PhelanCA
Home to 18,496 people, the town was settled in 1916.
Is Phelan a good place to live?
A tough set of grades. With a D− overall, Phelan is better than 5% of U.S. towns and ranks 710th of 841 in California. Its lowest grade is for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $465K, 5.2 years of the Riverside metro’s $90K median household income. It lags on hazard risk as well (D−): FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 97% of U.S. communities, with earthquakes at the top. The biggest park or preserve is Phelan Community Park, at 27 acres. The town’s typical journey to work is 47 minutes, where California’s towns sit at 28 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes. Phelan’s concentration of trails is 1.6 miles per square mile, against 1.0 in California’s towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns. Its remaining grades are unremarkable: C+ for schools and B− for walkability.
Figures: home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · FEMA National Risk Index · schools, state test and graduation results · OpenStreetMap.
92% of working residents leave Phelan for work
Where Phelan’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Phelan grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Phelan is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Phelan: who provides what
Phelan 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Phelan.
Phelan has more 90° days than nearly all U.S. towns and has property taxes about half the California norm, but it has commutes longer than most of California.
0% of Phelan is conserved land
Walkers can cover 94 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. Parks and preserves in Phelan: 2, covering 32 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Phelan Community Park | 0.1 mi | 27 |
| 2. San Bernardino National Forest | — | 5 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Public schools in Phelan fall behind 58% of California districts
The largest public high school is Serrano High, with 2,163 students. The public schools here belong to the Snowline Joint Unified school district. Two of its 10 schools are shown below, with the reason for each.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baldy Mesa ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 985 | – |
| Serrano HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,163 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
Phelan faces a very high natural-hazard risk, led by earthquakes
Federal disaster aid has reached households in Phelan after 5 declared disasters, most recently in 2023. 46% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from earthquakes, followed by inland flooding at 31%. The town has had 2 paid flood insurance claims since 1999.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Phelan’s grade for cost of living is a C−
The median property tax bill is $2,442, against $5,124 across California, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Homes sold in Phelan spent a median 73 days on the market. The typical Phelan home is worth about $465,000, up 1.6% in a year, 39% below the California typical home. The rent at the middle of the market for Phelan comes to $1,525 a month.
| Phelan | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 82% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,525 a month | $1,898 a month | $1,185 a month |
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The average trip to work in Phelan is longer than in most of California or the rest of the country
The average commute for its 4,464 working residents takes 47.4 minutes, against 28.7 across California.
Employers in Phelan added 146 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 1,838. Commuting out is the norm in the town: 8% of working residents work locally. The top destinations are San Bernardino (7%), Victorville (6%) and Los Angeles (5%). Phelan: 13% of residents live below the poverty line.
| Phelan | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 47 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 13% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $80,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Health in Phelan trails 69% of U.S. towns
The share of adults in Phelan who feel lonely: 37%. Among adults in the town, 27% say their health is fair or poor and 16% report frequent physical distress.
| Phelan | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 71% | 72% | 79% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 22% | 19% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 16% | 14% |
| What stands out | Phelan | CA |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 19.4% | 10.6% |
| More adults with COPD | 7.4% | 5.1% |
| More smokers | 15.1% | 10.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expect mild winters and hot summers in Phelan
The Pearblossom weather station, 22 miles away, records that about 107 days a year reach 90°, more than in 96% of U.S. towns. January nights average 36.6°: milder than most of the country, but colder than 76% of California places with climate records; July afternoons average 92.2°.
About 1 inches of snow falls in a winter. For Phelan, the July high is 92°F.
| Phelan | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 92°F | 89°F | 85°F |
| January low | 37°F | 41°F | 22°F |
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Mount San Antonio and 44 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Phelan. Close and well known come first.
13 mi MountainMount San Antonio
40 mi MuseumThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens
26 mi Stadium & arenaToyota Arena
35 mi National forestAngeles National Forest
34 mi LakeBig Bear Lake30 mi Theme parkRaging WatersPhoto credits
Mount San Antonio: The original uploader was Tillman at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens: By Aaron Logan, CC BY 1.0 · Toyota Arena: jondoeforty1, CC BY 2.0 · Angeles National Forest: Geographer at en.wikipedia, CC BY 1.0 · Big Bear Lake: H.G. Judd, CC BY-SA 3.0
Everything we know about Phelan
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Phelan; the nearest are
About 6 of every 100 Phelan residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across California.
About Phelan
Unincorporated community in California, United States
Phelan is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in San Bernardino County, California, in the Victor Valley of the Mojave Desert, north of the San Gabriel Mountains. The population was 13,859 in the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 60 sq mi
- Elevation
- 3,993 ft
- ZIP code
- 92329, 92371
- Area code
- 760
Phelan’s neighbors
2 towns share a border with Phelan.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phelan | #710 | D− | C− | — | C+ | C |
| Piñon Hills | #839 | D− | D | — | C+ | D |
| Oak Hills | #646 | D | D | — | C+ | B− |
Phelan, Piñon Hills and Oak Hills report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Phelan with a neighbor →
Questions about Phelan
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Phelan, CA a good place to live?
Phelan grades D− overall, better than 5% of U.S. towns and #710 of 841 in California. It grades C for health and C+ for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D−.
Is Phelan, 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−.