Phoenix LakeCA
A town of 4,794.
Is Phoenix Lake a good place to live?
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 93% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. Overall it grades C−, ranked 534th of 841 in California. Its weakest subject is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $488K, 6.3 years of the Sonora area’s $77K median household income. 36% of residents are 65 or older in Phoenix Lake, above both California’s towns (16%) and U.S. towns (18%). Only 51 of California’s 1,063 towns score lower on walkability.
98% of working residents leave Phoenix Lake for work
Where Phoenix Lake’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Phoenix Lake grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Phoenix Lake is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Phoenix Lake: who provides what
Phoenix Lake is unincorporated, so Tuolumne 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 Phoenix Lake.
Phoenix Lake has a longer frost-free season than most of the country, though not than most of California; it also is a long drive from an emergency room and has little public open land.
In Phoenix Lake, the median age runs higher than in the typical California or U.S. town
Among adults 25 and older, 28% have a four-year degree or more, against 37% across California. 14% of residents are under 18 in Phoenix Lake.
| Phoenix Lake | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 57.9 years | 39 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 14% | 22% | 22% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4.2 points. Across California, 50.1% of residents are women. Among residents 45 to 54, 77% are men (CA 50%).
| Phoenix Lake | CA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 5.2% | 11.4% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.5% | 10.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 10.9% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 5.8% | 14.8% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 6.4% | 13.9% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 8.4% | 12.5% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 18.6% | 12.1% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 18% | 9.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 18.2% | 6.5% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6.8% | 15.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 25.1% | 20.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 28.6% | 19.3% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 11.8% | 7.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 20.3% | 22.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 7.4% | 14.4% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 4,800, single groups can be off by several points
Public schools in Phoenix Lake beat 54% of California districts
Its one school is below. The largest public high school is Gold Rush Home Study Charter, with 430 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold Rush Home Study CharterLargest public high schoolGrades K–12 | Grades K–12 | 430 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
The biggest natural risk in Phoenix Lake is inland flooding, at a very high overall level
Of the losses FEMA expects in Phoenix Lake, 48% come from inland flooding and 43% from wildfires.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
For most of its workers, the job is outside Phoenix Lake
Phoenix Lake has 220 jobs for its 2,090 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
The top destinations are Sonora (12%), East Sonora (4%) and Modesto (4%). Most working residents leave Phoenix Lake for work: only 2% work in town. Between 2013 and 2023, jobs here rose by 48, to 220. In Phoenix Lake, 4.8% of residents live below the poverty line.
| Phoenix Lake | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 4.8% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $103,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.1% | 6.6% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 25 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Residents of Phoenix Lake are healthier than 68% of U.S. towns
The nearest emergency room, Sutter Amador Hospital, is 34.1 miles away in a straight line. Against the 8,112 U.S. towns with household incomes like Phoenix Lake’s, it is less healthy than 51%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
On the CDC’s 32 measures, Phoenix Lake is ahead of California on 13 and behind on 7. For adults locally, the share who have high blood pressure is 39%.
| Phoenix Lake | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 36% | 33% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 31% | 35% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 79% | 72% | 79% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 29% | 35% |
| What stands out | Phoenix Lake | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5.2% | 10.6% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9.6% | 17.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 12.9% | 6.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
In Phoenix Lake, expect mild winters and hot summers
The Sonora weather station, 5 miles away, records that the frost-free season runs about 213 days: longer than most of the country, but shorter than 82% of California places with climate records. January nights average 34°: milder than most of the country, but colder than 84% of California places with climate records; July afternoons average 90.5°.
Phoenix Lake’s January low comes in at 34°F. It almost never snows. Snow is almost unheard of.
| Phoenix Lake | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 91°F | 89°F | 85°F |
| January low | 34°F | 41°F | 22°F |
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
0% of Phoenix Lake is conserved land
Just 0 of its 7,132 acres are conserved, so there is little public open land in Phoenix Lake itself; its outdoors grade is D−.
1.3 miles of trail. The concentration of trails for Phoenix Lake comes to 0.1 miles per square mile.
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Phoenix Lake stands out in California and nationally, with more of its households who own their home
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Yosemite National Park and 7 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Phoenix Lake. Close and well known come first.
Big draw23 mi National ParkYosemite National Park4.3M visitors a year
29 mi LakeHetch Hetchy
18 mi State parkCalaveras Big Trees State Park
7 mi MuseumRailtown 1897 State Historic Park
24 mi National forestStanislaus National Forest
24 mi Ski areaDodge Ridge Ski Area61 runs · 1,576 ft verticalPhoto credits
Yosemite National Park: Thomas Wolf, www.foto-tw.de, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Hetch Hetchy: Vulpinus2, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Calaveras Big Trees State Park: John J. O'Brien (talk · contribs), Public domain · Railtown 1897 State Historic Park: Ed Bierman, CC BY 2.0 · Stanislaus National Forest: U.S. National Park Service, Public domain · Dodge Ridge Ski Area: IanGad, CC BY-SA 3.0
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Everything we know about Phoenix Lake
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of Phoenix Lake
About 9 of every 100 Phoenix Lake residents are enrolled in college, about the same as California.
About Phoenix Lake
Census-designated place in California, United States
Phoenix Lake is a census-designated place (CDP) in Tuolumne County, California, United States. The 2020 United States census reported Phoenix Lake's population as 4,264. Phoenix lake was created a CDP for the 2010 census; previously, it was part of the Phoenix Lake-Cedar Ridge CDP.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 11 sq mi
- Elevation
- 2,431 ft
Phoenix Lake’s neighbors
2 towns share a border with Phoenix Lake.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phoenix Lake | #534 | C− | D | — | B− | B+ |
| Mono Vista | #570 | D | D | — | B− | B |
| East Sonora | #409 | C | C− | — | B | B |
Phoenix Lake, Mono Vista and East Sonora report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Phoenix Lake with a neighbor →
Questions about Phoenix Lake
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Phoenix Lake, CA a good place to live?
Phoenix Lake grades C− overall, better than 16% of U.S. towns and #534 of 841 in California. It grades B+ for health and B− for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D−.
Is Phoenix Lake, CA expensive?
Yes. The typical home is worth about $489,000, 36% below the California typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.