Big Bear Lake is a somewhat small city located in the state of California. With a population of 5,044 people and four associated neighborhoods, Big Bear Lake is the 520th largest community in California. Housing costs in Big Bear Lake are among some of the highest in the nation, although real estate prices here don't compare to real estate prices in the most expensive communities in California.Big Bear Lake is a decidedly white-collar city, with fully 89.57% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Big Bear Lake is a city of service providers, sales and office workers, and professionals. There are especially a lot of people living in Big Bear Lake who work in maintenance occupations (16.12%), office and administrative support (14.17%), and management occupations (12.93%). Of important note, Big Bear Lake is also a city of artists. Big Bear Lake has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Big Bear Lake’s character. Also of interest is that Big Bear Lake has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. A relatively large number of people in Big Bear Lake telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 20.81% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes. Another notable thing is that Big Bear Lake is a major vacation destination. Much of the city’s population is seasonal: many people own second homes and only live there part-time, during the vacation season. The effect on the local economy is that many of the businesses are dependent on tourist dollars, and may operate only during the high season. As the vacation season ends, Big Bear Lake’s population drops significantly, such that year-round residents will notice that the city is a much quieter place to live.The education level of Big Bear Lake citizens is substantially higher than the typical US community, as 33.85% of adults in Big Bear Lake have at least a bachelor's degree. The per capita income in Big Bear Lake in 2022 was $52,141, which is upper middle income relative to California, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $208,564 for a family of four. However, Big Bear Lake contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Big Bear Lake is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Big Bear Lake home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Big Bear Lake residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Big Bear Lake also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 26.70% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Big Bear Lake include English, Irish, German, European, and Italian. Big Bear Lake also has a high percentage of its population that was born in another country: 16.35%. The most common language spoken in Big Bear Lake is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Korean.
