Sacramento, the state capital · Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0How California stacks up
California struggles most with a renters’ market (56% of homes owner-occupied) and high costs. No state scores lower overall; California grades D−. Only one state expects more yearly damage from natural hazards, by FEMA’s count: in California, $306 a year for every $100,000 of buildings.
Each subject puts the official state figure beside a measure built from our town grades. How this works
Safety
45th of 51D12/100 Higher crime than most states. Top-quarter towns are rare here; Imperial comes closest at #219. The FBI’s 2025 estimate puts violent crime at 435 per 100,000 residents, the 9th highest rate of the 50 states and D.C.
With property crime counted (property + 4 × violent), it places 10th highest.
Source: FBI Crime Data Explorer, state estimate 2025.
Measure: reported crime per resident over the engine’s three crime years (property + 4 × violent), as in our Safety grades. 350 California towns of 10,000+ against 3,410 nationally. Covers 88% of residents of California’s 10,000+ towns.
The big places weigh on the total
Property crime, not violence, explains Palo Alto and Piedmont: both report less violent crime than the typical U.S. town. Rancho Santa Margarita leads its towns at #380 of 3,410 nationally, with Danville and Saratoga close behind. Los Angeles, San Jose and San Francisco sit at the high-crime end of the national ranking.
| State | Safest quarter | Most-crime quarter | Split |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Hampshire | 42% | 0% | |
| Rhode Island | 37% | 0% | |
| New Jersey | 35% | 20% | |
| Pennsylvania | 29% | 37% | |
| Maine | 29% | 15% | |
| California | 2% | 51% |
Towns policed by others
Our town measure uses the crime each local police department reports to the FBI; towns without enough of the last three years are left out. In California, 88% of residents of 10,000+ towns are covered. Rancho Cucamonga, Victorville, Costa Mesa and 16 more are missing too many years to count. In East Los Angeles, Arden-Arcade, Carmichael and 125 other places, county or state police answer the calls, so there is no town figure. Next door, coverage runs from 60% in Nevada to 90% in Arizona.
Schools
21st of 51B60/100 Somewhat above-average schools. It spends $21,206 per pupil (13th) and scores 35th, less than the spending would buy elsewhere. 29% of students test Proficient on the Nation’s Report Card (17th lowest) and 86% graduate on time (25th lowest). It leads its neighbors on schools, ahead of Oregon.
Graduation: 86.2% finish high school on time (class of 2023), 25th lowest. The grade weighs test results and graduation equally.
Per-pupil spending, $21,206 (13th highest), is shown for context and not graded.
Source: NCES, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2024, public schools; EDFacts graduation rates; Census school finance.
Measure: graduation rate and test results, averaged; each district’s state-test proficiency is put on the NAEP yardstick (its result ÷ the state average × the state’s NAEP proficiency) so districts compare across states. 497 California towns of 10,000+ against 5,230 nationally.
Cost of living
49th of 51D−4/100 Cost is the price of living here. Compared with $3,119 nationally, the typical tax bill here is $5,124. Fewer than one resident in 100 lives in a town in the national top quarter, led by Blythe. It trails all of its neighbors on affordability.
Against income, home values rank 2nd highest: 7.4 times the median household’s.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: our cost-of-living score: home value, rent and tax bill against area income, plus the share paying 30%+ for housing. 497 California towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Health
35th of 51C32/100 Slightly worse health than average. CDC estimates put 22% of adults in fair or poor health, the 10th highest share among the states. Manhattan Beach leads its towns at #36 nationally; 18% of residents live in top-quarter towns.
Source: CDC PLACES 2025 release (BRFSS model estimates).
Measure: our health score: seven CDC PLACES measures (general, physical and mental health, obesity, diabetes, smoking, inactivity). 497 California towns of 10,000+ against 5,218 nationally.
Housing
49th of 51D−4/100 Among the lowest ownership in the country. California ranks 3rd lowest for home ownership, at 56% of homes. Its larger places pull the town measure down: Los Angeles and San Diego sit in the national bottom quarter. Oregon, Nevada and Arizona all do better on home ownership.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: share of occupied homes that are owner-occupied. 497 California towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Natural hazards
49th of 51D−4/100 Nature is the big risk here. Fewer than one resident in 100 lives in a town in the national top quarter, led by Lemon Hill. FEMA expects $306 of damage a year for every $100,000 of buildings, about twice the national figure (2nd highest). Every neighbor scores higher, Oregon, Nevada and Arizona among them.
