Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 10,639, settled in 1922.
Lake Arrowhead earns a D, ranked 558th of 841 in California. One bright spot: it has 33 miles of trail and 32% conserved land. 32% of the land in Lake Arrowhead is conserved, against 4.2% in California’s towns and 4.3% across U.S. towns. On hazard risk, just 102 of California’s 1,064 towns do worse. San Bernardino National Forest, at 12,042 acres with 29.5 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Lake Arrowhead is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 2,682 in 1970, 12,401 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1930 and 4 maps from 1967 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Lake Arrowhead. Close and well known come first.
27 mi MountainMount San Antonio
12 mi LakeBig Bear Lake
23 mi MountainSan Gorgonio Mountain
26 mi Stadium & arenaToyota Arena
in town Theme parkSanta's Village
13 mi TheatreGlen Helen AmphitheaterMount San Antonio: The original uploader was Tillman at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 2.0 · Big Bear Lake: H.G. Judd, CC BY-SA 3.0 · San Gorgonio Mountain: Doc Searls, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Toyota Arena: jondoeforty1, CC BY 2.0 · Santa's Village: Dcsutherland, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Glen Helen Amphitheater: Alonzo, CC BY 2.0
Lake Arrowhead is unincorporated, so San Bernardino 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.
Ordered by what stands out in Lake Arrowhead.
Lake Arrowhead is a second-home town, keeps more of its land conserved than most of California and trades workers with Los Angeles and other neighbors.
Its 3,828 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 93% of California towns.
Lake Arrowhead’s density of trails stands at 1.7 miles per square mile. 33 miles of trail wind through 7 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. San Bernardino National Forest | 29.5 mi | 12,042 |
| 2. Arrowhead Ridge | 3.3 mi | 153 |
| 3. MacKay Park | — | 6 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The public schools here belong to the Rim of the World Unified school district. The largest public high school is Rim of the World High, with 860 students. Two of the 7 schools are below, and why each made the list.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mary P. Henck IntermediateLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 607 | C− |
| Rim of the World HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 860 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
In Lake Arrowhead, the risk rating from FEMA is 98 of 100, above both the California town median (88 of 100) and the median of U.S. towns (44 of 100). Of the losses FEMA expects locally, 59% come from wildfires and 21% from earthquakes. Federal aid has come to Lake Arrowhead households in 5 declared disasters; the latest was in 2023.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The typical value, about $530K, is 21% below its June 2022 peak. At about $530K, home values are down 6% in five years, against a rise of 13% across California.
For Lake Arrowhead, the median rent is $1,875 a month. In Lake Arrowhead, 84% of households own their home. Also worth knowing: on the market in the town: a median 60 days to sell.
| Lake Arrowhead | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 84% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,875 a month | $1,898 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
55.4% of homes are seasonal or vacation homes, against 2.4% statewide, which helps explain the older median age.
The age of the median resident in Lake Arrowhead is 49.5 years. People 65 and older are just over a quarter of residents (16% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 17% of residents (24% statewide). The share of adults 25 and older in Lake Arrowhead who hold a bachelor’s degree or more: 38%.
| Lake Arrowhead | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 49.5 years | 39 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 26% | 16% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 17% | 22% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 38% | 29% | 29% |
46% women, 54% men
About 117 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±3 points). Across California, 50.1% of residents are women.
| Lake Arrowhead | CA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 8.6% | 11.4% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.8% | 10.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7.6% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 9.5% | 14.8% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 10.1% | 13.9% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.9% | 12.5% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 17.8% | 12.1% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 17.1% | 9.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8.5% | 6.5% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.9% | 15.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 18.4% | 20.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 27.2% | 19.3% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 11.7% | 7.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 21% | 22.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 16.9% | 14.4% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
January nights average 32.6°: milder than most of the country, but colder than 86% of California places with climate records; July afternoons average 83.1°.
About 22 inches of snow falls in a winter. Lake Arrowhead’s July high is 83°F.
| Lake Arrowhead | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 83°F | 89°F | 85°F |
| January low | 33°F | 41°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
33% of adults feel lonely in Lake Arrowhead. CDC measures, 32 in all: Lake Arrowhead beats California on 12 and trails on 7. Two figures for adults in the town: 75% had a checkup this year, 21% get no exercise outside work.
| Lake Arrowhead | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 31% | 35% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 75% | 72% | 79% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 24% | 25% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 35% | 36% |
| What stands out | Lake Arrowhead | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 7.2% | 10.6% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 10.4% | 14.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.4% | 6.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Lake Arrowhead has about as many jobs (2,788) as working residents, but only 520 people both live and work here. The average commute takes 37 minutes, against 28.7 across California.
Since 2013, Lake Arrowhead has added 136 jobs, to 2,788 in 2023. For Lake Arrowhead, the mean commuting time is 37 minutes. The top destinations are Los Angeles (7%), San Bernardino (6%) and Riverside (3%). Half commute less than 31 miles.
| Lake Arrowhead | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 37 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 21% | 14% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 17% | 6.6% | 8% |
| Median household income | $95,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
5 within 15 miles of the center of Lake Arrowhead
About 5 of every 100 Lake Arrowhead residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across California.
3 notable people were born in Lake Arrowhead.
Census-designated place in California, United States
Lake Arrowhead is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place (CDP) in the San Bernardino Mountains of San Bernardino County, California, surrounded by the San Bernardino National Forest, and surrounding the eponymous Lake Arrowhead Reservoir. Lake Arrowhead is located 13 miles (21 km) north east of the San Bernardino city limits. The population of the CDP was estimated at 12,401 in the 2020 census. It was called "Little Bear Lake" until around 1920, when a group from Los Angeles, the Arrowhead Lake Company, bought the lake and the land surrounding it, and changed its name to Arrowhead Lake. Tourism is the primary economic generator for the area, contributing several million d…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Lake Arrowhead.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Arrowhead | #558 | D | D− | — | C+ | B+ |
| Crestline | #474 | C− | C− | — | C+ | B+ |
Lake Arrowhead and Crestline report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Lake Arrowhead with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Lake Arrowhead grades D overall, better than 14% of U.S. towns and #558 of 841 in California. It grades B+ for health and C+ for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D−.
Yes. That is 5.9 years of the area's median household income ($89,662 across the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D−.
3 notable people were born here, including Jason Hall and Marcie Van Dusen.
