Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. San Juan Capistrano grades B overall, 121st of 841 graded towns in California. Its schools outperform 88% of the state's and the median household earns $129K. What holds it back is price: homes are expensive, about $1.3 million for a typical one and 14 times the Los Angeles metro’s $96K median household income. San Juan Capistrano’s midpoint home value is $1,340,000, above both the California town median ($709,000) and the median of U.S. towns ($332,000). San Juan Capistrano is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 90% of U.S. towns. San Juan Capistrano has 13 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Mission San Juan Capistrano and Los Rios Street Historic District.
Where San Juan Capistrano beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Census counts: 376 in 1880, 35,196 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1776 and 3 maps from 1948 on.
13 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far San Juan Capistrano is from typical.
Its grades run from A for walkability (better than 90% of comparable towns) to D− for cost of living (better than 2%), so the B overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around San Juan Capistrano. Close and well known come first.
Big draw26 mi Theme parkDisneyland17.3M visitors a year
Big draw40 mi MuseumUSS Iowa
Big draw31 mi Theme parkKnott's Berry Farm4.5M visitors a year
Big draw25 mi Stadium & arenaAngel Stadium of Anaheim
Big draw26 mi Theme parkDisney California Adventure10.1M visitors a year
25 mi Stadium & arenaHonda CenterDisneyland: HarshLight from San Jose, CA, USA, CC BY 2.0 · USS Iowa: PH1 Jeff Hilton, Public domain · Knott's Berry Farm: Phydend at English Wikipedia, 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 San Juan Capistrano, 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 San Juan Capistrano.
San Juan Capistrano fares better on crime within California than nationally and has milder winter nights than nearly all U.S. towns, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of California.
78 miles of trail wind through 21 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Historic SJC Mission City Park | 0.5 mi | 12 |
| 2. San Juan Creek Neighborhood Park | 0.4 mi | 3 |
| 3. Los Rios Park | 0.3 mi | 5 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
That grade comes with a D− for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $1.34M.
The Capistrano Unified school district runs its public schools. Two of its 22 schools are shown below, with the reason for each. The 6 public schools in San Juan Capistrano teach 1,940 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marco Forster MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 930 | C− |
| San Juan Hills HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,641 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
At 14 years of the Los Angeles metro’s $96K median household income, the typical home (about $1.34M) costs more against local pay than in 90% of California towns; that ratio is one input to that grade. Home values rose 41% in five years, to about $1.34M, against 13% across California.
Values rose 4.2% in the 12 months to September 2026. San Juan Capistrano’s midpoint rent comes in at $2,438 a month. 81% of households live in a home they own in the town.
| San Juan Capistrano | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,438 a month | $1,895 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 81% | 64% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Nearly three quarters of San Juan Capistrano’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by earthquakes at 17%. Storm and flood damage is expected to run higher than in 95% of U.S. communities. Households in the town have drawn federal disaster aid in 6 declared disasters, most recently in 2017.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
All 6 graded neighbors score healthier than its A−, from Mission Viejo (A) to Rancho Mission Viejo (A+). Against the 4,606 U.S. towns with household incomes like San Juan Capistrano’s, it is less healthy than 64%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
Two figures for adults in San Juan Capistrano: 8.7% smoke cigarettes, 75% had a checkup this year. This California town does better than the California average on 13 of 32 CDC measures and worse on 2. For adults in the town, the share who have obesity is 26%.
| San Juan Capistrano | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 29% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 8.7% | 11% | 14% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 75% | 72% | 79% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 35% | 36% |
| What stands out | San Juan Capistrano | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 13.2% | 17.9% |
| Fewer adults without reliable transportation | 7.1% | 9.3% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.3% | 6.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
January nights average 47.7°, milder than in 98% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 79.4°.
The town’s January low stands at 48°F. Snow is a rarity.
| San Juan Capistrano | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 79°F | 89°F | 85°F |
| January low | 48°F | 40°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
San Juan Capistrano has about as many jobs (15,398) as working residents, but only 1,380 people both live and work here. Jobs based here grew from 11,497 in 2013 to 15,398.
Since 2013, San Juan Capistrano has added 3,901 jobs, to 15,398 in 2023. In San Juan Capistrano, 17% of workers work remotely from home. The top destinations are Irvine (10%), San Clemente (6%) and Los Angeles (6%).
| San Juan Capistrano | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $129,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 17% | 14% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 10% | 6.6% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 8.3% | 10% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Among residents in San Juan Capistrano, 22% are 65 or older. College graduates make up 43% of adults 25 and older, against 37% across California. In San Juan Capistrano, the median age is 46.2 years.
| San Juan Capistrano | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 46.2 years | 39 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 43% | 29% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 22% | 16% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 21% | 22% | 22% |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2 points. Across California, 50.1% of residents are women.
| San Juan Capistrano | CA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.5% | 11.4% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.5% | 10.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 8.2% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 10.2% | 14.8% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 9.7% | 13.9% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.9% | 12.5% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.4% | 12.1% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.8% | 9.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.7% | 6.5% | 7% |
| No diploma | 10.3% | 15.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 16% | 20.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 19.5% | 19.3% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.8% | 7.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 26.7% | 22.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 16.7% | 14.4% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
At 17.2 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 82% of California’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 473 to 310 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
In San Juan Capistrano, the property crime rate is 7.1 per 1,000 residents. The town’s violent crime rate is 1.7 per 1,000 residents.
| San Juan Capistrano | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 7.1 per 1,000 residents | 13.4 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.7 per 1,000 residents | 2.9 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
7 within 15 miles of the center of San Juan Capistrano
About 7 of every 100 San Juan Capistrano residents are enrolled in college, about the same as California.
12.6% of the town is conserved land, across 21 parks and preserves.
13 places in San Juan Capistrano on the National Register of Historic Places.
5 notable people were born in San Juan Capistrano.
City in California, United States
San Juan Capistrano (san hwaan cap-ih-STRAH-noh; also known colloquially as San Juan or SJC) is a city in southern Orange County, California, United States. The population was 35,253 at the 2020 Census. Named for Saint John of Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano was founded by the Spanish in 1776, when Father Junípero Serra established Mission San Juan Capistrano. Extensive damage caused by an earthquake in 1812 caused the community to decline. Following the Mexican secularization act of 1833, the mission village officially became a town and was briefly renamed as San Juan de Argüello. After the American conquest of California, San Juan remained a small, rural town until the 20th century; the r…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with San Juan Capistrano.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Juan Capistrano | #121 | B | D− | B− | A | A− |
| Laguna Niguel | #69 | B+ | D− | B+ | A | A |
| San Clemente | #119 | B | D− | B− | A | A |
| Dana Point | #73 | B+ | D− | B | A | A |
| Rancho Mission Viejo | #122 | B | D− | — | A | A+ |
| Ladera Ranch | #60 | A− | D− | — | A | A+ |
| Mission Viejo | #87 | B+ | D− | B | A | A |
Rancho Mission Viejo and Ladera Ranch report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare San Juan Capistrano with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. San Juan Capistrano grades B overall, better than 65% of U.S. towns and #121 of 841 in California. It grades A− for health, B− 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−.
5 notable people were born here, including Austin Hedges and Steve Kramer.
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