LucerneCA
A town of 3,435, settled in 1926.
Is Lucerne a good place to live?
Lucerne earns a D−, 829th of 841 graded towns in California, mostly because of incomes and schools. The median household income is $57K, and 19% of residents live below the poverty line. Its public schools trail 83% of California towns on state tests and graduation. One bright spot: it has 6 miles of trail. Lucerne’s average trip to work is 39 minutes, against 28 minutes in California’s towns and 25 minutes across U.S. towns. On hazard risk, just 63 of California’s 1,064 towns do worse. The biggest park or preserve is Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument, at 89 acres.
92% of working residents leave Lucerne for work
Where Lucerne’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Lucerne grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Lucerne is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Lucerne: who provides what
Lucerne is unincorporated, so Lake 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 Lucerne.
Lucerne is healthier than towns with similar incomes, has home values still below their peak and has a longer frost-free season than most of the country, though not than most of California.
The typical home in Lucerne: about $239K
The typical value, about $239K, is 17% below its July 2022 peak. At about $239K, home values are down 10% in five years, against a rise of 13% across California.
In the year to September 2026, typical home values slipped 4.7%. The typical rent in Lucerne is $1,408 a month. Also worth knowing: 68% of households live in a home they own here.
| Lucerne | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,408 a month | $1,898 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 68% | 64% | 73% |
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Lucerne earns a C− for schools
Its one school is below. The Lucerne Elementary school district runs its public schools. Enrollment at the town’s public school: 282 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lucerne ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–8 | Grades K–8 | 282 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests
Top of a very high hazard risk in Lucerne: inland flooding
Expected damage from storms and floods is higher here than in 99% of U.S. communities. Of the losses FEMA expects in Lucerne, 51% come from inland flooding and 26% from avalanches. Households here have drawn federal disaster aid in 5 declared disasters, most recently in 2020.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Lucerne has set aside 1.4% of its land for conservation
Lucerne’s trail density stands at 1.2 miles per square mile. 6.5 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves.
| Lucerne | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.2 miles per square mile | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.4% | 4.3% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument | — | 89 |
| 2. Lucerne Creek Park | 0.2 mi | 3 |
| 3. Lucerne Harbor Park | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
On CDC estimates, Lucerne is less healthy than 79% of U.S. towns
Against the 7,902 U.S. towns with household incomes like Lucerne’s, it is less healthy than 62%, so its C− isn’t only a matter of income.
In Lucerne, 40% of adults have high blood pressure. CDC measures, 32 in all: Lucerne beats California on 1 and trails on 15.
| Lucerne | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 14% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 31% | 35% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 22% | 19% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 11% | 14% |
| What stands out | Lucerne | CA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 75.2% | 71.3% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.6% | 5.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Lucerne has 0.3 jobs per working resident, so most workers leave town for work
The average commute for its 796 working residents takes 38.9 minutes, against 28.7 across California.
For half of commuters, work is under 23 miles away. Jobs based in Lucerne grew to 260 in 2023, 49 more than in 2013. The top destinations are Lakeport (10%), Nice (8%) and Ukiah (6%).
| Lucerne | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $57,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 8% | 6.6% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The climate in Lucerne brings mild winters and hot summers
The Clearlake 4 Se weather station, 14 miles away, records that the frost-free season runs about 209 days: longer than most of the country, but shorter than 85% of California places with climate records. January nights average 35.1°: milder than most of the country, but colder than 80% of California places with climate records; July afternoons average 92.4°.
Snow is almost unheard of. In Lucerne, the January low is 35°F.
| Lucerne | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 92°F | 89°F | 85°F |
| January low | 35°F | 41°F | 22°F |
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Everything we know about Lucerne
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Lucerne; the nearest are
About 7 of every 100 Lucerne residents are enrolled in college, about the same as California.
About Lucerne
Census-designated place in California, United States
Lucerne (formerly Clear Lake Beach, located in the area called Sikom by the Eastern Pomo) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Lake County, California, United States. Lucerne is located 7.25 miles (12 km) east-northeast of Lakeport, at an elevation of 1329 feet (405 m). The population was 235 in 1871, 3,067 at the 2010 census, and 3,266 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 5.0 sq mi
- Elevation
- 1,329 ft
- ZIP code
- 95458
- Area code
- 707
Questions about Lucerne
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Lucerne, CA a good place to live?
Lucerne grades D− overall, in the bottom 2% of U.S. towns and #829 of 841 in California. It grades C− for health and C− for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D−.
Is Lucerne, CA expensive?
That is 3.9 years of the area's median household income ($60,621 across the Clearlake, 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.