Santa Cruz Lumber Company, Mill and Landing, 1892
Bonny Doon’s story
139 years in pictures
The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1892 and 4 maps from 1943 on.
- 1887Bonny Doon is settled
Bonny DoonCA
With 3,149 residents, this town was settled in 1887.
Population
3,149
Census survey, 2020–24
Median home value
$1.2M
Census ACS
Household income
$145K
median
Median age
44.2
years
Jobs based here
486
A commuter town
TownGrade
C+
#302 of 841 in CA
What should you know before moving to Bonny Doon?
Real strengths, and real weak spots. Its lowest grade is for cost of living (D−): homes are expensive, about $1.2 million for a typical one and 10.8 times the Santa Cruz metro’s $111K median household income. It lags on hazard risk as well: FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 87% of U.S. communities, with earthquakes at the top. Schools are another plus: its schools outperform 75% of the state's. The overall grade lands at C+, better than 38% of U.S. towns. That places it 302nd of 841 in California. The biggest place to walk is Wilder Ranch State Park, 895 acres with 6.3 miles of trail.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · schools, state test and graduation results · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenStreetMap.
What makes Bonny Doon stand out
Where Bonny Doon beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Get outside
22 miles of trails in Bonny Doon
34.3% of the town is conserved land, across 4 parks and preserves.
3
San Vicente Redwoods1.2 mi of trails · 801 acres
Trails © OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
How Bonny Doon grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Bonny Doon is from typical.
Cost of livingHomes are among the least affordable for local incomesD−Open →Hazard riskEarthquakes top the listDOpen →HealthDominican Hospital 9.2 miles awayA−Open →WalkabilityEPA walkability 6.8 of 20; 0% of households have no car; 12.8% of workers walk, bike or ride transitA−Open →SchoolsAhead of most towns comparedA−Open →Jobs & incomeBased on what households earn, poverty and workCOpen →
Character Graded, but not part of the overall grade.
Described, not graded Taste, not quality: snow or an older crowd is neither good nor bad.
ClimateMild winters, 79° summer afternoons–Open →Who lives hereMedian age 44.2; 48% of adults have a four-year degree–Open →
How TownRatings grades towns →
Nearby attractions
All 219 attractions →Levi's Stadium and 85 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Bonny Doon. Close and well known come first.
Big draw27 mi Stadium & arenaLevi's Stadium
Big draw26 mi Theme parkCalifornia's Great America
24 mi Stadium & arenaSAP Center
9 mi Theme parkSanta Cruz Beach Boardwalk
32 mi Zoo & aquariumMonterey Bay Aquarium
31 mi MuseumFiloliSources: National Park Service · ski areas © OpenSkiMap / OpenStreetMap contributors · Wikidata · Wikipedia readership · photos via Wikimedia Commons
Photo credits
Levi'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
Getting set up
Moving to Bonny Doon: who provides what
Bonny Doon is unincorporated, so Santa Cruz County and regional agencies provide most services.
PowerPG&E37.5¢/kWh · EIA 2025HIFLD · EIA
WaterSan Lorenzo Valley Water Dist1 health-based violation in 5 years · EPAEPA
Internet3 providers93% of addresses get 100/20 MbpsFCC
Trash & county servicesSanta Cruz CountySanta Cruz County provides services here
SchoolsSanta Cruz City High School DistrictBonny Doon Union Elementary School District2 districts serve Bonny Doon; which school depends on your address and gradeNCES
Register to voteOnlineIn California you can register online until 15 days before Election Day, in person up to and including Election Day, or by mail (postmarked 15 days before).vote.govWho runs elections hereSanta Cruz County Clerk - ElectionsSanta Cruz County; contacts on the Handbook page.FVAP, Jul 2025
ZIP code9506095060 100%Census 2020
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Bonny Doon.
Bonny Doon has a longer frost-free season than nearly all U.S. towns and keeps more of its land conserved than most of California, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of California.
OutdoorsA+
nearly a third of the land in Bonny Doon is protected from building
Its 3,619 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 94% of California towns.
Count the trails in 4 parks and preserves and they come to 22 miles. The trail density for Bonny Doon comes to 1.4 miles per square mile.
#275for trails in CA
34.3%
conserved · 3,619 of 10,550 acres
22 mi
of trails · 1.4 per sq mi
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Wilder Ranch State Park | 6.3 mi | 895 |
| 2. Bonny Doon Ecological Reserve | 3.8 mi | 380 |
| 3. San Vicente Redwoods | 1.2 mi | 801 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
SchoolsA−
Bonny Doon earns an A− for schools
The public schools here belong to the Bonny Doon Union Elementary school district. Its one school is below. Enrollment at the town’s public school: 92 students.
75%of CA districts it outscoresA−School Grade
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bonny Doon ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–6 | Grades K–6 | 92 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
Natural hazardsHazard risk grade D
Top of a very high hazard risk in Bonny Doon: earthquakes
Federal aid has come to Bonny Doon households in 2 declared disasters; the latest was in 2023. Of the losses FEMA expects locally, 37% come from earthquakes and 32% from inland flooding.
