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Pine Mountain Club, California

Pine Mountain Club is an unincorporated community of about 2,800 people in Kern County, California, about 6,000 feet above sea level. It has no city government of its own: local services come from the county, or in some states from the town or township. A typical home costs about 5.7 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 71 miles away as the crow flies.

Tourist town

Population
2,838
Census survey, 2020-24
Typical home, 2020-24
$394,600
Kern County prices up 12% since 2022
Household income
$69,375
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Bakersfield area
100.9
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
28 miles
Ojai, CA
To Los Angeles
71 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 0.9% above the U.S. average in the Bakersfield-Delano metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 5.7 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • 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 town1 public school. No public high school in town: the nearest is Frazier Mountain High, about 16 miles away.
  • A hospital close byCommunity Memorial Hospital - Ojai in Ojai, about 28 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityLos Angeles is about 71 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 Pine Mountain Club 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

Tourist town. About 37% of homes are vacation or seasonal homes, a sign of a visitor economy. More restaurants, shops and weekend events than locals alone could support, with the small-town basics intact.

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
$394,600U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 12%Kern County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$2,145 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$69,375U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
83%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$2,906 a yearCalifornia: $5,124
Homes built before 1940
0%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
3%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
37%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
100.9U.S. average = 100 (the Bakersfield-Delano 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 Bakersfield-Delano metro area, not Pine Mountain Club 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
2,838The Census Bureau makes yearly estimates only for incorporated towns
Median age
48.6 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
25%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
11%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
43%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
11%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
Professional and business services (33%); retail (14%); other services (10%)
Work from home
21%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
10%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, about 28 miles away. 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: Mercy Hospital, Bakersfield, CA, about 38 miles away. Medicare gives it 3 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

1 public school in Pine Mountain Club, run by Peak to Peak Mountain Charter District. The nearest public high school is Frazier Mountain High, about 16 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 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

Rain and melted snow
15.2 inches a year
Elevation
6,027 feet

Weather stations: Frazier Park 10.7 WSW (7 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: Community Memorial Hospital - Ojai, Bakersfield, Los Angeles.

Kern 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 Park41 miles
  • César E. Chávez National Monument43 miles
  • Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area48 miles

Read about Pine Mountain Club's history on Wikipedia.

Know Pine Mountain Club?

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

  • Lake of the Woods, CA (unincorporated)796 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.