Federal major-disaster declarations since 2015: 20, 6th most.
Behind the figure: inland flooding 49%, earthquake 43%, wildfire 7% of FEMA’s expected losses.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (Dec. 2025): expected annual building loss over building value, all census tracts; FEMA disaster declarations.
Measure: FEMA National Risk Index: expected yearly building loss from 18 natural hazards, as a share of building value. 497 California towns of 10,000+ against 5,239 nationally.
Commute
48th of 51D6/100 Among the longest commutes anywhere. Workers spend 28.7 minutes getting to work, the 6th longest commute among the states. Big places drag it down: Los Angeles and San Francisco rank in the national bottom quarter. Every neighbor scores higher, Oregon, Nevada and Arizona among them.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: average one-way commute of the town’s workers. 497 California towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Growth
30th of 51C+42/100 Slower than the country. Census counts show the population up 6.1% from 2010 to 2020 (25th fastest). Its standout is West Rancho Dominguez, #7 in the country for growth. It trails all of its neighbors on growth.
Builders took out permits for 2.7 homes per 1,000 residents in 2025, 11th fewest.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 and 2020 decennial counts; Census building permits.
Measure: population change between the 2010 and 2020 censuses. 487 California towns of 10,000+ against 5,079 nationally.
How California compares to its neighbors
California beats every neighbor on schools; on cost of living, housing and natural hazards, every neighbor beats it.
| California | Oregon | Nevada | Arizona | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | D− 051st of 51 | D 648th of 51 | D− 449th of 51 | C− 1842nd of 51 |
| Safety | D 1243rd official · 2% in top towns | C 3428th official · 1% in top towns | D 1037th official · 0% in top towns | C 3036th official · 3% in top towns |
| Schools | B 6035th official · 17% in top towns | D 1443rd official · 2% in top towns | D 839th official · 0% in top towns | D 1040th official · 2% in top towns |
| Cost of living | D− 445th official · <1% in top towns | C− 2237th official · <1% in top towns | C+ 4217th official · 2% in top towns | B− 5014th official · 6% in top towns |
| Health | C 3242nd official · 18% in top towns | C 3030th official · 9% in top towns | D 1043rd official · 0% in top towns | B− 5434th official · 24% in top towns |
| Housing | D− 449th official · 4% in top towns | D 843rd official · 4% in top towns | D 648th official · 5% in top towns | B 6225th official · 18% in top towns |
| Natural hazards | D− 450th official · <1% in top towns | C 3041st official · 6% in top towns | B− 4831st official · 10% in top towns | C− 2438th official · 1% in top towns |
| Commute | D 646th official · 3% in top towns | B 6415th official · 31% in top towns | C+ 3824th official · 12% in top towns | C 3427th official · 11% in top towns |
| Growth | C+ 4225th official · 14% in top towns | B+ 6612th official · 28% in top towns | A 945th official · 60% in top towns | B+ 7210th official · 39% in top towns |
Each cell: the subject’s grade and score, the state’s rank on the official figure (1st = the better end), and the share of residents of 10,000+ towns living in a nationally top-quarter town. Neighbor names open their report cards.
How this report card works
Two measures, side by side. The left card is the figure a state agency or federal survey publishes for the whole state, ranked against the other 49 states and D.C. The right card is built from our town grades: of everyone living in the state’s towns and cities of 10,000+, the share whose town falls in the national top quarter of 10,000+ towns. A state can do well on one and not the other; that difference is often the story.
Scores and grades. Each subject’s score (0–100) is the state’s standing among the 50 states and D.C.: the two measures’ percentiles averaged, then ranked again, the same method as our town grades. 100 is the best state, 0 the last. Letters use the town-grade scale (A+ from 95, A from 85, A− from 75 … D below 15). The overall score weighs safety 18, cost of living 18, schools 16, health 14, commute 10, housing 8, natural hazards 8, growth 8 (out of 100). D.C., a single city, is left out of the town measure and graded on official figures alone.
What it is not. A state figure averages everyone, so it cannot show whether a state is evenly good or a mix of very good and struggling places. The town measure shows the mix but leaves out towns under 10,000 and towns missing data. Neither says anything about any one neighborhood.
Schools use the Nation’s Report Card because each state’s own tests are set to different bars. Hazards use FEMA’s expected building damage, the same loss rate behind our town hazard grades. Sources are named under each figure. How grades work