Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Colusa grades D overall, ranked 621st of 841 in California, mostly because of incomes. The median household income is $71K, and 18% of residents live below the poverty line. In its favor, it has 7 miles of trail. Colusa’s July high is 96°F, where California’s towns sit at 89°F and U.S. towns at 85°F. On history, just 86 of California’s 1,063 towns do better. The biggest park or preserve is Colusa-Sacramento River State Recreational Area, at 345 acres.
Where Colusa beats most towns.
Colusa High School and Grounds13.5% of the town is conserved land, across 9 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Colusa is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,051 in 1870, 6,411 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1906 and 4 maps from 1918 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Colusa, and how to reach them.
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 Colusa.
Colusa carries less natural-hazard risk than most of California (mostly drought), has hotter summers than nearly all U.S. towns and trades workers with Williams and other neighbors.
7.1 miles of trail in 9 parks and preserves. The trail density in Colusa is 1.7 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Colusa-Sacramento River State Recreational Area | 0.5 mi | 345 |
| 2. Colusa | 0.4 mi | 13 |
| 3. Levee park | 0.4 mi | 4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Colusa Unified school district. Two of its 6 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Colusa High, with 431 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| George T. Egling MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 4–8 | Grades 4–8 | 553 | C+ |
| Colusa HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 431 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
68.4% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 55.3% across California. The median property tax bill is $2,210, against $5,124 across California, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The typical Colusa home is worth about $365,000, about the same as a year ago, 52% below the California typical home. Colusa’s median rent is $1,132 a month.
| Colusa | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,132 a month | $1,898 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
Colusa beats the California average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 15. 16% of adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance in Colusa.
| Colusa | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 9% | 8.1% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 22% | 19% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 70% | 72% | 79% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 16% | 14% |
| What stands out | Colusa | CA |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 15.7% | 10.6% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 9.9% | 7.3% |
| More adults with COPD | 6.9% | 5.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Reported crimes fell from 109 to 78 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Within California, it does better than 60% of towns.
| Colusa | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.3 per 1,000 residents | 2.9 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 8.4 per 1,000 residents | 13.4 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
July afternoons average 95.9°, hotter than in 97% of U.S. towns; January nights average 38°.
Colusa has mild winters and hot summers, with very little rain. Snow is almost unheard of.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Colusa has about as many jobs (2,505) as working residents, but only 680 people both live and work here. The average commute takes 19.7 minutes, against 28.7 across California.
About one in 4 of Colusa’s working residents works in town. Since 2013, Colusa has added 243 jobs, to 2,505 in 2023. The top destinations are Williams (7%), Yuba City (4%) and Sacramento (3%).
| Colusa | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 25% | 6.6% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $71,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 89% of California towns; that rating is what its C+ for hazard risk is built on.
Since 1983, 11 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Colusa.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
None within 15 miles of Colusa; the nearest are
About 4 of every 100 Colusa residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across California.
3 places in Colusa on the National Register of Historic Places.
3 notable people were born in Colusa.
City in California, United States
Colusa is a city in and the county seat of Colusa County, California, United States, located in the Sacramento Valley region of the Central Valley. The population was 6,411 at the 2020 census, up from 5,971 at the 2010 census. Colusa originates from the local Coru Native American tribe, who in the 1840s lived on the opposite side of the Sacramento River.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Colusa grades D overall, better than 9% of U.S. towns and #621 of 841 in California. It grades C for health, C for safety and B− for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a D.
Within California, it does better than 60% of towns.
Yes. That is 4.8 years of the area's median household income ($75,672 across the county). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
3 notable people were born here, including Mike Griffin and Ben Beville.
