Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Salinas earns a D, ranked 695th of 841 in California, mostly because of safety. It reports more crime per resident than 79% of U.S. towns, including 820 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. One bright spot: it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 79% of U.S. towns. 39% of working residents work locally in Salinas, above both California’s towns (6.6%) and U.S. towns (8%). Salinas's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 96% of U.S. towns. Salinas is home to Hartnell College.
Where Salinas beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
John Steinbeck
Census counts: 599 in 1870, 163,542 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1897 and 5 maps from 1910 on.
9 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Salinas is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Salinas. Close and well known come first.
16 mi Zoo & aquariumMonterey Bay Aquarium
16 mi MuseumMonterey Museum of Art
24 mi National ParkPinnacles National Park343K visitors a year
in town MuseumNational Steinbeck Center
12 mi MuseumMission San Juan Bautista
20 mi Scenic drive17-Mile DriveMonterey Bay Aquarium: Meij.kobayashi, Public domain · Monterey Museum of Art: Sgerbic, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Pinnacles National Park: Brocken Inaglory, CC BY-SA 3.0 · National Steinbeck Center: LordHarris at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Mission San Juan Bautista: MARELBU, CC BY 3.0 · 17-Mile Drive: Humanoid one, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Salinas, 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 Salinas.
Salinas fares better on crime within California than nationally and has a longer frost-free season than nearly all U.S. towns, but it trails even towns with similar incomes on health.
Nearly two thirds of Salinas’s expected losses from natural hazards come from earthquakes, followed by inland flooding at 30%. Expected damage from storms and floods is higher here than in 91% of U.S. communities. The national flood insurance program has paid 22 claims locally since 1982.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Two of its 54 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. 6 public schools serve Salinas, with 4,487 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harden MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 7–8 | Grades 7–8 | 1,101 | – |
| Alisal HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,742 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
At 35.2 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 64% of California’s graded towns. Reported crimes rose from 2,851 to 3,156 over the last three FBI years, a rise beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The rate of reported violence for Salinas comes to 5.1 per 1,000 residents. The level of property crime for Salinas comes to 14.6 per 1,000 residents.
| Salinas | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5.1 per 1,000 residents | 2.9 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 14.6 per 1,000 residents | 13.3 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
19 miles of trail in 33 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Nativiad Creek Park, at 34 acres. Salinas’ trail density stands at 0.8 miles per square mile.
| Salinas | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.8 miles per square mile | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.7% | 4.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. El Dorado Community Park | 1.1 mi | 17 |
| 2. Sherwood Park | 0.8 mi | 27 |
| 3. Montebella Park | 0.7 mi | 18 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The Salinas #2 weather station records that the frost-free season runs about 311 days, longer than in 96% of U.S. towns. January nights average 40.8°, milder than in 95% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 72.2°.
Salinas’ typical July afternoon high comes in at 72°F. Snow is almost unheard of.
| Salinas | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 72°F | 89°F | 85°F |
| January low | 41°F | 40°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Against the 9,733 U.S. towns with household incomes like Salinas’s, it is less healthy than 82%, so it trails even them.
The share of adults in Salinas who report frequent mental distress: 18%. CDC measures, 32 in all: Salinas beats California on 2 and trails on 13. In Salinas, just over two thirds of adults had a checkup this year, and 30% say their health is fair or poor.
| Salinas | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 9% | 8.1% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 16% | 14% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 68% | 72% | 79% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 22% | 19% |
| What stands out | Salinas | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 4.4% | 6.4% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 17.8% | 20.8% |
| More uninsured adults | 22.4% | 10.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Employers in Salinas added 9,192 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 52,056. Among workers in the town, 4.3% work remotely from home. Half of commuters travel less than 11 miles. The top destinations are Monterey (5%), San Jose (4%) and Soledad (2%).
| Salinas | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 4.3% | 14% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 14% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $92,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
For households in Salinas, the share who live in a home they own is 47%. Typical home values rose 1.7% in the year to September 2026. In Salinas, the rent at the middle of the market is $1,991 a month.
| Salinas | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 47% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,991 a month | $1,895 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 54% | 55% | 48% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
3 within 15 miles of the center of Salinas
About 6 of every 100 Salinas residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across California.
9 places in Salinas on the National Register of Historic Places.
50 notable people were born in Salinas.
City in California, United States
Salinas (; Spanish for "Salt Flats") is a city in and the county seat of Monterey County, California, United States. With a population of 163,542 in the 2020 Census, Salinas is the most populous city in Monterey County. Salinas is an urban area located along the eastern limits of the Monterey Bay Area, lying just south of the San Francisco Bay Area and 10 miles (16 km) southeast of the mouth of the Salinas River. The city is located at the mouth of the Salinas Valley, about eight miles (13 km) from the Pacific Ocean, and it has a climate more influenced by the ocean than the interior. Salinas serves as the main business, governmental, and industrial center of the region. The marine climate …
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Salinas.
Boronda has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Boronda reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Salinas with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Salinas grades D overall, better than 5% of U.S. towns and #695 of 841 in California. It grades C+ for health, C− for safety and C for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. That is 7.7 years of the area's median household income ($97,230 across the Salinas, CA metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
50 notable people were born here, including John Steinbeck and Vanessa Hudgens.
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