MaxwellCA
A town of 1,245, settled in 1877.
Is Maxwell a good place to live?
Maxwell’s weakest subject grade is a D for walkability. Only 12 of California’s 1,064 towns score lower on the outdoors. Maxwell has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
1,245 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
How Maxwell grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Maxwell is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Maxwell: who provides what
Maxwell is unincorporated, so Colusa 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 Maxwell.
The typical home in Maxwell: about $294K
Maxwell’s going rate for rent stands at $1,388 a month. Nearly two thirds of Maxwell households live in a home they own, near the California town median (64%) and below the median of U.S. towns (73%).
| Maxwell | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,388 a month | $1,896 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 65% | 64% | 73% |
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Maxwell’s public schools outperform 56% of California districts
Two of its 3 schools are shown below, with the reason for each. Its public schools are run by the Maxwell Unified school district. The 3 public schools in Maxwell teach 331 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maxwell ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 124 | – |
| Maxwell Sr HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 117 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
Maxwell is less healthy than 85% of U.S. towns
Among adults in Maxwell, 33% get no exercise outside work. 18% of Maxwell adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance, against 9% in California’s towns and 8.1% across U.S. towns. In Maxwell, 28% of adults worry about having enough food, and 69% had a checkup this year.
| Maxwell | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 22% | 19% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 9% | 8.1% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 16% | 14% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 69% | 72% | 79% |
| What stands out | Maxwell | CA |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 22.4% | 10.6% |
| More uninsured adults | 18.3% | 10.6% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 11.8% | 7.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Maxwell faces a very high natural-hazard risk, led by drought
Maxwell’s FEMA hazard score is 86 of 100. Expected losses in Maxwell break down as 72% from drought and 10% from inland flooding.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Maxwell has 0.6 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
The top destinations are Colusa (8%), Willows (5%) and Chico (5%). The share of residents in Maxwell who live below the poverty line: 21%. The median commute is under 37 miles.
| Maxwell | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 21% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.6% | 6.6% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The climate in Maxwell brings mild winters and hot summers
The midsummer high for Maxwell comes to 96°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Everything we know about Maxwell
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Maxwell; the nearest are
About 11 of every 100 Maxwell residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across California.
95% of working residents leave Maxwell for work
Where Maxwell’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Questions about Maxwell
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Maxwell, CA expensive?
That is 3.9 years of the area's median household income ($75,672 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.