Mad River, California.
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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 Mad River, Trinity County, California
Mad River, in Trinity County, had 361 people in the 2020 census. Unemployment in Trinity County was 5.5% in August 2026, and the county had 0.8% fewer jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most people in Trinity County work in schools and health care, then restaurants and hotels.
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 It can be wrong or out of date.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. Mad River is a very small community in Trinity County, in the forested hills of northern California. Winters are cold and damp, with December the coldest month and daytime highs staying well above freezing, and snow falls only a little. Summers are mild rather than hot, and the year brings a good deal of rain and melted snow.
Work. Across Trinity County, household incomes sit below those of many places in the state, and unemployment is higher than in much of the country. Residents of Mad River work mostly in schools, hospitals and social care, in restaurants, hotels and entertainment, in farming, forestry and mining, and in shops. Among the largest workplaces across the county are Trinity Hospital, Trinity River Lumber Company and the Trinity Alps Unified school district.
Things to do. Ruth Reservoir, a reservoir, and Fort Baker, a fort, are each a short drive away. Farther afield, a longer drive brings you to Trinity National Forest, a large protected forest, and to Humboldt Redwoods State Park, a protected area known for its redwoods.
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What people in Trinity County work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Trinity County had 2,894 jobs in 2025, 0.8% fewer than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in December, with highs near 48° and lows near 38°; warmest in August, with highs near 73° and lows near 53°. About 1 inches of snow and 52 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Grizzly Creek Sp weather station, 22 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Trinity County
- Trinity HospitalCritical access hospital161FTE
- Trinity River Lumber CompanyDimension lumber, made from logs or bolts150
- Trinity Alps UnifiedSchool district96FTE
- North State Grocery Group445110 supermarkets and other grocery retailers71
- Camp BasinChildren's camps60
- Forest ServiceFederal government · Department of Agriculture60
- Forest ServiceFederal government · Department of Agriculture55
- Mountain Valley UnifiedSchool district52FTE
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 4 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 312 people in all across the county; Mad River has two of its own. Hospitals come from their Medicare cost reports (CMS, 2023), school districts from the Common Core of Data (NCES, 2023–24) and federal offices from OPM's federal workforce data (2026); 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
- LandslidesVery high
- WildfireVery high
- Inland floodingVery high
- EarthquakesRelatively high
- Heat wavesRelatively moderate
- LightningRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Mad River’s census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, very high. 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 Trinity County.
Mad 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.
- Mad River11
Zip codes with a Mad River address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Mad River — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.