Town · Mono County, California

Mammoth Lakes, California

Mammoth Lakes is a town in Mono County, California. It has 7,214 residents. Mammoth Lakes, California has a quality-of-life score of 54 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #7,186 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within California it ranks #359 of 1,062 cities and towns. It ranks best on life expectancy (high), public EV charging ports (high) and restaurants and bars (high). It ranks worst on social associations (low), home price to income ratio (high) and high school diploma or higher (low).

54Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #7,186 of 15,651 cities and towns
California: #359 of 1,062 in CA
Population: 7,214 (2020-2024)
Land area: 25 mi²
Density: 290.1 /mi²
FIPS code: 0645358

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 76 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety31#10,834/15,637
Economy69#4,884/15,631
Housing23#11,543/14,977
Health79#3,321/15,609
Healthcare49#7,999/15,650
Environment88#1,818/15,453
Education15#13,286/15,649
Infrastructure71#4,560/15,650
Community14#13,537/15,651
Leisure & amenities100#57/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Mammoth Lakes, California ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Mono County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Life expectancy · high89.6 yrs
100/100California 79.7 yrsUnited States 77.6 yrs2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMono County value
Public EV charging ports · high59.2 /10k
100/100California 17.4 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyMono County value
Restaurants and bars · high27.2 /10k
99/100California 8.6 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsMono County value
Public libraries · high5.5 /10k
99/100California 0.3 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesMono County value
Arts, entertainment and recreation · high18.4 /10k
98/100California 8.9 /10kUnited States 5.5 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsMono County value
Hot days · low1 days
98/100California 66 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationMono County value

Weaknesses

Social associations · low3.1 /10k
1/100California 6.2 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMono County value
Home price to income ratio · high8.8×
2/100California 7.4×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
High school diploma or higher · low88.2%
6/100California 84.7%United States 89.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Distance to an emergency room · high14.0 mi
9/100California 4.3 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesMono County value
Natural hazard risk · high91.0
9/100California 87.32025Federal Emergency Management AgencyMono County value
Traffic deaths · high27.6 /100k
9/100California 10.7 /100kUnited States 12.3 /100k2020-2024National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationProvisional dataMono County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationFalling
8,169 (2015-2019) → 7,214 (2020-2024)
−12%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
New homes permittedImproving
5.1 /1k (2021) → 16.5 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+226%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Public transit commutersWorsening
31.7% (2015-2019) → 0.5% (2020-2024)
−31 pts5 yearsCensus table B08301US 5.0% → 3.2%
Child poverty rateImproving
20.8% (2015-2019) → 0.0% (2020-2024)
−21 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Median household incomeImproving
$59,620 (2015-2019) → $98,056 (2020-2024)
+64%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Uninsured residents (under 65)Improving
24.1% (2015-2019) → 11.7% (2020-2024)
−12 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Mammoth Lakes, California improved on 3 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 10 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved3

Uninsured−12 points24.1% → 11.7%
Child poverty−21 points20.8% → 0.0%
Household income+64%$59,620 → $98,056

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Mammoth Lakes, California between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	11.4 min2015-2019	14.8 min2020-2024	+3.4 min	Within the margin of error	17%
Bachelor's degree or higher	26.6%2015-2019	24.2%2020-2024	−2.4 points	Within the margin of error	15%
Broadband subscriptions	85.8%2015-2019	91.7%2020-2024	+5.9 points	Within the margin of error	37%
Child poverty rate	20.8%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	−21 points	Improved	94%
Effective property tax rate	0.87%2015-2019	0.68%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	56%
High school diploma or higher	85.8%2015-2019	88.2%2020-2024	+2.3 points	Within the margin of error	62%
Home price to income ratio	5.7×2015-2019	8.8×2020-2024	+3.2×	Within the margin of error	1%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4002015-2019	0.4442020-2024	+0.044	Within the margin of error	19%
Median household income	$59,6202015-2019	$98,0562020-2024	+64%	Improved	93%
Poverty rate	10.8%2015-2019	6.1%2020-2024	−4.7 points	Within the margin of error	79%
Rent as share of income	25.2%2015-2019	29.6%2020-2024	+4.4 points	Within the margin of error	25%
Rent-burdened households	39.6%2015-2019	48.8%2020-2024	+9.2 points	Within the margin of error	26%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	24.1%2015-2019	11.7%2020-2024	−12 points	Improved	98%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Mammoth Lakes, California five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Mammoth Lakes, California in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Mammoth Lakes, California itself moved −8.9 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

