Verified town profile

South Dos Palos, California

Census-designated place · Population 1,102

South Dos Palos is a Census-designated place of 1,102 residents in California. Its nearest regional center is Merced, CA, about 42 minutes away by car. The median home value is $324,500.

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Townsteading score: 53.7
Confidence: High data confidence
Data updated: Jul 26, 2026

Included in the verified public directory after passing every published screening rule. How verification works.

At a glance

Population: 1,102
Median home value: $324,500
Median household income: Data unavailable
Nearest regional city: Merced
Drive time: 42 minutes
Walkability score: 73.1
Homeownership rate: 41%
Townsteading score: 53.7

The case

Why South Dos Palos is included

South Dos Palos appears in the public directory because it passes every published screening rule: its population of 1,102 falls within the 1,000–5,000 resident screening band; its nearest regional center, Merced, is reachable in about 42 minutes by car, inside the 60-minute limit; its town-center walkability analysis completed successfully.

Beyond the screen: its median home value is $324,500; its nationally normalized walkability score is 73 out of 100; OpenStreetMap data records 24 tracked everyday destinations within a 15-minute walk of its center.

The place

Local map

Map key

Bank
Civic destination
Grocery
Library
Park
Pharmacy
Place of worship
Post office
Restaurant or café
School

About this map

The map is centered on South Dos Palos (36.9707, -120.6467) and shows the municipal boundary from 2025 Census TIGER/Line data. Basemap data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Reachable destinations shown on the map

State Foods Supermarket Grocery · Approximate network distance: 798 m
Does Palos Mini Mart Grocery · Approximate network distance: 302 m
Dos Palos Donuts Restaurant or café · Approximate network distance: 119 m
Dos Palos Church of Christ Place of worship · Approximate network distance: 653 m
Dos Palos Post Office Post office · Approximate network distance: 285 m
Dos Palos Branch Merced County Library Library · Approximate network distance: 233 m
Dos Palos City Hall Civic destination · Approximate network distance: 233 m
Ariel Tacqueria Restaurant or café · Approximate network distance: 302 m
Butch's Restaurant or café · Approximate network distance: 524 m
County Bank Bank · Approximate network distance: 0 m
Dos Palos Methodist Church Place of worship · Approximate network distance: 308 m
Dos Palos Mini Mart Grocery · Approximate network distance: 296 m
Dos Wongs Restaurant or café · Approximate network distance: 547 m
Eric's Pizza Factory Restaurant or café · Approximate network distance: 285 m
Hurtado's Market Grocery · Approximate network distance: 285 m
Palm Restaurant Restaurant or café · Approximate network distance: 53 m
Pioneer Drug Store Pharmacy · Approximate network distance: 285 m
Primo Take-N-Bake Pizza Restaurant or café · Approximate network distance: 285 m
Super Steer Steak House Restaurant or café · Approximate network distance: 152 m
Taco Grotto Restaurant or café · Approximate network distance: 478 m
Valley Christian Center Place of worship · Approximate network distance: 861 m
Des Park Park · Approximate network distance: 537 m
Dollar General Market Grocery · Approximate network distance: 957 m
Dos Palos Elementary School School · Approximate network distance: 334 m

Destinations are derived from OpenStreetMap and may be incomplete or outdated.

Daily-life access within a 15-minute walk of the center

5 grocery stores
1 pharmacy
9 restaurants and cafes
1 library
1 post office
1 park or playground
1 school
1 civic building
1 bank
3 places of worship

Destination counts come from OpenStreetMap and may understate what exists on the ground.

Housing

Housing and affordability

Median home value: $324,500
Median gross rent: $1,585
Median household income: Data unavailable
Home value ÷ income: Data unavailable
Poverty rate: 47.5%

Owner-occupied: 40.5%
Vacancy rate: 0.0%
Homes built before 1940: 0.0%
Homes built before 1960: 6.0%
Population density (per sq mi): 716

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, reference period 2020–2024. Where a value reads “Data unavailable,” the estimate was not reported or did not pass quality checks for this place.

