Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 1,664.
Elkhorn’s best subject grades are an A for incomes and the outdoors; its weakest is a D− for walkability. 38% of the land in Elkhorn is conserved, above both the California town median (4.3%) and the median of U.S. towns (4.3%). Only 82 of California’s 1,063 towns score lower on history. Elkhorn has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Elkhorn beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Where Elkhorn’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 Elkhorn is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,458 in 1990, 1,588 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1983 and 6 maps from 1917 on.
Explore the history →Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Elkhorn. Close and well known come first.
17 mi Zoo & aquariumMonterey Bay Aquarium
18 mi MuseumMonterey Museum of Art
37 mi Stadium & arenaSAP Center7 mi Canyon & gorgeMonterey Canyon
32 mi National ParkPinnacles National Park343K visitors a year
10 mi MuseumMission San Juan BautistaMonterey Bay Aquarium: Meij.kobayashi, Public domain · Monterey Museum of Art: Sgerbic, CC BY-SA 4.0 · SAP Center: Dicklyon, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Pinnacles National Park: Brocken Inaglory, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Mission San Juan Bautista: MARELBU, CC BY 3.0
Elkhorn is unincorporated, so Monterey 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 Elkhorn.
Elkhorn’s concentration of trails stands at 1.7 miles per square mile, above both California’s towns (1.0) and U.S. towns (0.4). 8.0 miles of trail.
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its one school is below. The public schools here belong to the North Monterey County Unified school district. Elkhorn’s only public school teaches 550 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elkhorn ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–6 | Grades K–6 | 550 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
Of the losses FEMA expects in Elkhorn, 68% come from earthquakes and 24% from inland flooding. Storm and flood damage is expected to run higher than in 90% of U.S. communities. This California town has had 10 paid flood insurance claims since 1978.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Children under 18 are just over a third of residents (22% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 15% of residents (24% statewide). Among adults 25 and older in Elkhorn, 36% hold a bachelor’s degree or more.
| Elkhorn | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 34.8 years | 39 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 36% | 29% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 16% | 16% | 18% |
Somewhere between 28% and 74% women
The Census survey reached too few of Elkhorn’s residents to say more: its margin here is ±22.8 points. Across California, 50.1% of residents are women.
| Elkhorn | CA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 20.6% | 11.4% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 14.7% | 10.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 2.9% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 12.1% | 14.8% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.1% | 13.9% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 16.3% | 12.5% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 5.1% | 12.1% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 12.9% | 9.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 3.2% | 6.5% | 7% |
| No diploma | 8.9% | 15.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 24.8% | 20.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 15% | 19.3% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 15.3% | 7.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 25.1% | 22.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 10.9% | 14.4% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,700, single groups can be off by several points
The top destinations are Salinas (17%), Monterey (8%) and San Jose (6%). The typical household income in Elkhorn is $127,000. Between 2013 and 2023, jobs here rose by 56, to 195. 0.5% of Elkhorn working residents work locally.
| Elkhorn | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 35 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $127,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 2% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 0.5% | 6.6% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The peak summer temperature for Elkhorn comes to 69°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The share of adults in Elkhorn who have obesity: 30%. The town does better than the California average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and worse on 5. Among adults here, 73% had a checkup this year and 24% say their health is fair or poor.
| Elkhorn | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 9% | 8.1% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 35% | 36% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 73% | 72% | 79% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 22% | 19% |
| What stands out | Elkhorn | CA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults screened for colon cancer | 65.1% | 57.5% |
| More adults with COPD | 6.5% | 5.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
83% of households live in a home they own in Elkhorn.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
3 within 15 miles of the center of Elkhorn
About 6 of every 100 Elkhorn residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across California.
Census-designated place in California, United States
Elkhorn is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Monterey County, California, United States. Elkhorn was originally a stop on the Southern Pacific Railroad 4 miles (6 km) north of Castroville, at an elevation of 10 feet (3.0 m). The settled part of the community now occupies the hills to the east of the railroad. The population of the Elkhorn CDP was 1,588 at the 2020 census. Local understandings of the extent of Elkhorn may vary from the Census definition. Elkhorn was named after the elk in the area that have since gone extinct.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Elkhorn.
Elkhorn has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Elkhorn and Prunedale report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Elkhorn with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes. The typical home is worth about $811,000, 7% 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.
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