CrestCA
A town of 2,775.
What should you know before moving to Crest?
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 97% of U.S. communities, with wildfire at the top. Overall it grades C, ranked 402nd of 841 in California. It has 5 miles of trail and 33% conserved land. 33% of the land in Crest is conserved, above both the California town median (4.2%) and the median of U.S. towns (4.3%). The biggest park or preserve is San Diego National Wildlife Refuge, at 79 acres. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 72% of U.S. towns.
What makes Crest stand out
Where Crest beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
99% of working residents leave Crest for work
Where Crest’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Crest grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Crest is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Mexico–United States border wall and 64 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Crest. Close and well known come first.
Big draw24 mi LandmarkMexico–United States border wall
Big draw15 mi Stadium & arenaSnapdragon Stadium
18 mi Stadium & arenaPetco Park
17 mi Zoo & aquariumSan Diego Zoo4.0M visitors a year
17 mi Park & preserveBalboa Park
21 mi Theme parkSeaWorld San Diego4.0M visitors a yearPhoto credits
Mexico–United States border wall: Földhegy, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Snapdragon Stadium: Terrible Tim, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Petco Park: Mds08011, CC BY 4.0 · San Diego Zoo: en:User:Cburnett, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Balboa Park: Antoine Taveneaux, CC BY-SA 3.0 · SeaWorld San Diego: ZooFari, CC BY-SA 3.0
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Moving to Crest: who provides what
Crest is unincorporated, so San Diego 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Crest.
Crest keeps more of its land conserved than most of California, has milder winter nights than nearly all U.S. towns and sends most of its workers to San Diego and beyond.
Very high risk in Crest, with wildfire at the top
Since 1993, Crest has seen 2 flood insurance claims paid out. Expected losses in Crest break down as 72% from wildfires and 22% from inland flooding.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Public schools in Crest fall behind 60% of California districts
One of its 3 schools is below, with the reason it’s listed. The Dehesa Elementary school district runs its public schools. 2 public schools serve Crest, with 670 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dehesa ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–8 | Grades K–8 | 399 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
Open space protected for good: nearly a third of Crest
Its 1,378 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 94% of California towns.
Across 3 parks and preserves: 5.2 miles of trail. In Crest, the trail density is 0.8 miles per square mile, close to California’s towns (1.0) and above U.S. towns (0.4).
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. San Diego National Wildlife Refuge | 0.3 mi | 79 |
| 2. South Lane County Park | — | 10 |
| 3. Nancy Jane County Park | 0.1 mi | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
About one in three of Crest’s working residents commute to San Diego
Crest has 196 jobs for its 1,249 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
Between 2013 and 2023, jobs in Crest rose by 20, to 196. Most people who work leave Crest to do it: just 1% work in town. The income of the median household for Crest comes to $110,000. The top destinations are San Diego (34%), El Cajon (12%) and Santee (4%).
| Crest | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $110,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 1% | 6.6% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 6.4% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Crest ranks healthier than three in four of the country’s towns
Against the 7,146 U.S. towns with household incomes like Crest’s, it is healthier than 53%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
The share of adults in Crest who binge drink: 17%. The town does better than the California average on 9 of 32 CDC measures and worse on 5. Among adults in the town, 20% get no exercise outside work and 74% had a checkup this year.
| Crest | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 29% | 35% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 24% | 25% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 74% | 72% | 79% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 16% | 16% |
| What stands out | Crest | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 7.2% | 10.6% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 12.7% | 17.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9% | 6.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
More middle-aged adults than California overall
20% of residents are 65 or older in Crest. Adults 35 to 64 are 47% of residents (39% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 16% of residents (24% statewide). The midpoint age in the town is 43.8 years.
| Crest | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 16% | 22% | 22% |
| Median age | 43.8 years | 39 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 20% | 16% | 18% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
55% women, 45% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±6 points. Across California, 50.1% of residents are women.
| Crest | CA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 6.6% | 11.4% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.7% | 10.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.3% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 7.1% | 14.8% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 19.9% | 13.9% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 7.7% | 12.5% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 19.7% | 12.1% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9.9% | 9.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 10.1% | 6.5% | 7% |
| No diploma | 7.7% | 15.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 22.7% | 20.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 34.1% | 19.3% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 7.1% | 7.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 18.8% | 22.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 9.5% | 14.4% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,800, single groups can be off by several points
Mild winters and hot summers in Crest
January nights average 41.5°, milder than in 95% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 89.1°.
Snowfall is close to zero. For Crest, the January low is 42°F.
| Crest | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 42°F | 40°F | 22°F |
| July high | 89°F | 89°F | 85°F |
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Crest stands out in California and nationally, with more of its households who are owner-occupiers
Crest’s going rate for rent is $1,196 a month.
| Crest | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 93% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,196 a month | $1,898 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Crest
Colleges nearby
9 within 15 miles of the center of Crest
About 7 of every 100 Crest residents are enrolled in college, about the same as California.
About Crest
Place in California, United States
Crest is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in the East County region of San Diego County, California. The community developed during the 1920s as a cabin subdivision known as Suncrest and was heavily affected by the Laguna Fire of 1970 and the Cedar Fire of 2003. The CDP had a population of 2,828 at the 2020 census, up from 2,593 at the 2010 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 6.5 sq mi
- Elevation
- 1,312 ft
- Area code
- 619
Crest’s neighbors
3 towns share a border with Crest.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crest | #402 | C | C | — | C+ | B+ |
| Harbison Canyon | #503 | C− | D | — | C+ | B+ |
| Granite Hills | #554 | D | D− | — | C+ | B+ |
| Rancho San Diego | #369 | C | D− | — | C+ | A |
Crest, Harbison Canyon, Granite Hills and Rancho San Diego report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Crest with a neighbor →
Questions about Crest
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Crest, CA a good place to live?
Crest grades C overall, better than 29% of U.S. towns and #402 of 841 in California. It grades B+ for health and C+ for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D−.
Is Crest, CA expensive?
The typical home is worth about $725,000, 5% below 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 C.