Little River, California.
. Ukiah, CA metro.
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$1,997 (+100%) since Jan 2020.
Monthly payment to buy the typical home
Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.
- California$3,997
- United States$1,922
Living in Little River, Mendocino County, California
Little River, in Mendocino County, had 94 people in the 2020 census. Unemployment in Mendocino County was 5.6% in August 2026, and the county had 0.3% fewer jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most people in Mendocino County work in schools and health care, then shops.
Written by AI Claude Haiku 5.5 wrote this on 22 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 It can be wrong or out of date.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. Little River is a small coastal community in Mendocino County, in northern California, with fewer residents than almost any other place in the county. It sits close to the Pacific, and the Little River runs through or beside the town. Its winters are mild and its summers are warm, with little or no snow and a good deal of rain for much of the year.
Work. Many residents work in schools, hospitals and social care, or in local shops, restaurants, hotels and entertainment. Others work in professional and business services. Across the county, unemployment has eased slightly over the past year, and the number of jobs has dipped a little.
Things to do. Mendocino Headlands State Park is a protected area in or beside the town, where walks along the coast are the main draw. Kelley House Museum, also in or beside town, is a museum on the local past. Russian Gulch State Park, a protected area a short drive away, and Glass Beach, a beach a longer drive away, are good options for a day out.
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What people in Mendocino County work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Mendocino County had 31,998 jobs in 2025, 0.3% fewer than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in December, with highs near 52° and lows near 40°; warmest in August, with highs near 65° and lows near 50°. About 43 inches of rain a year, and little or no snow.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Fort Bragg North weather station, 17 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Mendocino County
- Ukiah UnifiedSchool district680FTE
- Adventist Health Ukiah ValleyGeneral hospital567FTE
- CAL FireCal fire466
- Mendocino CollegeTwo-year college422
- Ahhm-one Marcela DR DeptsGeneral medical and surgical hospitals315
- Fort Bragg UnifiedSchool district245FTE
- Adventist Health Mendocino CoastCritical access hospital230FTE
- Howard Memorial HospitaCritical access hospital229FTE
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 65 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 5,318 people in all across the county; Little River has none of its own. School districts come from the Common Core of Data (NCES, 2023–24), hospitals from their Medicare cost reports (CMS, 2023) and colleges from IPEDS (NCES, 2023–24); FTE marks full-time equivalent staff. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.
Natural hazards
- WildfireRelatively high
- EarthquakesRelatively high
- LandslidesRelatively moderate
- Inland floodingRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Little River’s census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively moderate. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.
From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on Mendocino County and the Ukiah, CA metro.
Little River home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
Not enough data to draw this yet.
Market heat, inside the city limits
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Little River9
Zip codes with a Little River address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Little River — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.