Moving to
Phelan.

All Phelan data Compare Phelan

18,496people live here $79,914median household incomeNear US average $1,525median rent per monthNear US average $386,800median home value▲ 16% above US

Phelan 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 Phelan

Phelan is an unincorporated community in California with a population that has grown fast since 2020. Those factors carry real weight for anyone weighing where to move next.

The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Phelan deals with county unemployment above the national average, long average commutes, air quality that falls short of national benchmarks, and college degree attainment below the national average.

The good

Fast-growing population

The not so good

Above-average unemployment in the county
Long commutes
Air quality concerns
Low college degree attainment
High student-teacher ratio
High rent burden for renters

How Phelan compares

Median household income

Phelan$79,914

California avg$99,122

US$80,734

Median rent (per month)

Phelan$1,525

California avg$2,036

US$1,413

Median home value

Phelan$386,800

California avg$734,700

US$332,700

What it takes to move to Phelan

Based on Phelan's median rent, home value and household income

To rent

$3,050

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

Income to keep rent under 30%: $61,000 a year
69% of Phelan renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent

To buy

$77,360

a 20% down payment on the median home

With 10% down: $38,680
Homes cost 4.8× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)

Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.

The details

Cost of livingNear US average

$1,525/mo median rent

Rent is pretty middle of the road, at $1,525 a month median. Not a bargain, not a budget-buster. About typical for a city this size. Home prices run above average, with a median around $386,800. Buyers should expect to stretch their budget here.

Median home value $386,800 · 69% 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

Phelan 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 around▲ 82% above US

47 min average commute

Commutes run long, averaging 47.4 minutes, and that's just the average, meaning a lot of people are doing significantly more. This isn't a city where living far from the office is a comfortable bet. 9 in 10 workers drive to work; 7% work from home.

How workers get to work

Drive alone

77%

Carpool

11%

Work from home

7.0%

Other

3.7%

Walk

1.4%

Climate

Summers are warm, with highs around 81°F, and winters are cold, with lows around 25°F and snow a regular occurrence.

Average month

High °FLow °FPrecip (in)

30-year averages, 1991–2020

Education & workforce▼ 66% below US

12% bachelor's degree or higher

This is a working-class city, and college degree rates reflect that. Trades, manufacturing, and service industries tend to dominate the local economy, which is a strength for some fields and a real constraint for others.

Schools

10 public schools inside the boundary

There are 10 public schools inside the boundary. The student-to-teacher ratio is 22:1, above the national average of 16:1.

Parks & recreation

The nearest national park or historic site is Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail (43 miles away). There are 3 national parks and sites within a day's drive.

Bottom line

Phelan's strongest point is a population that has grown fast since 2020; the main tradeoffs are county unemployment above the national average and long average commutes. A year of median rent ($1,525/mo) equals 23% of the median household income here, about the same as the 21% typical nationwide. It may be a harder fit for anyone moving without a job lined up and people who dread long commutes.

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