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Dixon Lane-MeadowCreek, California

Dixon Lane-MeadowCreek is an unincorporated community of about 3,100 people in Inyo County, California. It has no city government of its own: local services come from the county, or in some states from the town or township. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Fresno, is about 87 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
3,071
Census survey, 2020-24
Household income
$75,745
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural California
100
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Northern Inyo Hospital
To Fresno
87 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 moneyThe Census survey didn't reach enough homes in Dixon Lane-MeadowCreek to say.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI doesn't publish crime figures for unincorporated communities. Call the county sheriff's office (or the town or township police, where there is one) and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in town2 public schools: 1 elementary and 1 middle. No public high school in town: the nearest is Bishop Union High, about 2 miles away.
  • A hospital close byNorthern Inyo Hospital is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityFresno is about 87 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 Dixon Lane-MeadowCreek 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

Home prices since then
Up 14%Inyo County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$2,622 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$75,745U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
83%U.S.: 65%
Homes built before 1940
1%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
1%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
7%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 14% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of California outside metro areas, not Dixon Lane-MeadowCreek 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, 2020-2024 Census survey
3,071The Census Bureau makes yearly estimates only for incorporated towns
Median age
42 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
23%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
28%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
19%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
2%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
Schools, health care and social services (34%); construction (16%); professional and business services (11%)
Unemployment rate
0%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
19 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
11%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
7%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Northern Inyo Hospital, Bishop, CA, in town. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare gives it 3 of 5 stars.

Nearest general hospital: Clovis Community Medical Center, Clovis, CA, about 80 miles away. Medicare gives it 2 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 Dixon Lane-MeadowCreek, run by Bishop Unified. The nearest public high school is Bishop Union High, about 2 miles away.

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
74%U.S.: 76%

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
24°F
July average high
100°F
Days 90°F or hotter
104 a year
Nights at or below freezing
139 a year
Rain and melted snow
5.4 inches a year
Snow
9 inches a year
Elevation
4,181 feet

Weather stations: Bishop Ap (3 miles away) and Dyer 5S (27 miles away, rain and snow). 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: Clovis, Fresno.

Inyo 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:

  • Kings Canyon National Park19 miles
  • Death Valley National Park26 miles
  • Devils Postpile National Monument40 miles
  • Sequoia National Park47 miles
  • Manzanar National Historic Site47 miles
Know Dixon Lane-MeadowCreek?

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

  • Mesa, CA (unincorporated)343 people, 7 miles
  • Chalfant, CA (unincorporated)483 people, 7 miles
  • Wilkerson, CA (unincorporated)518 people, 8 miles
  • Round Valley, CA (unincorporated)548 people, 9 miles
  • Paradise, CA (unincorporated)241 people, 12 miles
  • Swall Meadows, CA (unincorporated)335 people, 15 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.