7,214 residents (±14)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

3,318 households (±302)

Mammoth Lakes, California
California share

Under $25k6.7%†221
$25k–50k14%†454
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

3,318 households (±302)

Mammoth Lakes, California
California share

Own56%1,845
Rent44%1,473

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

4,700 workers (±417)

Mammoth Lakes, California
California share

Drive alone65%3,071
Carpool7.1%†336
Public transit0.5%†24

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Mono County, the county holding most of Mammoth Lakes's residents.

Mono County has 627 employer establishments, 479 for every 10,000 residents (1.93× the US rate of 248; 1.82× California's), with 7,237 paid employees at an average annual pay of $42,418. The Census Bureau also counts 1,309 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 627; 1,309 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 479; US 248 · California 263
Paid employees: 7,237
Average annual pay: $42,418; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Mono County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Lessors of real estate	69	52.7	4.28×More than typical	438	$49,148	195
Restaurants and other eating places	67	51.2	2.79×More than typical	987	$32,146	10
Specialty trade contractors	52	39.7	2.57×More than typical	218	$79,197	85
Construction of buildings	44	33.6	4.45×More than typical	109	$72,651	62
Traveler accommodation	39	29.8	16.5×More than typical	2,665	$31,801	26
Full-service restaurants	34	26	3.38×More than typical	671	$32,490	5
Ambulatory health care services	28	21.4	1.03×About typical	71	$69,155	61
Services to buildings and dwellings	26	19.9	2.95×More than typical	156	$35,173	74
Limited-service restaurants	24	18.3	2.29×More than typical	237	$33,160	—
Real estate agents and brokers	24	18.3	3.77×More than typical	41	$70,220	63
RV parks and recreational camps	21	16.1	67.7×More than typical	88	$121,193	—
Building equipment contractors	20	15.3	2.54×More than typical	57	$52,860	20

Rank places for an industry Open Mono County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 13,082 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $186.2K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Mammoth Lakes, California: $25.81 per resident (US $1,995).

Obligations: $186.2K; −50% vs FY2025
Per resident: $25.81; US $1,995
Sole-source: 0.0%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.7%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Federal Highway Administration$181.6K98%
National Park Service$3,2241.7%
Bureau of Land Management$1,3680.7%

Top recipients

HERBACK GENERAL ENGINEERING LLC$124.1K67%
YEH AND ASSOCIATES, INC$57.9K31%
SUNTIFF, LLC$1,5780.8%
MAMMOTH DISPOSAL COMPANY$1,3680.7%
BOWMAN FIRE & LIFE SAFETY, INC.$1,2580.7%

Spending by fiscal year

229.7KFY2017
59.8KFY2018
38.6KFY2019
107.5KFY2020
150.2KFY2021
204KFY2022
3.5MFY2023
401.4KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Highway, street, and bridge construction · 2373$123.7K66%
Architectural, engineering, and related services · 5413$59.2K32%
Remediation and other waste management services · 5629$1,5780.8%
Waste collection · 5621$1,3680.7%
Nonresidential building construction · 2362$3880.2%

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 7, 2026, loaded Oct 7, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Mammoth Lakes, California, so they do not add up across cities.

Mammoth Lakes, California's figures are part of those of Mono County, CA ($10.5M in FY2026), never added to them: 1.8% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Mammoth Lakes is mostly in Mono County.

See federal money in Mono County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Mammoth Lakes, California is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Kevin KileyI-CA-3 · 100% of residentsWith party 92%Missed 0.9%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Mono County72100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Mono County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/0645358

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends