Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Santa Ana earns a D, ranked 599th of 841 in California, mostly because of safety. Its crime rate is higher than 79% of U.S. towns, with 1,054 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. One bright spot: it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 92% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include Orange County Courthouse and Howe-Waffle House and Carriage House. Santa Ana's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 99% of U.S. towns. Santa Ana is home to Santa Ana College.
Where Santa Ana beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Howe-Waffle House and Carriage House
Its 23 National Register listings are more than in 96% of California towns with a listing.
Census counts: 711 in 1880, 310,227 in 2020. The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 1879 and 8 maps from 1896 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Santa Ana is from typical.
Its grades run from A for walkability (better than 92% of comparable towns) to D− for cost of living (better than 5%), so the D overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Santa Ana. Close and well known come first.
Big draw5 mi Theme parkDisneyland17.3M visitors a year
Big draw30 mi Stadium & arenaSoFi Stadium
Big draw10 mi Theme parkKnott's Berry Farm4.5M visitors a year
Big draw37 mi LandmarkHollywood Walk of Fame10.0M visitors a year
Big draw4 mi Stadium & arenaAngel Stadium of Anaheim
Big draw23 mi MuseumUSS IowaDisneyland: HarshLight from San Jose, CA, USA, CC BY 2.0 · SoFi Stadium: Thank You (21 Millions+) views, CC BY 2.0 · Knott's Berry Farm: Phydend at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Hollywood Walk of Fame: BenSherman, Public domain · Angel Stadium of Anaheim: Staff Sgt. Chad McMeen, Public domain · USS Iowa: PH1 Jeff Hilton, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Santa Ana, 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 Santa Ana.
Santa Ana has milder winter nights than nearly all U.S. towns and trades workers with Irvine and other neighbors, but it reports more crime than Tustin and its other graded neighbors.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 87% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 184 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Santa Ana.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Each of its 6 graded neighbors has a higher School Grade than its C+, Irvine highest at A.
Its public schools are run by the Santa Ana Unified school district. Three of its 88 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gonzalo Felicitas Mendez Fundamental IntermediateLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,234 | – |
| Santa Ana HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,505 | C− |
| OcsaTop results in townGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 2,346 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
Each of the 5 graded towns on its borders reports less crime per resident, from Tustin (C) to Irvine (B−). At 35 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 64% of California’s graded towns.
Santa Ana’s violent crime rate is 3.3 per 1,000 residents, where California’s towns sit at 2.9 and U.S. towns at 1.6. Santa Ana reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 79% report less.
| Santa Ana | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.3 per 1,000 residents | 2.9 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 13 per 1,000 residents | 13.4 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
January nights average 47.1°, milder than in 98% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 82.5°.
Santa Ana has warm winters and pleasant summers, with very little rain. Santa Ana’s January low is 47°F, above both California’s towns (40°F) and U.S. towns (22°F). Santa Ana’s July high is 83°F.
| Santa Ana | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 47°F | 40°F | 22°F |
| July high | 83°F | 89°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
16 miles of trail in 37 parks and preserves. Centennial Park, at 84 acres with 2.6 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Santa Ana | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.6 miles per square mile | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.7% | 4.3% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Centennial Park | 2.6 mi | 84 |
| 2. Carl Thornton Park | 1.4 mi | 35 |
| 3. Santiago Park | 1.3 mi | 33 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
All 6 graded neighbors score healthier than its C+, from Garden Grove (B−) to Irvine (A+). Against the 9,430 U.S. towns with household incomes like Santa Ana’s, it is less healthy than 83%, so it trails even them.
Santa Ana beats the California average on 4 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 16. 21% of Santa Ana adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance.
| Santa Ana | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 9% | 8.1% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 16% | 14% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 68% | 72% | 79% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 22% | 19% |
| What stands out | Santa Ana | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 4.1% | 6.4% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 15.9% | 20.8% |
| More uninsured adults | 20.7% | 10.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Santa Ana has about as many jobs (148,634) as working residents, but only 22,327 people both live and work here.
Most working residents leave Santa Ana for work: only 18% work in town. The average trip to work in Santa Ana is 25 minutes. The top destinations are Irvine (12%), Anaheim (7%) and Orange (5%).
| Santa Ana | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 18% | 6.6% | 8% |
| Work from home | 9.3% | 14% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 25 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $94,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its typical home is the least expensive on its borders; Garden Grove is next at $1M. Home values rose 30% in five years, to about $859K, against 13% across California.
The typical Santa Ana home is worth about $859,000, up 3.7% in a year, 13% above the California typical home. 45% of households own their home in Santa Ana.
| Santa Ana | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 45% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $2,082 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
37 within 15 miles of the center of Santa Ana
About 8 of every 100 Santa Ana residents are enrolled in college, about the same as California.
3 colleges in town.
23 places in Santa Ana on the National Register of Historic Places.
44 notable people were born in Santa Ana.
City in California, United States
Santa Ana (Spanish for 'Saint Anne') is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, California, United States. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census. As of 2023, Santa Ana is the third most populous city in Orange County (after Anaheim and Irvine), the 14th-most populous city in California, and the 65th most populous city in the United States. Santa Ana is a major regional economic and cultural hub for the Orange Coast. In 1810, the Spanish governor of California granted Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana to José Antonio Yorba. Following the Mexican War of Independence, the Yorba family rancho was enlarged, becom…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Santa Ana.
All 6 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its D; Garden Grove (C) is closest.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Ana | #599 | D | D− | C− | C+ | C+ |
| Tustin | #255 | C+ | D− | C | A− | A− |
| Orange | #235 | B− | D− | C+ | B+ | A− |
| Garden Grove | #358 | C | D− | C+ | A− | B− |
| Fountain Valley | #226 | B− | D− | C+ | A− | A− |
| Costa Mesa | #125 | B | D− | — | A− | A− |
| Irvine | #74 | B+ | D− | B− | A | A+ |
Costa Mesa reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Santa Ana with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Santa Ana grades D overall, better than 11% of U.S. towns and #599 of 841 in California. It grades C+ for health, C− for safety and C+ 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−.
44 notable people were born here, including Michelle Pfeiffer and Michael B. Jordan.
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