Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 1,806, settled in 1906.
The best of Graton’s subject grades are an A− for walkability and health; the weakest is a D− for cost of living. Graton’s median rent is $2,826 a month, above both California’s towns ($1,896 a month) and U.S. towns ($1,185 a month). FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 97% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. Hicks House is on the National Register of Historic Places. Graton has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Graton beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Graton is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,286 in 1980, 1,683 in 2020. The archive holds 4 old photos and papers going back to 1909 and 3 maps from 1942 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Graton. Close and well known come first.
21 mi Ancient siteFort Ross
40 mi National MonumentMuir Woods National Monument757K visitors a year
35 mi LakeLake Berryessa
39 mi MountainMount Tamalpais
15 mi National SeashorePoint Reyes National Seashore2.4M visitors a year
7 mi MuseumCharles M. Schulz Museum and Research CenterFort Ross: Frank Schulenburg, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Muir Woods National Monument: Unknown, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Lake Berryessa: Unknown, Public domain · Mount Tamalpais: Originally uploaded by Nelso (Transferred by DimiTalen), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Point Reyes National Seashore: King of Hearts, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center: BrokenSphere, CC BY-SA 3.0
Graton is unincorporated, so Sonoma 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 Graton.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its public schools are run by the Oak Grove Union Elementary school district. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oak Grove ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K | Grades K | 91 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
Graton beats the California average on 15 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 6. 30% of Graton adults feel lonely, against 36% in California’s towns and 33% across U.S. towns. 26% of Graton adults have obesity.
| Graton | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 36% | 33% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 29% | 35% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 24% | 25% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 35% | 36% |
| What stands out | Graton | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 10% | 17.9% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 6% | 10.6% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.8% | 6.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Graton has mild winters and pleasant summers. The July high in Graton is 80°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Most working residents leave Graton for work: only 5% work in town. 24% of residents live below the poverty line in Graton. Since 2013, Graton has lost 114 jobs, to 639 in 2023.
| Graton | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 24% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 25 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.7% | 6.6% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The typical Graton home is worth about $768,000, down 2.1% in a year, close to the California typical home.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
2 within 15 miles of the center of Graton
About 0 of every 100 Graton residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across California.
Census-designated place in California, United States
Graton is an unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in west Sonoma County, California, United States. The population was 1,683 at the 2020 census. Graton's ZIP code is 95444. The town also has a culinary reputation attributed to two restaurants in the area. The town of Graton is roughly 20 miles (32 km) from the California coastline. Graton's agriculture was historically concentrated on apple farming, but like most of rural Sonoma County it now focuses on wine production.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes. That is 7.3 years of the area's median household income ($104,674 across the Santa Rosa-Petaluma, 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−.
.jpg){kind=link}