87risk score of 100
FEMA risk score
EarthquakesInland floodingDrought
2
federal disasters paid out here
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
HealthA−
Bonny Doon ranks healthier than four in five of the country’s towns
Against the 3,147 U.S. towns with household incomes like Bonny Doon’s, it is less healthy than 67%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
Nearly three quarters of adults had a checkup this year in Bonny Doon, against 72% in California’s towns and 79% across U.S. towns. The town does better than the California average on 13 of 32 CDC measures and worse on 3. Also worth knowing: among adults locally, 19% get no exercise outside work.
81%healthier than U.S. townsA−Health Grade
| Bonny Doon | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 29% | 35% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 24% | 25% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 35% | 36% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 74% | 72% | 79% |
32 measures vs. California
13 better16 too close to call3 worse
| What stands out | Bonny Doon | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5.4% | 10.6% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9.9% | 17.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.3% | 6.4% |
Dominican Hospital
9.2 mi away · emergency room
None
primary care, dental or mental-health shortage
71st
percentile among CA towns
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Work & commuteJobs & income grade C
With only 0.5 jobs per working resident, most people in Bonny Doon work out of town
The average commute for its 949 working residents takes 39.9 minutes, against 28.7 across California.
Bonny Doon’s mean commuting time is 40 minutes, where California’s towns sit at 28 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes. Commuting out is the norm here: 2% of working residents work locally. Employers in Bonny Doon added 238 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 486. In Bonny Doon, the middle household income is $145,000.
2%work in town
| Bonny Doon | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 40 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $145,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 16% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.2% | 6.6% | 8% |
Where working residents work
In Bonny Doon2%
Santa Cruz19%
San Jose10%
Scotts Valley4%
San Francisco3%
22 mi
median commute distance
486
jobs based in Bonny Doon
A commuter town
jobs vs. working residents
A−
Walkability grade: more walkable than 79% of U.S. towns
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Climate
Mild winters and pleasant summers: that is Bonny Doon’s year
The Santa Cruz weather station, 9 miles away, records that the frost-free season runs about 323 days, longer than in 96% of U.S. towns. January nights average 41.1°, milder than in 95% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 77.8°.
It almost never snows. Bonny Doon’s typical July afternoon high comes in at 78°F. Snow is almost unheard of.
79°summer high
| Bonny Doon | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 78°F | 89°F | 85°F |
| January low | 41°F | 40°F | 22°F |
Typical low → high °F
Winter41–58°
Spring43–64°
Summer51–77°
Fall48–72°
Dec 13
typical first frost
Jan 29
typical last frost
+1.8°
vs. the 20th-century average
79°
typical summer high
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
HousingCost of living grade D−
The median home in Bonny Doon sells for about $1.14M
At 10.8 years of the Santa Cruz metro’s $111K median household income, the typical home costs more against local pay than in 82% of California towns; that ratio is one input to its D− for cost of living. The median property tax bill is $8,688, against $5,124 across California, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
In Bonny Doon, the median rent is $1,838 a month. 77% of Bonny Doon households own their home.
$1.14Mmedian sale price
| Bonny Doon | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 77% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,838 a month | $1,898 a month | $1,185 a month |
2
homes sold in September
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Keep exploring
Everything we know about Bonny Doon
17pages on Bonny Doon
The big questions
Out and about
Day to day
After high school
Colleges nearby
3 within 15 miles of the center of Bonny Doon
University of California-Santa CruzUniversity or college · Public · Santa Cruz5.4 mi$16,005 in-state tuitionFive Branches UniversityUniversity or college · Private for-profit · Santa Cruz9.4 miCabrillo CollegeCommunity college · Public · Aptos12.3 mi$1,270 in-state tuition
About 6 of every 100 Bonny Doon residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across California.
A commuter town
98% of working residents leave Bonny Doon for work
Where Bonny Doon’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
486jobs based in Bonny Doon
2%of working residents work in town
22 mimedian commute distance
Census LEHD 2023
About Bonny Doon
Census-designated place in California, United States
Bonny Doon is a census-designated place in Santa Cruz County, California, United States. It is situated northwest of the city of Santa Cruz and is considered part of the southern San Francisco Bay Area or northern Monterey Bay Area. Bonny Doon's population was 2,868, as reported by the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 17 sq mi
- Elevation
- 1,476 ft
Bonny Doon’s neighbors
2 towns share a border with Bonny Doon.
FeltonBen LomondBonny Doon
How the neighbors grade
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bonny Doon | #302 | C+ | D− | — | A− | A− |
| Felton | #132 | B | D | — | B+ | A |
| Ben Lomond | #201 | B− | D− | — | B+ | A |
Bonny Doon, Felton and Ben Lomond report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Bonny Doon with a neighbor →
Questions about Bonny Doon
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Bonny Doon, CA a good place to live?
Bonny Doon grades C+ overall, better than 38% of U.S. towns and #302 of 841 in California. It grades A− for health and A− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D−.
Is Bonny Doon, CA expensive?
Yes. The typical home is worth about $1,202,000, 58% above the California typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D−.