Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
This city of 50,636 people was settled in 1772.
San Luis Obispo’s grades pull in different directions. The weak point is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $1.1 million, 11.1 years of the San Luis Obispo metro’s $97K median household income. Its overall grade, C+, puts it better than nearly two fifths of U.S. towns. That places it 290th of 841 in California. It lags on safety as well — it reports more crime per resident than 85% of U.S. towns, including 175 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. Where it does best is walkability (A+): it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 98% of U.S. towns. Schools are a strength too: its schools rank ahead of 85% of California towns. Hazard risk is weaker too: FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 85% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top.
Figures: schools, state test and graduation results · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · FBI crime data, 2025 · FEMA National Risk Index.
Where San Luis Obispo beats most towns.
Its founding year, 1772, comes before those of 99% of the California towns we grade with a known year.
Census counts: 2,243 in 1880, 47,063 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1831 and 6 maps from 1897 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 San Luis Obispo is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around San Luis Obispo. Close and well known come first.
in town MuseumMission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa13 mi LandmarkLanding of the first Filipinos
11 mi State parkMontaña de Oro State Park
33 mi MuseumMission San Miguel Arcángel
in town MuseumSan Luis Obispo Railroad Museum14 mi Zoo & aquariumCharles Paddock ZooMission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa: Stephen Lea, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Montaña de Oro State Park: BorisFromStockdale, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Mission San Miguel Arcángel: Jsweida, CC BY-SA 3.0 · San Luis Obispo Railroad Museum: SLOGlen, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in San Luis Obispo, 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 Luis Obispo.
San Luis Obispo is shaped by its college students, draws workers from Atascadero and beyond and has milder winter nights than nearly all U.S. towns.
San Luis Obispo’s concentration of trails stands at 2.8 miles per square mile, against 1.0 in California’s towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns. 38 miles of trail wind through 28 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Irish Hills Open Space, 711 acres with 10.3 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Irish Hills Open Space | 10.3 mi | 711 |
| 2. Laguna Lake Park | 3.6 mi | 401 |
| 3. South Hills Open Space | 3 mi | 127 |
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 $1.08M.
Three of its 14 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. Public schools: the San Luis Coastal Unified school district. The 5 public schools in San Luis Obispo teach 2,212 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laguna MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 7–8 | Grades 7–8 | 780 | A |
| San Luis Obispo HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,678 | A− |
| Teach ElementaryTop results in townGrades 4–6 | Grades 4–6 | 193 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
29,833 jobs are based in San Luis Obispo, 1.7 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 16.1 minutes, against 28.7 across California.
Half of commuters travel less than 5 miles. Among residents in San Luis Obispo, 30% live below the poverty line. The town’s typical journey to work stands at 16 minutes, where California’s towns sit at 28 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes. Its median household income stands at $74,000.
| San Luis Obispo | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 30% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 39% | 6.6% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 16 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 17% | 14% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Reported crimes fell from 1,522 to 1,207 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
In San Luis Obispo, the violent crime rate is 3.5 per 1,000 residents. The town’s property crime rate stands at 20.5 per 1,000 residents.
| San Luis Obispo | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 20.5 per 1,000 residents | 13.3 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.5 per 1,000 residents | 2.9 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
At 11.1 years of the San Luis Obispo metro’s $97K median household income, the typical home (about $1.08M) costs more against local pay than in 82% of California towns; that ratio is one input to that grade. Home values rose 28% in five years, to about $1.08M, against 13% across California.
The going rate for rent for San Luis Obispo comes to $1,965 a month. Zillow values the typical San Luis Obispo home at about $1,081,000, up 2% in a year, 42% above the California typical home. 40% of San Luis Obispo households own their home.
| San Luis Obispo | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 40% | 64% | 73% |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 67% | 55% | 48% |
| Median rent | $1,965 a month | $1,895 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The national flood insurance program has paid 94 claims in San Luis Obispo since 1978. FEMA puts four fifths of the town’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 18% to earthquakes. Federal aid has come to San Luis Obispo households in 6 declared disasters; the latest was in 2023.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The share of adults in San Luis Obispo who report frequent mental distress: 20%. This California town does better than the California average on 7 of 32 CDC measures and worse on 6.
| San Luis Obispo | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 69% | 72% | 79% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 17% | 17% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 8.4% | 12% | 12% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 22% | 23% |
| What stands out | San Luis Obispo | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 7.3% | 10.6% |
| Fewer adults with diabetes | 8.4% | 11.7% |
| More adults with depression | 26.2% | 20.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
January nights average 42.8°, milder than in 96% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 74.4°.
Snowfall is close to zero. Its midsummer high comes in at 74°F.
| San Luis Obispo | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 74°F | 89°F | 85°F |
| January low | 43°F | 40°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
3 within 15 miles of the center of San Luis Obispo
College town 33 of every 100 San Luis Obispo residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across California.
2 colleges in town.
9 places in San Luis Obispo on the National Register of Historic Places.
29 notable people were born in San Luis Obispo.
City in California, United States
San Luis Obispo (Spanish for 'St. Louis the Bishop'; san LOO-iss ə-BISS-poh; Spanish: [san ˈlwis oˈβispo]; Obispeño: tiłhini) is a city in and the county seat of San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfway between the San Francisco Bay Area in the north and Greater Los Angeles in the south. The population was 47,063 at the 2020 census. San Luis Obispo was founded by the Spanish in 1772, when Saint Junípero Serra established Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa. The town grew steadily through the Mexican period before a rapid expansion of San Luis Obispo following the American Conquest of California. San Luis …
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with San Luis Obispo.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Luis Obispo | #290 | C+ | D− | C− | A | B+ |
| California Polytechnic State University | – | C+ | D | — | A | B |
California Polytechnic State University reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare San Luis Obispo with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
San Luis Obispo grades C+ overall, better than 39% of U.S. towns and #290 of 841 in California. It grades B+ for health, C− 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−.
29 notable people were born here, including Zac Efron and Stephanie Brown Trafton.