Access

Regional access

Townsteading does not require isolation. Every verified town has a modeled driving route of no more than 60 minutes to a regional center — a city with the hospitals, suppliers, and services a small town leans on.

Nearest regional city: Merced, CA
Regional city population: 99,724
Modeled drive time: 42 minutes
Routed distance: 31.2 miles
Straight-line distance: 25.5 miles

Drive times are modeled with OSRM over the OpenStreetMap road network (July 2026). They are not live traffic estimates and will vary with conditions.

Community

Closest Orthodox parish

St. Mary Magdalene Church

Modeled drive time: Approximately 42 minutes by car
Routed distance: 30.7 driving miles
Address: PO Box 3704 Merced, CA 95344
Jurisdiction: OCA
Phone: 209.384.0673

Parish website

Parish information is based on the Orthodoxy in America directory, retrieved July 27, 2026. Drive time is modeled from the current OSRM route calculation and may change.

Form

Walkability and settlement form

Overall walkability: 73.1
Destination access: 86.2
Network connectivity: 58.8
Compactness: 66.7

The walkability score models what can be reached on foot from the town center over the street network in about 15 minutes: everyday destinations, the connectedness of the street grid, and the compactness of the town's form. Scores are normalized nationally across the candidate corpus, from 0 to 100.

These are modeled measures of urban form derived from OpenStreetMap. They do not confirm sidewalk coverage, crossings, lighting, or pedestrian safety, and OpenStreetMap data may be incomplete in small towns.

People

People and households

Median age: 35.1
Average household size: 3.1
Average family size: 4.0
Mean commute: 27 minutes

Age

Under 18: 32.4%
18–24: 11.3%
25–44: 29.4%
45–64: 24.3%
65 and over: 2.6%

Households

Family households: 67.5%
Nonfamily households: 32.5%
Households with children: 49.3%
Married-couple families: 38.0%
Single-parent families: 35.0%
One-person households: 32.5%

Education (25+)

Less than high school: 18.2%
High school diploma: 49.8%
Some college: 11.6%
Associate degree: 14.2%
Bachelor's degree: 3.4%
Graduate degree: 2.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher: 6.3%

“Bachelor's degree or higher” is a subtotal of the two degree rows above it.

Race and ethnicity

White: 11.9%
Black: 1.9%
American Indian / Alaska Native: 0.0%
Asian: 0.0%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander: 0.0%
Some other race: 60.8%
Two or more races: 25.4%

Ethnicity, reported separately

Hispanic or Latino (any race): 86.2%
White, not Hispanic or Latino: 11.9%

Hispanic or Latino may be of any race, so the ethnicity rows overlap with the race rows above and are reported separately.

American Community Survey estimates. Race and ethnicity are reported factually for research context and are never used as a compatibility or ranking factor. One or more major estimates has a high margin of error.

Assessment

Strengths and limitations

Potential strengths

Walkability score of 73/100 on the nationally normalized scale.
Compact town form (compactness component 67/100), keeping everyday distances short.
5 Grocery stores within a 15-minute walk of the town center.

Important limitations

Median household income is unavailable in the current ACS release.
Walkability scores model street-network access to destinations; they do not confirm sidewalk coverage, crossings, or pedestrian safety.

Townsteading is a research tool, not a sales pitch. Nothing on this page is real-estate, financial, legal, safety, or relocation advice.

Provenance

Data and methodology

Townsteading score: 53.7 / 100
Confidence: High data confidence (64 / 100)
Profile data updated: July 26, 2026
Verification: Passes every published screening rule

Sources

U.S. Census Bureau Gazetteer Places. Vintage 2025 — identity, boundaries, coordinates.
U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates. Vintage 2024 — place population.
American Community Survey 5-year estimates. 2024 release, reference period 2020–2024 — housing, income, demographics.
OpenStreetMap. Street network and everyday destinations for walkability analysis.
OSRM routing. Modeled driving time to the nearest regional center; not live traffic.