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Towns / California

Fillmore, California

Fillmore is a small town of about 16,900 people in Ventura County, California. It has grown about 3% since 2020. A typical home costs about 6.5 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, Los Angeles, is about 39 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
16,937
up 2.6% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$602,500
Ventura County prices up 12% since 2022
Household income
$92,931
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Oxnard area
110.5
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
13 miles
Simi Valley, CA
To Los Angeles
39 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 10.5% above the U.S. average in the Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 6.5 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood54 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 3.1 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 4.6 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town6 public schools: 3 elementary, 1 middle, 1 high school and 1 other.
  • A hospital close byAdventist Health Simi Valley in Simi Valley, about 13 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityLos Angeles is about 39 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 Fillmore 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
$602,500U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 12%Ventura County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,870 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$92,931U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
68%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$3,394 a yearCalifornia: $5,124
Homes built before 1940
12%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
11%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
110.5U.S. average = 100 (the Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura metro area)

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 12% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura metro area, not Fillmore 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
16,9372020: 16,501
Median age
35.5 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
14%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
28%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
16%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
3%U.S.: 6%
College students
6%share of all residents

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 (25%); professional and business services (12%); retail (8%)
Unemployment rate
3%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
33 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
12%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: Adventist Health Simi Valley, Simi Valley, CA, about 13 miles away. It's a general hospital. 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

6 public schools in Fillmore, run by Fillmore Unified.

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
83%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
93%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
45°F
July average high
78°F
Days 90°F or hotter
9 a year
Nights at or below freezing
1 a year
Rain and melted snow
17.4 inches a year
Snow
0 inches a year
Elevation
459 feet

Weather stations: Camarillo Ap (16 miles away) and Piru 2 ESE (9 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: Adventist Health Simi Valley, Simi Valley, Los Angeles.

Ventura County is in a metro area of 250,000 to 1 million people (USDA rural-urban code 2, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area15 miles
  • Channel Islands National Park22 miles

Read about Fillmore's history on Wikipedia.

Know Fillmore?

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

  • Piru, CA (unincorporated)2,185 people, 6 miles
  • Somis, CA (unincorporated)1,229 people, 10 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.