Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Settled in 1887, this town now has 6,858 residents.
Real strengths, and real weak spots. Its weakest subject is hazard risk: FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 99% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. Cost of living is weaker too: the typical home is worth about $924K, 8.3 years of the Santa Cruz metro’s $111K median household income. Health is its strong suit (A): CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 91% of the country. It also does well on schools (B+): its schools outperform nearly three quarters of the state's. The overall grade lands at B−, 201st of 841 in California. That leaves it better than 50% of U.S. towns. Ben Lomond’s density of trails is 2.4 miles per square mile, where California’s towns sit at 1.0 and U.S. towns at 0.4.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · schools, state test and graduation results · FEMA National Risk Index · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · OpenStreetMap.
Where Ben Lomond beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
23.7% of the town is conserved land, across 5 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Ben Lomond is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 2,793 in 1970, a low of 2,364 in 2000, 6,337 in 2020. The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 1892 and 5 maps from 1943 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Ben Lomond. Close and well known come first.
Big draw23 mi Stadium & arenaLevi's Stadium
Big draw23 mi Theme parkCalifornia's Great America
20 mi Stadium & arenaSAP Center
9 mi Theme parkSanta Cruz Beach Boardwalk
33 mi Zoo & aquariumMonterey Bay Aquarium
30 mi MuseumFiloliLevi's Stadium: Matthew Roth, CC BY-SA 2.0 · California's Great America: Oleg Alexandrov, CC BY-SA 4.0 · SAP Center: Dicklyon, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk: Josta Photo, CC BY 2.0 · Monterey Bay Aquarium: Meij.kobayashi, Public domain · Filoli: Sukuru, CC BY-SA 3.0
Ben Lomond is unincorporated, so Santa Cruz County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Ben Lomond.
Ben Lomond has a longer frost-free season than nearly all U.S. towns, has less no health insurance than most of California and sends most of its workers to Santa Cruz and beyond.
Across 5 parks and preserves: 20 miles of trail. The biggest park or preserve is Quail Hollow Ranch Park, at 72 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Pace Family Wilderness Park | 2.3 mi | 67 |
| 2. Quail Hollow Ranch Park | 0.5 mi | 72 |
| 3. Quail Hollow Quarry Conservation Areas | 0.3 mi | 35 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Below: Two of its 5 schools, each with why it was picked. Its public schools are run by the San Lorenzo Valley Unified school district. The largest public high school is San Lorenzo Valley High, with 578 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Lorenzo Valley ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 537 | – |
| San Lorenzo Valley HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 578 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
48 flood insurance claims have been paid in Ben Lomond since 1981. Of the losses FEMA expects locally, 68% come from inland flooding and 28% from earthquakes. Households in the town have drawn federal disaster aid in 3 declared disasters, most recently in 2023.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its widest gap with California is no health insurance: 4.5% of those 18–64 have no health insurance, against 10.6% statewide. Against the 4,540 U.S. towns with household incomes like Ben Lomond’s, it is healthier than 74%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
Nearly one in ten adults have diabetes in Ben Lomond. Against the California average, Ben Lomond comes out ahead on 14 CDC measures out of 32, and behind on 4. In Ben Lomond, 25% of adults have obesity, and 19% binge drink.
| Ben Lomond | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 24% | 25% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 29% | 35% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 16% | 16% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 35% | 36% |
| What stands out | Ben Lomond | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 4.5% | 10.6% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 8.1% | 17.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.6% | 6.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Ben Lomond has 757 jobs for its 2,767 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
For workers in Ben Lomond, the share who do their job from home is 21%. Employers in Ben Lomond shed 46 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 757. Also worth knowing: the average commute for Ben Lomond comes to 33 minutes. The top destinations are Santa Cruz (13%), San Jose (11%) and Scotts Valley (6%).
| Ben Lomond | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $130,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 33 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 21% | 14% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 4.9% | 10% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Values rose 4.9% in the 12 months to September 2026. Ben Lomond’s median rent is $2,514 a month. In Ben Lomond, 77% of households own their home.
| Ben Lomond | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,514 a month | $1,895 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 77% | 64% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The Santa Cruz weather station, 8 miles away, records that the frost-free season runs about 323 days, longer than in 96% of U.S. towns.
July afternoons reach 79°, January nights drop to 40° and snow is almost unheard of.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
4 within 15 miles of the center of Ben Lomond
About 6 of every 100 Ben Lomond residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across California.
Where Ben Lomond’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Census-designated place in Santa Cruz County, California, United States
Ben Lomond is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Cruz County, California, United States, and also the name of the mountain to the west. The CDP includes the communities of Glen Arbor and Brackney. The population was 6,337 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Ben Lomond.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Lomond | #201 | B− | D− | — | B+ | A |
| Brookdale | — | — | D | — | B+ | A |
| Lompico | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Felton | #132 | B | D | — | B+ | A |
| Zayante | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Bonny Doon | #302 | C+ | D− | — | A− | A− |
Brookdale has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Ben Lomond, Brookdale, Felton and Bonny Doon report no FBI crime data of their own. Lompico and Zayante aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Ben Lomond with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Ben Lomond grades B− overall, better than 50% of U.S. towns and #201 of 841 in California. It grades A for health and B+ for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D−.
