close to call22 worse
| What stands out | Covelo | CA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 15.5% | 7.3% |
| More smokers | 22.8% | 10.9% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 20.4% | 10.6% |
Jerold Phelps Community Hospital
35.4 mi away · emergency room
1 of 3
care shortages: mental health
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Climate
In Covelo, expect mild winters and hot summers
Summer afternoons peak near 92° in July, and January nights bottom out around 34°; snowfall runs to about 3 inches a winter.
3″snow a winter
Typical low → high °F
Winter34–54°
Spring40–67°
Summer52–89°
Fall42–74°
Oct 19
typical first frost
Apr 23
typical last frost
+0.6°
vs. the 20th-century average
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Work & commuteJobs & income grade D−
More of Covelo’s residents live below the poverty line than in the typical California or U.S. town
Covelo’s average commute comes in at 16 minutes. Employers in Covelo added 50 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 256. 27% of working residents work locally locally. The median commute is under 4 miles.
27%work in town
| Covelo | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 37% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 16 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 27% | 6.6% | 8% |
Where working residents work
In Covelo27%
Ukiah3%
San Francisco2%
Sacramento2%
Williams1%
4 mi
median commute distance
256
jobs based in Covelo
Balanced
jobs vs. working residents
B+
Walkability grade: more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
OutdoorsC
0% of Covelo is conserved land
In Covelo, the density of trails is 0.3 miles per square mile. Trails total 1.9 miles in 1 park or preserve.
0%conserved
0%
conserved · 0 of 4,541 acres
1.9 mi
of trails · 0.3 per sq mi
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Hidden Oaks Park | 0.4 mi | 49 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Keep exploring
Everything we know about Covelo
18pages on Covelo
The big questions
Out and about
The story
Day to day
After high school
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Covelo; the nearest are
Mendocino CollegeCommunity college · Public · Ukiah42.2 mi$1,423 in-state tuitionCalifornia State University-ChicoUniversity or college · Public · Chico74.9 mi$8,472 in-state tuition
About 4 of every 100 Covelo residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across California.
A growing town
Covelo has grown 11% from 2010 to 2020
1,255 counted in 2010 and 1,394 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
Questions about Covelo
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Covelo, CA expensive?
Yes. That is 3.6 years of the area's median household income ($68,092 across the Ukiah, CA area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
What is Covelo, CA known for?
2 notable people were born here, including Michelle Lambert and Thomas J. Long.