Rail Road FlatCA
The town, established in 1849, counts 498 residents.
Is Rail Road Flat a good place to live?
Rail Road Flat’s mean commuting time is 45 minutes, where California’s towns sit at 28 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes. Only 10 of the 848 California towns we compare have a lower share of working residents who work in town than Rail Road Flat. Rail Road Flat has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.
498 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Moving to Rail Road Flat: who provides what
Rail Road Flat is unincorporated, so Calaveras 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 Rail Road Flat.
Natural hazards: very high risk in Rail Road Flat, mostly wildfire
Expected damage from storms and floods is higher here than in 98% of U.S. communities. Federal aid has come to Rail Road Flat households in 2 declared disasters; the latest was in 2022.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Most of Rail Road Flat’s workers head elsewhere: there are 0.1 jobs for each of them
Most people who work leave Rail Road Flat to do it: just 1% work in town. Rail Road Flat: 13% of residents live below the poverty line. The top destinations are Stockton (4%), San Andreas (4%) and Sacramento (3%). The median commute is under 54 miles.
| Rail Road Flat | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 13% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $88,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Mild winters and hot summers in Rail Road Flat
July afternoons reach 91°, January nights drop to 37° and snow is almost unheard of.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Rail Road Flat stands out in California and nationally: a larger share of its adults have high blood pressure
CDC measures, 32 in all: Rail Road Flat beats California on 8 and trails on 16. For adults locally, the share who have diabetes is 17%.
| Rail Road Flat | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 14% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 45% | 31% | 35% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 12% | 12% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 22% | 19% |
| What stands out | Rail Road Flat | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 6.8% | 10.6% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 12.4% | 14.9% |
| More adults with COPD | 12.8% | 5.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Rail Road Flat keeps 6.5% of its land conserved
In Rail Road Flat, the trail network density is 0.1 miles per square mile.
| Rail Road Flat | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 6.5% | 4.3% | 4.3% |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Everything we know about Rail Road Flat
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Rail Road Flat; the nearest are
About 0 of every 100 Rail Road Flat residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across California.
99% of working residents leave Rail Road Flat for work
Where Rail Road Flat’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About Rail Road Flat
Place in California, United States
Rail Road Flat (formerly Independence Flat and Railroad Flat) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Calaveras County, California, United States. The population was 316 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 33 sq mi
- Elevation
- 2,608 ft
- ZIP code
- 95248
- Area code
- 209
Questions about Rail Road Flat
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Rail Road Flat, CA a good place to live?
Rail Road Flat has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.