PrunedaleCA
A town of 19,723, settled in 1894.
Is Prunedale a good place to live?
Prunedale earns a D−, 722nd of 841 graded towns in California. One bright spot: it has 34 miles of trail. Prunedale’s July high is 75°F, below both the California town median (89°F) and the median of U.S. towns (85°F). FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 93% of U.S. communities, with earthquakes at the top. The biggest place to walk is Manzanita County Park, 480 acres with 7.5 miles of trail.
What makes Prunedale stand out
Where Prunedale beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
94% of working residents leave Prunedale for work
Where Prunedale’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Prunedale grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Prunedale is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Prunedale: who provides what
Prunedale 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Prunedale.
Prunedale has a longer frost-free season than nearly all U.S. towns, but it trails even towns with similar incomes on health and has lost a quarter or more of its jobs in ten years.
Earthquakes leads a very high hazard risk in Prunedale
Since 1982, 55 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Prunedale.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Prunedale’s schools rank behind 64% of California districts
Its public schools are run by the North Monterey County Unified school district. Two of its 6 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is North Monterey County High, with 1,250 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prunedale ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–6 | Grades K–6 | 644 | – |
| North Monterey County HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,250 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
Most of Prunedale’s workers commute out: the town has 0.4 jobs for each of them
Jobs based here fell from 4,643 in 2013 to 3,577.
Most working residents leave Prunedale for work: only 6% work in town. The average trip to work in Prunedale is 31 minutes. Jobs based in Prunedale fell to 3,577 in 2023, 1,066 fewer than in 2013.
| Prunedale | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 6.3% | 14% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 31 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $104,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 11% | 10% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Manzanita County Park | 7.5 mi | 480 |
| 2. Royal Oaks County Park | — | 126 |
| 3. Kirby Park | — | 4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
In Prunedale, expect mild winters and pleasant summers
The Watsonville Wtr Wks weather station, 10 miles away, records that the frost-free season runs about 324 days, longer than in 96% of U.S. towns. July afternoons average 74.9°, cooler than in 98% of U.S. towns; January nights average 40.1°.
Prunedale has warm winters and cool summers, with very little rain. Prunedale’s January low is 40°F. Snow is almost unheard of.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Health in Prunedale trails 54% of U.S. towns
Against the 8,006 U.S. towns with household incomes like Prunedale’s, it is less healthy than 81%, so it trails even them.
Prunedale beats the California average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 9. 14% of adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance in Prunedale.
| Prunedale | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 9% | 8.1% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 22% | 19% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 16% | 14% |
| What stands out | Prunedale | CA |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 14.3% | 10.6% |
| More adults with COPD | 6.8% | 5.1% |
| More adults with heart disease | 6.9% | 5.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Homes in Prunedale sell for about $945K
77% of Prunedale households own their home.
| Prunedale | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,618 a month | $1,898 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 77% | 64% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Monterey Bay Aquarium and 48 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Prunedale. Close and well known come first.
19 mi Zoo & aquariumMonterey Bay Aquarium
20 mi MuseumMonterey Museum of Art
38 mi Stadium & arenaSAP Center
29 mi National ParkPinnacles National Park343K visitors a year
7 mi MuseumMission San Juan Bautista10 mi Canyon & gorgeMonterey CanyonPhoto credits
Monterey 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
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Everything we know about Prunedale
Colleges nearby
3 within 15 miles of the center of Prunedale
About 6 of every 100 Prunedale residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across California.
About Prunedale
Place in California, United States
Prunedale is an unincorporated community in Monterey County, California, United States. It is located 8 miles (13 km) north of Salinas at an elevation of 92 feet (28 m). The population was 18,885 as of the 2020 census, up from 17,560 in 2010. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Prunedale as a census-designated place (CDP). Plum trees were grown in Prunedale in the early days of its founding, but the trees died soon after due to poor irrigation and fertilizer.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 46 sq mi
- Elevation
- 92 ft
- Area code
- 831
Prunedale’s neighbors
2 towns share a border with Prunedale.
Elkhorn has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Prunedale, Elkhorn and Aromas report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Prunedale with a neighbor →
Questions about Prunedale
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Prunedale, CA a good place to live?
Prunedale grades D− overall, better than 4% of U.S. towns and #722 of 841 in California. It grades B− for health and C+ for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D−.
Is Prunedale, CA expensive?
Yes. The typical home is worth about $833,000, 9% 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.