Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A city of 228,430, settled in 1950.
For a city of 228,430, Santa Clarita does well: it grades B, 152nd of 841 graded towns in California. Its schools rank ahead of 86% of California towns and residents are healthier than 82% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. The trade-offs: homes are expensive, about $786K for a typical one and 8.2 times the Los Angeles metro’s $96K median household income, and FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 98% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. Santa Clarita’s trail network density is 2.5 miles per square mile, above both the California town median (1.0) and the median of U.S. towns (0.4). Santa Clarita is home to College of the Canyons. Santa Clarita is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 73% of U.S. towns.
Where Santa Clarita beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
176,320 counted in 2010 and 228,673 in 2020; an estimated 228,430 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Santa Clarita is from typical.
Its grades run from A for schools (better than 86% of comparable towns) to D− for cost of living (better than 1%), so the B overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 2,895 in 1950, 228,673 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1912 and 8 maps from 1903 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Santa Clarita. Close and well known come first.
Big draw24 mi LandmarkHollywood Walk of Fame10.0M visitors a year
Big draw34 mi Stadium & arenaSoFi Stadium
Big draw6 mi Theme parkSix Flags Magic Mountain3.3M visitors a year
Big draw30 mi MuseumLucas Museum of Narrative Art
Big draw22 mi LandmarkHollywood Sign
Big draw30 mi Stadium & arenaLos Angeles Memorial ColiseumHollywood Walk of Fame: BenSherman, Public domain · SoFi Stadium: Thank You (21 Millions+) views, CC BY 2.0 · Six Flags Magic Mountain: Alton, CC BY 3.0 · Lucas Museum of Narrative Art: Kriddl, CC0 · Hollywood Sign: Thomas Wolf, www.foto-tw.de, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum: CanonStarGal, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Santa Clarita, 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 Clarita.
Santa Clarita fares better on crime within California than nationally, has milder winter nights than nearly all U.S. towns and owes part of its health edge to its incomes.
In 77 parks and preserves, walkers have 185 miles of trail. Golden Valley Ranch Open Space, at 1,160 acres with 13.2 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Golden Valley Ranch Open Space | 13.2 mi | 1,160 |
| 2. Haskell Canyon Open Space | 8 mi | 657 |
| 3. Gates Family Wildlife Preserve | 7.4 mi | 332 |
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 $786K.
Three of the 59 schools are below, and why each made the list. The 6 public schools in Santa Clarita teach 5,318 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arroyo Seco Junior HighLargest public middle schoolGrades 7–8 | Grades 7–8 | 1,239 | – |
| Saugus HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,317 | – |
| Valencia Valley ElementaryTop results in townGrades K–6 | Grades K–6 | 738 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
Expected losses in Santa Clarita break down as 49% from inland flooding and 42% from earthquakes. Its natural-hazard score from FEMA is 98 of 100, against 88 of 100 in California’s towns and 44 of 100 across U.S. towns. Federal aid has come to Santa Clarita households in 11 declared disasters; the latest was in 2025.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Against the 5,295 U.S. towns with household incomes like Santa Clarita’s, it is healthier than 57%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
For adults in Santa Clarita, the share who have obesity is 25%. Santa Clarita: nearly two in five adults feel lonely.
| Santa Clarita | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 36% | 33% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 29% | 35% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 31% | 35% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 72% | 72% | 79% |
| What stands out | Santa Clarita | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 6.9% | 10.6% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 8% | 10.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The top destinations are Los Angeles (32%), Burbank (6%) and Glendale (2%). Roughly one working resident in five has a job in Santa Clarita itself. Employers in Santa Clarita added 9,474 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 68,488. Its typical journey to work is 34 minutes.
| Santa Clarita | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 34 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 21% | 6.6% | 8% |
| Median household income | $123,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 19% | 14% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
January nights average 42.3°, milder than in 95% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 93°.
In Santa Clarita, the midsummer high is 93°F. Snow almost never falls.
| Santa Clarita | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 93°F | 89°F | 85°F |
| January low | 42°F | 40°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
A quarter of residents are under 18 in Santa Clarita. The age mix tracks California closely: no broad group is more than 4 points off. College graduates make up 40% of adults 25 and older, against 37% across California.
| Santa Clarita | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 40% | 29% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 14% | 16% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 25% | 22% | 22% |
| Median age | 38.4 years | 39.1 years | 40.5 years |
50.6% women, 49.4% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±0.7 points. Across California, 50.1% of residents are women. Median age: women 39.4, men 37.5.
| Santa Clarita | CA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.6% | 11.4% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 12% | 10.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 8.3% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 12.1% | 14.8% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 14.4% | 13.9% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 14.1% | 12.5% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13% | 12.1% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 8.2% | 9.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.3% | 6.5% | 7% |
| No diploma | 8.8% | 15.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 19.2% | 20.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 22.2% | 19.3% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10% | 7.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 26.7% | 22.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 13.1% | 14.4% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
The typical home value in the town is about $786,000, down 0.8% in a year, close to the California typical home. Santa Clarita’s going rate for rent comes in at $2,544 a month. The share of renter households in Santa Clarita who spend 30% or more of their income on rent: 60%.
| Santa Clarita | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,544 a month | $1,895 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 60% | 55% | 48% |
| Households that own their home | 72% | 64% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
At 18.1 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 81% of California’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 3,055 to 2,628 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Its rate of reported violence is 1.7 per 1,000 residents. Santa Clarita’s rate of thefts and burglaries stands at 9.8 per 1,000 residents.
| Santa Clarita | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.7 per 1,000 residents | 2.9 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 9.8 per 1,000 residents | 13.4 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
6 within 15 miles of the center of Santa Clarita
About 8 of every 100 Santa Clarita residents are enrolled in college, about the same as California.
3 colleges in town.
12 notable people were born in Santa Clarita.
City in California, United States
Santa Clarita (; Spanish for "Little St. Clare") is a suburban city in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a 2020 census population of 228,673, it is the third-most populous city in Los Angeles County, the 17th-most populous in California, and the 105th-most populous city in the United States. It is located about 30 miles (48 km) northwest of downtown Los Angeles, and occupies 70.75 square miles (183.2 km2) of land in the Santa Clarita Valley, along the Santa Clara River. It is a classic example of a U.S. edge city, satellite city, or boomburb. Human settlement of the Santa Clarita Valley dates back to the arrival of the Chumash people, who were displaced by the…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Santa Clarita.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Clarita | #152 | B | D− | B− | A | A− |
| Stevenson Ranch | #134 | B | D− | — | A | A |
Stevenson Ranch reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Santa Clarita with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Santa Clarita grades B overall, better than 58% of U.S. towns and #152 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−.
12 notable people were born here, including Harry Carey and Colton Herta.
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