Loyalton is a city in Sierra County, California, United States. At the 2010 census, the population was 769, reflecting a decline of 93 from the 862 counted in 2000. The ZIP code for the community is 96118. Wired telephone numbers in the community follow the format 993-xxxx. The town is near the north extent of State Route 49, which ends at State Route 70 in Vinton. According to Rand-McNally, it is a fifty-mile drive on State Route 49 to the county seat, Downieville. Many of the population are ranchers, loggers, former loggers, or suburbanites who have relocated from the San Francisco Bay, Sacramento, and growing Reno-Tahoe areas.
At the 2010 census Loyalton had a population of 769. The population density was 21 people per square mile. The racial makeup of Loyalton was 701 White, 2 African American, 21 Native American, 0 Asian, 0 Pacific Islander, 20 from other races, and 25 from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 108 people. The census reported that 738 people lived in households, no one lived in non-institutionalized group quarters and 31 were institutionalized. There were 308 households, 86 had children under the age of 18 living in them, 163 were opposite-sex married couples living together, 28 had a female householder with no husband present, 19 had a male householder with no wife present. There were 25 unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 0 same-sex married couples or partnerships. 81 households were one person and 35 had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.40. There were 210 families ; the average family size was 2.84. The age distribution was 156 people under the age of 18, 55 people aged 18 to 24, 164 people aged 25 to 44, 243 people aged 45 to 64, and 151 people who were 65 or older. The median age was 46.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.4 males. There were 371 housing units at an average density of 1,043.6 per square mile, of the occupied units 225 were owner-occupied and 83 were rented. The homeowner vacancy rate was 3.4%; the rental vacancy rate was 8.8%. 526 people lived in owner-occupied housing units and 212 people lived in rental housing units.
2000
At the 2000 census there were 862 people in 323 households, including 235 families, in the city. The population density was 2,516.4 people per square mile. There were 347 housing units at an average density of 1,013.0 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 94.90% White, 0.23% African American, 2.67% Native American, 0.12% Asian, 0.58% from other races, and 1.51% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.19%. Of the 323 households 38.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.6% were married couples living together, 11.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.2% were non-families. 23.8% of households were one person and 10.2% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.00. The age distribution was 29.1% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 24.8% from 25 to 44, 24.4% from 45 to 64, and 15.7% 65 or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.5 males. The median income for a household in the city was $34,063, and the median family income was $39,750. Males had a median income of $38,864 versus $23,571 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,732. About 20.3% of families and 18.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.0% of those under age 18 and 6.7% of those age 65 or over.
Politics
In the state legislature, Loyalton is in , and. Federally, Loyalton is in.
Government
Local
Because Loyalton is Sierra County's most populous municipality and its only incorporated city, generally half of the meetings of the county's board of supervisors are held in Downieville and the other half are held in Loyalton. The City of Loyalton’s total expenditures for 2012 were $1.2 million, funded mostly from outside sources such as federal and county grants. Local tax collection revenue that year was $163,000. In 2016, the city recovered over $400,000 that had been embezzled by an employee but it still faces an $80,000 budget shortfall. In 2012, the Loyalton City Council decided to withdraw from CalPERS because its last employee with a guaranteed pension had retired. The city had been fully paying its required annual contribution of $30,000 and had only four remaining pensioners. CalPERS then demanded $1.6 million from the city. CalPERS publicly uses actuarial present value to calculate member contributions but when a member withdraws it utilizes a non-public calculation to define unfunded liabilities. Loyalton has not yet paid the bill so CalPERS is charging 7.5% annual interest and had sent a final demand letter in September 2016.
In popular culture
Loyalton was extensively used as a filming location in the 1949 movie Beyond the Forest, starring Bette Davis and Joseph Cotten, and directed by King Vidor. Main street business facades are featured, as are the evident owners of the businesses and other townspeople. In the script, the town is referred to as "Loyalton, Wisconsin."
