Moving to
Big Bear City.

All Big Bear City data Compare Big Bear City

11,431people live here $71,511median household income▼ 11% below US $1,854median rent per month▲ 31% above US $463,500median home value▲ 39% above US

Big Bear City is an unincorporated community in San Bernardino County, CA. It has no city government: the county runs it, and the Census counts it as its own place.

What it's like to live in Big Bear City

Big Bear City is an unincorporated community in California. The numbers below lay out what daily life there actually looks like.

The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Big Bear City deals with rent well above the national average, home prices well above the national average, county unemployment above the national average, and air quality that falls short of national benchmarks.

The not so good

Rent well above the national average
High home prices
Above-average unemployment in the county
Air quality concerns
Shrinking population
High student-teacher ratio

How Big Bear City compares

Median household income

Big Bear City$71,511

California avg$99,122

US$80,734

Median rent (per month)

Big Bear City$1,854

California avg$2,036

US$1,413

Median home value

Big Bear City$463,500

California avg$734,700

US$332,700

What it takes to move to Big Bear City

Based on Big Bear City's median rent, home value and household income

To rent

$3,708

up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit

Income to keep rent under 30%: $74,160 a year
51% of Big Bear City renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent

To buy

$92,700

a 20% down payment on the median home

With 10% down: $46,350
Homes cost 6.5× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)

Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.

The details

Cost of living▲ 31% above US

$1,854/mo median rent

Rent runs on the higher side, at $1,854 a month median. Whether that premium makes sense usually comes down to the local job market and what it pays. Home prices run above average, with a median around $463,500. Buyers should expect to stretch their budget here.

Median home value $463,500 · 51% of renters cost-burdened

Job market

5.4% county unemployment

Unemployment in San Bernardino County is 5.4%, somewhat above the national average of 4.3%. Lining up work before the move is the safer route. That's the county-wide rate; BLS doesn't measure a place this size on its own.

San Bernardino County (county-wide)

Safety

444 violent crimes per 100k, whole jurisdiction

Big Bear City doesn't have its own police department, so there's no crime rate for it alone. The figures shown are for the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office jurisdiction as a whole, which runs above the national average for violent crime and covers many communities. Individual neighborhoods can differ a lot from that overall rate.

Property crime 1113/100k · Policed by San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office (county-wide rate) · 2025 data

Getting aroundNear US average

25 min average commute

Commutes run about average, at 24.9 minutes. Fine day to day, but it adds up over a year, and where someone lives relative to where they work starts to matter. 8 in 10 workers drive to work; 19% work from home.

How workers get to work

Drive alone

68%

Work from home

19%

Carpool

6.6%

Walk

4.9%

Public transit

0.7%

Other

0.7%

Climate

Summers are comfortable, with highs around 78°F, and winters are cold, with lows around 24°F and snow a regular occurrence. It's a dry climate with limited rainfall.

Average month

High °FLow °FPrecip (in)

30-year averages, 1991–2020

Education & workforce▼ 15% below US

31% bachelor's degree or higher

Education levels run about average, with 31% college-educated. It's a mix of white-collar and blue-collar work, which can be an asset or a limitation depending on the field.

Schools

3 public schools inside the boundary

There are 3 public schools inside the boundary. The student-to-teacher ratio is 20:1, above the national average of 16:1.

Parks & recreation

The nearest national park or historic site is Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail (34 miles away). There are 3 national parks and sites within a day's drive.

Bottom line

Nothing in Big Bear City's numbers stands out as a clear strength, and the main tradeoffs are rent well above the national average and home prices well above the national average. A year of median rent ($1,854/mo) equals 31% of the median household income here, more than the 21% typical nationwide. It tends to suit remote workers (19% of workers here already work from home). It may be a harder fit for renters on a tight budget and anyone moving without a job lined up.

See all the data for Big Bear City →·All California cities →