Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
With 45,779 residents, this town was settled in 2000.
The everyday basics are strong; the price of a home is the catch. It does especially well on health (A) — it is healthier than 89% of U.S. towns. At A− overall, Rancho Santa Margarita is better than 82% of U.S. towns and ranks 36th of 841 in California. Incomes are another plus: the median household earns $153K. What counts against it is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $1.0 million, 10.5 years of the Los Angeles metro’s $96K median household income. Hazard risk is weaker too: FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 84% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. 30% of the land here is conserved, above both the California town median (4.2%) and the median of U.S. towns (4.3%). Only 8 of California’s 426 towns score higher on safety.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · home values, Zillow · FEMA National Risk Index · FBI crime data, 2025 · USGS PAD-US.
Where Rancho Santa Margarita beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
| Widest gap | Rancho Santa Margarita | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5.6% | 10.6% |
30.1% of the town is conserved land, across 16 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Rancho Santa Margarita is from typical.
Its grades run from A for jobs and income (better than 90% of comparable towns) to D− for cost of living (better than 2%), so the A− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 11,390 in 1990, 47,949 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2004 and 3 maps from 1954 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Rancho Santa Margarita. Close and well known come first.
Big draw22 mi Theme parkDisneyland17.3M visitors a year
Big draw27 mi Theme parkKnott's Berry Farm4.5M visitors a year
Big draw40 mi MuseumUSS Iowa
Big draw20 mi Stadium & arenaAngel Stadium of Anaheim
Big draw22 mi Theme parkDisney California Adventure10.1M visitors a year
20 mi Stadium & arenaHonda CenterDisneyland: HarshLight from San Jose, CA, USA, CC BY 2.0 · Knott's Berry Farm: Phydend at English Wikipedia, Public domain · USS Iowa: PH1 Jeff Hilton, Public domain · Angel Stadium of Anaheim: Staff Sgt. Chad McMeen, Public domain · Disney California Adventure: CrispyCream27, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Honda Center: Arnold C (Buchanan-Hermit), Attribution
Who provides power, water and the rest in Rancho Santa Margarita, 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 Rancho Santa Margarita.
Rancho Santa Margarita fares better on crime within California than nationally, keeps more of its land conserved than most of California and has milder winter nights than nearly all U.S. towns.
Its 2,480 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 92% of California towns. Its A+ for the outdoors ranks #23 of 847 in California.
42 miles of trail in 16 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Cleveland National Forest, at 63 acres. Rancho Santa Margarita’s trail density comes in at 3.2 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Cleveland National Forest | 0.7 mi | 63 |
| 2. Trabuco Mesa Park | 0.5 mi | 12 |
| 3. Arroyo Vista Park | 0.5 mi | 9 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its A for schools comes with a D− for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $1M.
Public schools: the Saddleback Valley Unified school district. Below: Two of its 15 schools, each with why it was picked. 6 public schools serve Rancho Santa Margarita, with 3,386 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rancho Santa Margarita IntermediateLargest public middle schoolGrades 7–8 | Grades 7–8 | 1,153 | – |
| Ocean View NPS PrivateLargest high schoolGrades 6–12 | Grades 6–12 | 40 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with California is no health insurance: 5.6% of those 18–64 have no health insurance, against 10.6% statewide. Against the 2,569 U.S. towns with household incomes like Rancho Santa Margarita’s, it is less healthy than 53%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
Just over a third of Rancho Santa Margarita adults sleep under 7 hours. In Rancho Santa Margarita, just over a quarter of adults have high blood pressure, and 11% report frequent physical distress.
| Rancho Santa Margarita | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 29% | 35% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 31% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 14% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 8.6% | 11% | 14% |
| What stands out | Rancho Santa Margarita | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5.6% | 10.6% |
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 5.8% | 10.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 7.9 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 99% of California’s graded towns. Reported crimes rose from 222 to 257 over the last three FBI years, a rise beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
In Rancho Santa Margarita, the property offense rate is 4.5 per 1,000 residents. The town’s level of violent crime stands at 1.1 per 1,000 residents.
| Rancho Santa Margarita | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.5 per 1,000 residents | 13.4 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.1 per 1,000 residents | 2.9 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Federal aid has come to Rancho Santa Margarita households in 4 declared disasters; the latest was in 2017. FEMA puts 51% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 25% to earthquakes. Flood insurance has paid one claim locally since 2010.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
25.4% of workers work from home, against 17.2% across California.
For most workers, Rancho Santa Margarita is a place to come home to: only 7% work in town. Among workers here, 25% do their job from home. Jobs based locally fell to 13,478 in 2023, 716 fewer than in 2013. The top destinations are Irvine (16%), Mission Viejo (6%) and Los Angeles (5%).
| Rancho Santa Margarita | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $153,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 25% | 14% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 5.7% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 10.5 years of the Los Angeles metro’s $96K median household income, the typical home (about $1M) costs more against local pay than in 79% of California towns; that ratio is one input to that grade. Home values rose 30% in five years, to about $1M, against 13% across California.
The typical home value in Rancho Santa Margarita is about $1,004,000, about the same as a year ago, 32% above the California typical home. In Rancho Santa Margarita, the median rent is $2,625 a month. On the market locally: a median 41 days to sell.
| Rancho Santa Margarita | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,625 a month | $1,895 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 73% | 64% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
January nights average 46.9°, milder than in 97% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 85.7°.
The January low here is 47°F. It almost never snows.
| Rancho Santa Margarita | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 47°F | 40°F | 22°F |
| July high | 86°F | 89°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
9 within 15 miles of the center of Rancho Santa Margarita
About 7 of every 100 Rancho Santa Margarita residents are enrolled in college, about the same as California.
Where Rancho Santa Margarita’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
4 notable people were born in Rancho Santa Margarita.
City in California, United States
Rancho Santa Margarita (RAN-choh SAN-tuh mar-guh-REE-tuh) is a city in Orange County, California, United States. One of Orange County's youngest cities, Rancho Santa Margarita is a master-planned community. The population was 47,949 at the 2020 census, up from 47,853 at the 2010 census. Although it is named for Rancho Santa Margarita y Las Flores, which was in San Diego County, the city limits fall within the borders of Rancho Mission Viejo. At 20 characters long (22 including spaces), it is the longest city name in California.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Rancho Santa Margarita.
At #36 in CA, it grades higher overall than all 3 graded towns on its borders; Coto de Caza (B+) comes closest.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rancho Santa Margarita | #36 | A− | D− | A− | A | A |
| Coto de Caza | #75 | B+ | D− | — | A | A+ |
| Mission Viejo | #87 | B+ | D− | B | A | A |
| Las Flores | #97 | B+ | D− | — | A | A |
| Trabuco Canyon | — | — | D | — | A− | A− |
Trabuco Canyon has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Coto de Caza, Las Flores and Trabuco Canyon report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Rancho Santa Margarita with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Rancho Santa Margarita grades A− overall, better than 82% of U.S. towns and #36 of 841 in California. It grades A for health, A− for safety and A 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−.
4 notable people were born here, including Joshua Fuentes and Justin Dhillon.
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