Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Pleasant Hill's standout: it is more walkable than 97% of U.S. towns. Overall it grades C+, 300th among California's 841 graded towns. CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 92% of the country and the median household earns $145K. Its weakest subject is cost of living: homes are expensive, about $973K for a typical one and 7.2 times the San Francisco metro’s $136K median household income. Pleasant Hill’s property crime rate is 34.4 per 1,000 residents, above both the California town median (13.3) and the median of U.S. towns (9.9). Pleasant Hill is home to Diablo Valley College. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 90% of U.S. communities, with earthquakes at the top.
Where Pleasant Hill beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Pleasant Hill is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 97% of comparable towns) to D− for cost of living (better than 5%), so the C+ overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 5,686 in 1950, 34,613 in 2020. The archive holds 9 old photos and papers going back to 2006 and 8 maps from 1897 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Pleasant Hill. Close and well known come first.
Big draw21 mi MuseumAlcatraz Federal Penitentiary
Big draw18 mi MuseumUSS Hornet
Big draw21 mi Stadium & arenaChase Center
Big draw21 mi LandmarkLombard Street
Big draw21 mi Stadium & arenaOracle Park
Big draw39 mi Stadium & arenaLevi's StadiumAlcatraz Federal Penitentiary: druchoy, CC BY-SA 2.0 · USS Hornet: kitmasterbloke, CC BY 2.0 · Chase Center: Gregory Varnum, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Lombard Street: The original uploader was Y6y6y6 at English Wikipedia., Public domain · Oracle Park: User Coasttocoast on en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Levi's Stadium: Matthew Roth, CC BY-SA 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Pleasant Hill, 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 Pleasant Hill.
Pleasant Hill trades workers with San Francisco and other neighbors and has less no health insurance than most of California, but it reports more crime than Concord and its other graded neighbors.
12 miles of trail in 12 parks and preserves. Pleasant Hill’s trail density is 1.8 miles per square mile. Paso Nogal Park, at 71 acres with 3.2 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Pleasant Hill | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.8 miles per square mile | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.9% | 4.3% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Paso Nogal Park | 3.2 mi | 71 |
| 2. Dinosaur Hill Park | 0.9 mi | 14 |
| 3. Ridgeview Open Space | 0.7 mi | 50 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Mt. Diablo Unified school district. Three of its 16 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sequoia MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 882 | A− |
| College Park HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,948 | A |
| Horizons School: Independent StudyTop results in townGrades K–12 | Grades K–12 | 182 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with California is no health insurance: 5.1% of those 18–64 have no health insurance, against 10.6% statewide. Against the 3,124 U.S. towns with household incomes like Pleasant Hill’s, it is healthier than 66%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
11% of adults report frequent physical distress in Pleasant Hill. Pleasant Hill beats the California average on 17 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 8.3% of adults smoke cigarettes in Pleasant Hill.
| Pleasant Hill | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 14% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 8.3% | 11% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 29% | 35% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 22% | 19% |
| What stands out | Pleasant Hill | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5.1% | 10.6% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9.1% | 17.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 8.3% | 6.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Each of the 3 graded towns on its borders reports less crime per resident, from Concord (D) to Martinez (C+). Reported crimes fell from 1,813 to 1,244 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Since 1986, 34 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Pleasant Hill.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The median rent in Pleasant Hill is $2,533 a month. The typical Pleasant Hill home is worth about $973,000, up 1.3% in a year, 28% above the California typical home.
| Pleasant Hill | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,533 a month | $1,895 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 63% | 64% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Pleasant Hill has mild winters and warm summers, with very little rain. July afternoons reach 87°, January nights drop to 39° and snow is almost unheard of.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Pleasant Hill has about as many jobs (13,599) as working residents, but only 767 people both live and work here. 26.2% of workers work from home, against 17.2% across California.
Most working residents leave Pleasant Hill for work: only 6% work in town. 26% of Pleasant Hill workers work from home. The top destinations are San Francisco (12%), Concord (8%) and Walnut Creek (8%).
| Pleasant Hill | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 26% | 14% | 11% |
| Median household income | $145,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 7.3% | 10% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
23 within 15 miles of the center of Pleasant Hill
About 8 of every 100 Pleasant Hill residents are enrolled in college, about the same as California.
5 notable people were born in Pleasant Hill.
City in California, United States
Pleasant Hill is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States, in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 34,613 at the 2020 census. It was incorporated in 1961. Pleasant Hill is the home of College Park High School, Diablo Valley College, the Pleasant Hill Library of the Contra Costa County Library system, and the Pleasant Hill Recreation & Park District.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Pleasant Hill.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pleasant Hill | #300 | C+ | D− | D | B | A |
| Reliez Valley | #92 | B+ | D− | — | B+ | A+ |
| Concord | #377 | C | D | D | B | B+ |
| Walnut Creek | #223 | B− | D− | C− | B+ | A+ |
| Pacheco | #42 | A− | B+ | — | B | B |
| Martinez | #166 | B− | D | C+ | B | A |
| Contra Costa Centre | #118 | B | D− | — | B+ | A+ |
Reliez Valley, Pacheco and Contra Costa Centre report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Pleasant Hill with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Pleasant Hill grades C+ overall, better than 38% of U.S. towns and #300 of 841 in California. It grades A for health, D for safety and B for schools. Cost of living 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−.
5 notable people were born here, including Adin Brown and Cynthia Olavarri.
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