Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The typical home is worth about $772K, 7.9 years of the San Luis Obispo metro’s $97K median household income. Overall it grades C, 355th of 841 graded towns in California. 12% of its land is conserved and it is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns. Its weakest subject is hazard risk: FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 78% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. Grover Beach’s July high is 65°F, below both California’s towns (89°F) and U.S. towns (85°F). Pismo State Beach, at 161 acres with 3.7 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
Where Grover Beach beats most towns.
Where Grover Beach’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 Grover Beach is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 5,210 in 1960, 12,701 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1995 and 3 maps from 1897 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Grover Beach, 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 Grover Beach.
Grover Beach has fewer 90° days than nearly all U.S. towns, has seen reported crime fall by about half and has commutes shorter than most of California.
3.8 miles of trail in 7 parks and preserves. The trail density in Grover Beach is 1.7 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Pismo State Beach | 3.7 mi | 161 |
| 2. Mentone Basin Park | — | 5 |
| 3. Sixteenth Street Park | — | 4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Lucia Mar Unified school district. One of its 4 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grover Beach ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–6 | Grades K–6 | 368 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
The average commute for its 5,270 working residents takes 20.2 minutes, against 28.7 across California.
Most working residents leave Grover Beach for work: only 7% work in town. Grover Beach’s average trip to work is 20 minutes. The top destinations are San Luis Obispo (19%), Arroyo Grande (10%) and Santa Maria (9%).
| Grover Beach | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 15% | 14% | 11% |
| Median household income | $86,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Since 1998, 3 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Grover Beach.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The Morro Bay Fire Dept weather station, 21 miles away, records that about 1 days a year reach 90°, fewer than in 96% of U.S. towns. January nights average 47.5°, milder than in 98% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 64.9°.
Grover Beach has warm winters and cool summers, with very little rain. Snow is almost unheard of.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the California average. 19% of residents are under 18 in Grover Beach. 29% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 37% across California.
| Grover Beach | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 19% | 22% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 18% | 16% | 18% |
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3 points. Across California, 50.1% of residents are women.
| Grover Beach | CA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.2% | 11.4% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.9% | 10.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 5.9% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 15.4% | 14.8% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 18.5% | 13.9% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.7% | 12.5% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12.5% | 12.1% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 12.2% | 9.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.6% | 6.5% | 7% |
| No diploma | 16.3% | 15.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 28% | 20.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 19.2% | 19.3% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 7.7% | 7.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 16.6% | 22.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 12% | 14.4% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Reported crimes fell from 221 to 107 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Within California, it does better than 75% of towns.
| Grover Beach | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 6.6 per 1,000 residents | 13.4 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2 per 1,000 residents | 2.9 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Grover Beach beats the California average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 7. 71% of Grover Beach adults had a checkup this year.
| Grover Beach | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 71% | 72% | 79% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 35% | 36% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 14% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 22% | 19% |
| What stands out | Grover Beach | CA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults screened for colon cancer | 63.2% | 57.5% |
| More adults seeing a dentist | 66.5% | 62.8% |
| More adults with COPD | 6.9% | 5.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The typical Grover Beach home is worth about $772,000, up 2.4% in a year, close to the California typical home.
| Grover Beach | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 51% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $2,061 a month | $1,895 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Grover Beach. Close and well known come first.
11 mi MuseumMission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa22 mi LandmarkLanding of the first Filipinos
17 mi State parkMontaña de Oro State Park
8 mi MuseumDana Adobe
11 mi MuseumSan Luis Obispo Railroad Museum24 mi Zoo & aquariumCharles Paddock ZooMission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa: Stephen Lea, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Montaña de Oro State Park: BorisFromStockdale, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Dana Adobe: Ken Figlioli, CC BY-SA 2.0 · San Luis Obispo Railroad Museum: SLOGlen, CC BY-SA 4.0
2 within 15 miles of the center of Grover Beach
About 6 of every 100 Grover Beach residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across California.
City in California, United States
Grover Beach is a city in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. The population was 12,701 at the 2020 census, down from 13,156 in 2010. Grover Beach is the location of the Pacific Crossing 1 (PC-1) cable landing station, where trans-pacific submarine communications cables come ashore and connect to the North American telecommunication network.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Grover Beach.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grover Beach | #355 | C | D− | B− | B+ | B− |
| Arroyo Grande | #149 | B | D− | B− | B+ | A |
| Pismo Beach | #343 | C | D− | C− | B+ | A |
| Oceano | #438 | C | C− | — | B+ | C+ |
Oceano reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Grover Beach with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Grover Beach grades C overall, better than 32% of U.S. towns and #355 of 841 in California. It grades B− for health, B− for safety and B+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D−.
Within California, it does better than 75% of towns.
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−.
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