Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 2,427, settled in 1883.
Cayucos’ best subject grades are an A for schools and health and an A+ for the outdoors; its weakest is a D for cost of living. 35% of residents are 65 or older in Cayucos, above both California’s towns (16%) and U.S. towns (18%). FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 86% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. Cayucos’ trail density is 3.1 miles per square mile, against 1.0 in California’s towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns. On the outdoors, just 22 of California’s 1,064 towns do better. Tognini and Ghezzi Building is on the National Register of Historic Places. Cayucos has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Cayucos beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Where Cayucos’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Cayucos is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,772 in 1970, 2,505 in 2020. The archive holds 17 old photos and papers going back to 1995 and 5 maps from 1897 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Cayucos is unincorporated, so San Luis Obispo 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 Cayucos.
The typical Cayucos home is worth about $1,322,000, up 0.8% in a year, 74% above the California typical home. Cayucos’ median rent is $1,571 a month.
| Cayucos | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,571 a month | $1,896 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 60% | 64% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its public schools are run by the Cayucos Elementary school district. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cayucos ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–8 | Grades K–8 | 185 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
Cayucos beats the California average on 17 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 5. 29% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Cayucos.
| Cayucos | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 35% | 36% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 17% | 17% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 29% | 35% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 36% | 33% |
| What stands out | Cayucos | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 4.5% | 10.6% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.7% | 17.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 12.8% | 6.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The median age in Cayucos is 59.4 years. 45% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 37% across California.
| Cayucos | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 59.4 years | 39 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 45% | 29% | 29% |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±5.7 points. Across California, 50.1% of residents are women. Among residents 18 to 24, 98% are men (CA 51%).
| Cayucos | CA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 3.7% | 11.4% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 4.8% | 10.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 5.6% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 8.3% | 14.8% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 6.2% | 13.9% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 15% | 12.5% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 21% | 12.1% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 24.1% | 9.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 11.3% | 6.5% | 7% |
| No diploma | 3.3% | 15.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 7% | 20.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 34.4% | 19.3% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.5% | 7.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 30.5% | 22.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 14.2% | 14.4% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,400, single groups can be off by several points
Since 1983, 16 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Cayucos.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Most working residents leave Cayucos for work: only 12% work in town. Jobs based in Cayucos grew to 453 in 2023, 59 more than in 2013. The top destinations are San Luis Obispo (17%), Morro Bay (8%) and Santa Maria (3%).
| Cayucos | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 42 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 12% | 6.6% | 8% |
| Median household income | $87,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
12 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Morro Strand State Beach, at 59 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Morro Strand State Beach | — | 59 |
| 2. Hardie Park | — | 2 |
| 3. Paul Andrew Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Cayucos has warm winters and cool summers, with very little rain. July afternoons reach 72°, January nights drop to 44° and snow is almost unheard of.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Cayucos. Close and well known come first.
Big draw23 mi State parkHearst Castle5 mi LandmarkLanding of the first Filipinos
17 mi MuseumMission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa
24 mi MuseumMission San Miguel Arcángel
12 mi State parkMontaña de Oro State Park13 mi Zoo & aquariumCharles Paddock ZooHearst Castle: No machine-readable author provided. Urban~commonswiki assumed (based on copyrig, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa: Stephen Lea, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Mission San Miguel Arcángel: Jsweida, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Montaña de Oro State Park: BorisFromStockdale, CC BY-SA 3.0
1 within 15 miles of the center of Cayucos
About 4 of every 100 Cayucos residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across California.
Unincorporated community in California
Cayucos is an unincorporated community in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. It lies on the Central Coast, along State Route 1, north of Morro Bay. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Cayucos as a census-designated place (CDP). Its population was 2,505 at the 2020 census, down from 2,592 in 2010. The surrounding coast has a long Indigenous history associated with the Chumash and Salinan peoples. The town developed around James Cass's shipping business in the nineteenth century and later became a seaside visitor destination. Its waterfront includes Cayucos State Beach and a fishing pier. Cayucos has an economy of businesses serving residents …
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Cayucos.
Cayucos has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Cayucos reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Cayucos with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes. That is 13.6 years of the area's median household income ($97,446 across the San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
