[2] It is located on the abandoned Southern Pacific Railroad 22 miles (35 km) south-southeast of Benton,[4] at an elevation of 4,258 feet (1,298 m).

[3] Chalfant is a small, primarily residential community located on U.S. Route 6, 14 miles (23 km) north of the city of Bishop.

The town was named after William Arthur "Willie" Chalfant, who moved to the area in 1885 with his family, where they started The Inyo Register newspaper.

[6] A 6.2 earthquake occurred on July 21, 1986, in the Bishop and Chalfant area, and injured two people, causing damages estimated at $2.7 million.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the Chalfant CDP covers an area of 28.1 square miles (73 km2), 99.90% of it land and 0.10% of it water.

53 households (20.1%) were made up of individuals, and 25 (9.5%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 301 housing units at an average density of 10.7 per square mile (4.1/km2), of which 231 (87.5%) were owner-occupied, and 33 (12.5%) were occupied by renters.