Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A city of 111,390, settled in 1869.
Santa Maria earns a D−, 781st among California's 841 graded towns, mostly because of safety and schools. It reports more crime per resident than 88% of U.S. towns, including 693 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. Its schools rank behind 81% of the state's. One bright spot: it is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns. 39% of working residents work locally in Santa Maria, against 6.6% in California’s towns and 8% across U.S. towns. Santa Maria's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 98% of U.S. towns. Santa Maria is home to Allan Hancock College.
Where Santa Maria beats most towns.
| College | Students |
|---|---|
| Allan Hancock College | 9,725 |
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Santa Maria is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 2,260 in 1910, 109,707 in 2020. The archive holds 1 old photo or paper and 5 maps from 1947 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Santa Maria, 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 Maria.
Santa Maria has a longer frost-free season than nearly all U.S. towns, has seen reported crime fall by a fifth or more and has commutes shorter than most of California.
Reported crimes fell from 3,273 to 2,649 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The violent crime rate in Santa Maria is 6.2 per 1,000 residents. Santa Maria reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 88% report less. The property crime rate in Santa Maria is 17.5 per 1,000 residents.
| Santa Maria | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 6.2 per 1,000 residents | 2.9 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 17.5 per 1,000 residents | 13.3 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by the Santa Maria-Bonita school district. Two of its 24 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jimenez Roberto and DR. Francisco ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–8 | Grades K–8 | 1,177 | – |
| Santa Maria HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 3,143 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 74% of U.S. communities. Since 1992, 9 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Santa Maria.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Santa Maria beats the California average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 15. 31% of adults worry about having enough food in Santa Maria.
| Santa Maria | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 16% | 14% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 67% | 72% | 79% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 9% | 8.1% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 22% | 19% |
| What stands out | Santa Maria | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 4.9% | 6.4% |
| Fewer adults with high cholesterol | 31.7% | 35.4% |
| More uninsured adults | 22.9% | 10.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The Twitchell Dam weather station, 8 miles away, records that the frost-free season runs about 301 days, longer than in 96% of U.S. towns. January nights average 41.6°, milder than in 95% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 77°.
Santa Maria has warm winters and pleasant summers, with very little rain. Santa Maria’s July high is 77°F. Snow is almost unheard of.
| Santa Maria | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 77°F | 89°F | 85°F |
| January low | 42°F | 40°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
11 miles of trail in 31 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Preisker Park, at 39 acres.
| Santa Maria | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.4% | 4.3% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Minami Park | 0.7 mi | 16 |
| 2. Grogan Park | 0.5 mi | 6 |
| 3. Jim May Park | 0.3 mi | 24 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The average commute for its 38,133 working residents takes 22.4 minutes, against 28.7 across California.
About one in 3 of Santa Maria’s working residents works in town. 17% of Santa Maria residents live below the poverty line. Since 2013, Santa Maria has added 4,038 jobs, to 39,678 in 2023.
| Santa Maria | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 4.7% | 14% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 17% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $85,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The typical Santa Maria home is worth about $666,000, up 4% in a year, 13% below the California typical home.
| Santa Maria | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 50% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,925 a month | $1,895 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 61% | 55% | 48% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
1 within 15 miles of the center of Santa Maria
About 7 of every 100 Santa Maria residents are enrolled in college, about the same as California.
99,553 counted in 2010 and 109,707 in 2020; an estimated 111,390 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
38 notable people were born in Santa Maria.
City in California, United States
Santa Maria (Spanish for "St. Mary") is a city in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast of California, it is approximately 65 miles (105 km) northwest of Santa Barbara and 150 miles (240 km) northwest of Los Angeles. Its population was 109,707 at the 2020 census. The city is notable for its wine industry and Santa Maria–style barbecue.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Santa Maria.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Maria | #781 | D− | D | D | C− | C |
| Orcutt | #187 | B− | D | — | B | A− |
Orcutt reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Santa Maria with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Santa Maria grades D− overall, better than 2% of U.S. towns and #781 of 841 in California. It grades C for health, D for safety and C− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. That is 6.8 years of the area's median household income ($98,161 across the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
38 notable people were born here, including Conrad Ricamora and Evan Patak.