Small Town Guide
Menu

Towns / California

Angels, California

Angels is a small town of about 3,700 people in Calaveras County, California. Its population has held about steady since 2020. A typical home costs about 7.8 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Sacramento, is about 60 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
3,735
up 1.8% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$484,800
Calaveras County prices up 1% since 2022
Household income
$62,188
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural California
100
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
23 miles
Jackson, CA
To Sacramento
60 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices match the U.S. average in the parts of California outside metro areas.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 7.8 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI has no 2025 figures for Angels itself. Many small towns are patrolled by the county sheriff, so call the sheriff's office and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in town2 public schools: 1 elementary and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close bySutter Amador Hospital in Jackson, about 23 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big citySacramento is about 60 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Angels meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$484,800U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 1%Calaveras County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,833 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$62,188U.S.: $80,734
Typical property tax bill
$3,483 a yearCalifornia: $5,124
Homes built before 1940
13%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
13%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
13%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
100U.S. average = 100 (the parts of California outside metro areas)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 1% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of California outside metro areas, not Angels alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
3,7352020: 3,668
Median age
55 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
32%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
23%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
27%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
1%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Retail (21%); schools, health care and social services (20%); professional and business services (15%)
Unemployment rate
2%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
15 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
15%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
11%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Sutter Amador Hospital, Jackson, CA, about 23 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 4 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

2 public schools in Angels, run by Mark Twain Union Elementary and Bret Harte Union High.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on California's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
72%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
95%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
38°F
July average high
97°F
Days 90°F or hotter
98 a year
Nights at or below freezing
13 a year
Rain and melted snow
29.8 inches a year
Snow
0 inches a year
Elevation
1,555 feet

Weather station: New Melones Dam Hq (6 miles away). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Sutter Amador Hospital, Modesto, Sacramento.

Calaveras County is outside any metro area, with 5,000 to 20,000 people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 6, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Yosemite National Park37 miles

Read about Angels's history on Wikipedia.

Know Angels?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Vallecito, CA (unincorporated)562 people, 5 miles
  • Douglas Flat, CA (unincorporated)181 people, 6 miles
  • Tuttletown, CA (unincorporated)440 people, 7 miles
  • Murphys, CA (unincorporated)1,951 people, 7 miles
  • Columbia, CA (unincorporated)2,235 people, 8 miles
  • Mountain Ranch, CA (unincorporated)324 people, 10 miles
  • Forest Meadows, CA (unincorporated)1,623 people, 11 miles
  • Hathaway Pines, CA (unincorporated)163 people, 13 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.