Home › California › Rough and Ready
Rough and Ready, California
CDP
About Rough and Ready
Rough and Ready, CA is a small unincorporated community located in northern California.
Rough and Ready holds the status of a census-designated place — a real, named community that residents call home, governed at the county level. The community covers 3.17 square miles.
📰 Rough and Ready News Today
- Rough and Ready Air Quality Index (AQI) and USA Air Pollution IQAir · Jun 23
- Welcome to Rough and Ready, the Tiny Town That Used to Be a Republic KQED · Nov 3
- Independence Day toast: How alcohol reunited a defiant town | Bartell's Background ABC10 · Jul 3
- There’s more to Rough and Ready, Calif., than an unforgettable name SFGATE · Nov 1
- California's Bizarrely Named, Once-Thriving Mining Town Is Now A Tiny Historic Gem In The Sierra Nevada Mountains islands.com · Jul 3
Live headlines via Google News — updates through the day.
What Makes Rough and Ready Unique
- The only place in America named Rough and Ready — a truly one-of-a-kind name among 32,000+ US communities.
- An unincorporated community — no city hall of its own, which often means lower local taxes and county-managed services.
- Positioned in northern California, convenient to the region's corridors and crossings.
Why People Love It Here
- Small-town pace of life: less traffic, more community, and neighbors who wave.
- Cost of living typically runs below the big-metro average.
- Well connected: 3+ neighboring communities within 5 miles.
⚡ Quick Facts
StateCalifornia
TypeCDP
Population (2024)—
Land area3.17 sq mi
Coordinates39.2340, -121.1380