Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 96% of U.S. communities, with earthquakes at the top. Overall it grades C−, ranked 460th of 841 in California. It is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 83% of U.S. towns. Its weakest subject is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $1.0 million, 6.4 years of the San Jose metro’s $162K median household income. Gilroy’s typical home value is $1,045,000, above both California’s towns ($709,000) and U.S. towns ($332,000). Gilroy has 9 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Old City Hall and Edgar Holloway House. Gilroy's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 88% of U.S. towns.
Where Gilroy beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Old City Hall
Census counts: 1,625 in 1870, 59,520 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1905 and 7 maps from 1917 on.
9 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Gilroy is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Gilroy, 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 Gilroy.
Gilroy owes part of its health edge to its incomes and has seen reported crime fall by a third or more, but it has property taxes 1.7 times the California norm.
Since 1982, 21 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Gilroy.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its public schools are run by the Gilroy Unified school district. Two of its 16 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Las Animas ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 800 | – |
| Christopher HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,630 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
Reported crimes fell from 2,000 to 1,402 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Gilroy’s violent crime rate is 4 per 1,000 residents.
| Gilroy | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4 per 1,000 residents | 2.9 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 19.1 per 1,000 residents | 13.3 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
19 miles of trail in 13 parks and preserves. The trail density in Gilroy is 1.2 miles per square mile. Debell Uvas Creek Preserve, at 94 acres with 1.6 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Gilroy | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.2 miles per square mile | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 5.7% | 4.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Debell Uvas Creek Preserve | 1.6 mi | 94 |
| 2. Las Animas Veterans Park | 1.5 mi | 31 |
| 3. Christmas Hill Park | 1 mi | 53 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The median property tax bill is $8,513, against $5,124 across California, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The typical Gilroy home is worth about $1,045,000, up 1% in a year, 37% above the California typical home. 62% of households own their home in Gilroy.
| Gilroy | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,301 a month | $1,895 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 62% | 64% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Most working residents leave Gilroy for work: only 15% work in town. Jobs based in Gilroy grew to 16,084 in 2023, 1,872 more than in 2013. 6.7% of Gilroy residents live below the poverty line.
| Gilroy | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $133,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 33 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 15% | 6.6% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 6.7% | 10% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Gilroy has mild winters and pleasant summers, with very little rain. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 39° and snow is almost unheard of.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Against the 4,251 U.S. towns with household incomes like Gilroy’s, it is less healthy than 82%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
Gilroy beats the California average on 6 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1.
| Gilroy | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 69% | 72% | 79% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 36% | 33% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 31% | 35% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 9% | 8.1% |
| What stands out | Gilroy | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 7.6% | 10.6% |
| Fewer adults with COPD | 4.3% | 5.1% |
| More uninsured adults | 13% | 10.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Children under 18 are 27% of residents (22% statewide). 29% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 37% across California.
| Gilroy | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 27% | 22% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 13% | 16% | 18% |
| Median age | 37 years | 39.1 years | 40.5 years |
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±1.4 points. Across California, 50.1% of residents are women. Median age: women 38.7, men 33.7.
| Gilroy | CA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 13.3% | 11.4% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 13.5% | 10.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.6% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11.7% | 14.8% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.6% | 13.9% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.9% | 12.5% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.4% | 12.1% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 7.8% | 9.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.2% | 6.5% | 7% |
| No diploma | 16.6% | 15.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 21.2% | 20.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 23.7% | 19.3% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.2% | 7.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 19% | 22.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 10.3% | 14.4% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Gilroy. Close and well known come first.
Big draw35 mi Stadium & arenaLevi's Stadium
Big draw34 mi Theme parkCalifornia's Great America
29 mi Stadium & arenaSAP Center
in town Theme parkGilroy Gardens
32 mi Zoo & aquariumMonterey Bay Aquarium
33 mi MuseumMonterey Museum of ArtLevi'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 · Gilroy Gardens: Unknown, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Monterey Bay Aquarium: Meij.kobayashi, Public domain · Monterey Museum of Art: Sgerbic, CC BY-SA 4.0
1 within 15 miles of the center of Gilroy
About 7 of every 100 Gilroy residents are enrolled in college, about the same as California.
48,821 counted in 2010 and 59,520 in 2020; an estimated 60,764 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
9 places in Gilroy on the National Register of Historic Places.
14 notable people were born in Gilroy.
City in California, United States
Gilroy is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, south of the San Francisco Bay Area. It had a population of 59,520 as of the 2020 census. Gilroy's origins lie in the village of San Ysidro, which developed in the early 19th century from Rancho San Ysidro. This land had been granted to Californio ranchero Ygnacio Ortega in 1809. Following Ygnacio's death in 1833, his daughter Clara Ortega de Gilroy and son-in-law John Gilroy inherited the largest portion of the rancho, and began developing the settlement. When the town was incorporated in 1868, it was renamed in honor of John Gilroy, a Scotsman who had emigrated to California in 1814, naturalized as a Mexican citizen, adopt…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Gilroy grades C− overall, better than 24% of U.S. towns and #460 of 841 in California. It grades B+ for health, C− for safety and B for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
14 notable people were born here, including Ivie Anderson and Jeff Garcia.
