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Meiners Oaks, California

Meiners Oaks is an unincorporated community of about 3,900 people in Ventura County, California, in the Oxnard area. 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, Los Angeles, is about 58 miles away as the crow flies.

Suburb of Oxnard

Population
3,934
Census survey, 2020-24
Typical home, 2020-24
$721,200
Ventura County prices up 12% since 2022
Prices, Oxnard area
110.5
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Community Memorial Hospital - Ojai
To Los Angeles
58 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 moneyThe Census survey didn't reach enough homes in Meiners Oaks 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 town6 public schools: 2 elementary, 1 middle, 1 high school and 2 other.
  • A hospital close byCommunity Memorial Hospital - Ojai is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityLos Angeles is about 58 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 Meiners Oaks 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.

What kind of town

A suburb, not a stand-alone small town

Meiners Oaks runs into the built-up area around Oxnard (Census Bureau, 2020 urban areas). We include suburbs under 20,000 people because some still feel like small towns, but daily life here is closer to the suburbs than to the towns Frank and Dave's book describes. Weigh it against towns farther out.

The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$721,200U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 12%Ventura County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$2,225 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Homes owned by the people living in them
68%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$4,789 a yearCalifornia: $5,124
Homes built before 1940
8%U.S.: 12%
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 Meiners Oaks 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
3,934The Census Bureau makes yearly estimates only for incorporated towns
Median age
49.3 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
29%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
18%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
26%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 (20%); arts, recreation, lodging and restaurants (18%); professional and business services (13%)
Unemployment rate
3%U.S.: 5%
Work from home
16%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
15%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Community Memorial Hospital - Ojai, Ojai, CA, in town. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare hasn't given it a star rating.

Nearest general hospital: Ventura County Medical Center, Ventura, CA, about 12 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

6 public schools in Meiners Oaks, run by Ojai Unified and Valley Oak Charter District.

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 any internet subscription
90%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
34°F
July average high
89°F
Days 90°F or hotter
75 a year
Nights at or below freezing
31 a year
Rain and melted snow
20.7 inches a year
Snow
0 inches a year
Elevation
945 feet

Weather station: Ojai (2 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: San Buenaventura (Ventura), 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

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Channel Islands National Park14 miles
  • Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area25 miles

Read about Meiners Oaks's history on Wikipedia.

Know Meiners Oaks?

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

  • Saticoy, CA (unincorporated)1,518 people, 14 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.