Is San Diego Country Estates a good place to live?
Real strengths, and real weak spots. Hazard risk is its weak spot: FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 100% of U.S. communities, with wildfire at the top. With a C overall, San Diego Country Estates is better than just over a third of U.S. towns and ranks 341st of 841 in California. Its best grade is for health — residents are healthier than 87% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. At about $810K, a typical home costs 7.6 years of the San Diego metro’s $106K median household income. Cleveland National Forest, at 2,600 acres with 2.5 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. San Diego Country Estates’ median rent is $2,851 a month, where California’s towns sit at $1,895 a month and U.S. towns at $1,185 a month. On walkability, just 82 of California’s 1,063 towns do worse.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · FEMA National Risk Index · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · OpenStreetMap.
How San Diego Country Estates grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far San Diego Country Estates is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
What makes San Diego Country Estates stand out
Where San Diego Country Estates beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
96% of working residents leave San Diego Country Estates for work
Where San Diego Country Estates’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
The data
Ordered by what stands out in San Diego Country Estates.
San Diego Country Estates has less no health insurance than most of California and sends most of its workers to San Diego and beyond.
San Diego Country Estates stands out in California and nationally, with the FEMA risk score higher than most
Expected losses in San Diego Country Estates break down as 74% from wildfires and 23% from inland flooding. Paid flood insurance claims locally since 2005: 5.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
San Diego Country Estates’ public schools outperform 64% of California districts
The Ramona City Unified school district runs its public schools. One of its 2 schools is below, with the reason it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| James Dukes ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–6 | Grades K–6 | 502 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
San Diego Country Estates’ grade for health is an A
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 3,092 U.S. towns with household incomes like San Diego Country Estates’s, it is less healthy than 51%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
One in ten adults smoke cigarettes in San Diego Country Estates. The town beats the California average on 12 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 4. Two figures for adults in the town: 17% get no exercise outside work, 8.9% have diabetes.
| San Diego Country Estates | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 29% | 35% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 24% | 25% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 8.9% | 12% | 12% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 16% | 16% |
| What stands out | San Diego Country Estates | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5.6% | 10.6% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 10% | 17.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9% | 6.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Nearly a quarter of San Diego Country Estates is conserved land
Across 2 parks and preserves: 18 miles of trail. San Diego Country Estates’ density of trails stands at 1.1 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Cleveland National Forest | 2.5 mi | 2,600 |
| 2. Ramona Oaks Park | — | 8 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Compared with most of California and the rest of the country, fewer of San Diego Country Estates’ residents live below the poverty line
San Diego Country Estates has 625 jobs for its 4,622 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. The average commute takes 38.6 minutes, against 28.7 across California.
The top destinations are San Diego (37%), Ramona (8%) and Poway (6%). The median household income in San Diego Country Estates is $145,000. Most working residents leave San Diego Country Estates for work: only 4% work in town. In San Diego Country Estates, 18% of workers do their job from home.
| San Diego Country Estates | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 39 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $145,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 2.6% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 18% | 14% | 11% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Fewer young adults than California overall
For San Diego Country Estates, the median age is 44 years. Adults 18 to 34 are 15% of residents (24% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 44% of residents (39% statewide). Here, a third of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree, against 37% in California as a whole.
| San Diego Country Estates | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 44 years | 39 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 24% | 22% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 33% | 29% | 29% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.6 points. Across California, 50.1% of residents are women. Among residents 18 to 24, 77% are men (CA 51%).
| San Diego Country Estates | CA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.3% | 11.4% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 13.3% | 10.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 5.7% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 9.4% | 14.8% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.6% | 13.9% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 16.1% | 12.5% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.7% | 12.1% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9.8% | 9.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.1% | 6.5% | 7% |
| No diploma | 8.5% | 15.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 17.1% | 20.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 25.3% | 19.3% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 15.8% | 7.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 24.8% | 22.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 8.5% | 14.4% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Mild winters and hot summers: that is San Diego Country Estates’ year
July afternoons reach 93°, January nights drop to 38° and snow is almost unheard of.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
A home in San Diego Country Estates sells for about $801K at the median
For households in San Diego Country Estates, the share who own their home is 91%. Homes sold in San Diego Country Estates spent a median 31 days on the market. 29% of the homes sold in San Diego Country Estates went for more than their asking price.
| San Diego Country Estates | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,851 a month | $1,895 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 91% | 64% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about San Diego Country Estates
Mexico–United States border wall and 67 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around San Diego Country Estates. Close and well known come first.
Big draw38 mi LandmarkMexico–United States border wall
Big draw25 mi Stadium & arenaSnapdragon Stadium
30 mi Stadium & arenaPetco Park
28 mi Zoo & aquariumSan Diego Zoo4.0M visitors a year
28 mi Park & preserveBalboa Park
14 mi Zoo & aquariumSan Diego Zoo Safari ParkPhoto credits
Mexico–United States border wall: Földhegy, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Snapdragon Stadium: Terrible Tim, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Petco Park: Mds08011, CC BY 4.0 · San Diego Zoo: en:User:Cburnett, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Balboa Park: Antoine Taveneaux, CC BY-SA 3.0 · San Diego Zoo Safari Park: Flickr user: Olivier Bruchez https://www.flickr.com/photos/bruchez/, CC BY-SA 2.0
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Moving to San Diego Country Estates: who provides what
San Diego Country Estates is unincorporated, so San Diego 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.
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of San Diego Country Estates; the nearest are
About 5 of every 100 San Diego Country Estates residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across California.
About San Diego Country Estates
Census-designated place in California, United States
San Diego Country Estates, commonly referred to as The Estates, is a valley resort populace composed of several neighborhoods associated with the unincorporated community of Ramona, California. The Estates is a census-designated place in North County, a region of San Diego County. The Estates is just east of the North County city of Poway and southeast of Ramona; 38 miles (61 km) northeast of San Diego and 46 miles (74 km) from the regional center of Carlsbad. San Diego Country Estates had a population of 10,395 at the 2020 census, up from 10,109 at the 2010 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 17 sq mi
- Elevation
- 1,516 ft
- Area code
- 760
San Diego Country Estates’s neighbors
One town shares a border with San Diego Country Estates.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego Country Estates | #341 | C | D− | — | B | A |
| Ramona | #364 | C | D | — | B | B− |
San Diego Country Estates and Ramona report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare San Diego Country Estates with a neighbor →
Questions about San Diego Country Estates
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is San Diego Country Estates, CA a good place to live?
San Diego Country Estates grades C overall, better than 34% of U.S. towns and #341 of 841 in California. It grades A for health and B for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D−.
Is San Diego Country Estates, CA expensive?
Yes. The typical home is worth about $810,000, 6% 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−.
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