Written by AI Claude Sonnet 5.5 wrote this on 23 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.

What it’s like

The place. Alturas is a small city in the high country of northeastern California and the seat of Modoc County. Most homes here are lived in by their owners, and typical home values sit modestly, while a good share of residents live below the poverty line. Winters are cold, with December highs staying a little above freezing and nights well below it, and summers turn warm in July. The year brings only a modest amount of rain and melted snow.

Work. Many residents work in schools, hospitals and social care, or in government, with others in professional and business services and in farming, forestry and mining. A small share work from home. Among the largest workplaces in Alturas are Modoc Medical Center, Modoc Joint Unified, and the Forest Service. Unemployment across the county is the same as it was a year earlier, and the county has fewer jobs than it did the year before.

Things to do. The Modoc National Wildlife Refuge, a protected area, lies in or beside town, as does the Modoc County Historical Museum. A short drive away is Big Sage Reservoir. For a longer outing, Modoc National Forest, another protected area, is a longer drive away.