Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A city of 90,082, settled in 1875.
Homes are expensive, about $1.7 million for a typical one and 17.3 times the Los Angeles metro’s $96K median household income. Overall it grades C+, ranked 266th of 841 in California. CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 95% of the country and its public schools beat 89% of California towns on state tests and graduation. Its weakest subject is safety: its crime rate is higher than 97% of U.S. towns, with 559 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. 71% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Santa Monica, above both the California town median (29%) and the median of U.S. towns (29%). Few places in the country are easier to get around without a car. Santa Monica has 11 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Santa Monica Looff Hippodrome and Horatio West Court.
Where Santa Monica beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Santa Monica Looff Hippodrome is a National Historic Landmark, the National Register’s top tier.
Census counts: 417 in 1880, 93,076 in 2020. The archive holds 17 old photos and papers going back to 1840 and 7 maps from 1925 on.
11 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Santa Monica is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 99% of comparable towns) to D− for cost of living (better than 1%), so the C+ overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Santa Monica. Close and well known come first.
Big draw10 mi Stadium & arenaSoFi Stadium
Big draw11 mi LandmarkHollywood Walk of Fame10.0M visitors a year
Big draw12 mi MuseumLucas Museum of Narrative Art
Big draw12 mi Stadium & arenaLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Big draw9 mi MuseumLa Brea Tar Pits
Big draw13 mi LandmarkHollywood SignSoFi Stadium: Thank You (21 Millions+) views, CC BY 2.0 · Hollywood Walk of Fame: BenSherman, Public domain · Lucas Museum of Narrative Art: Kriddl, CC0 · Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum: CanonStarGal, CC BY-SA 4.0 · La Brea Tar Pits: Daniel Schwen, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Hollywood Sign: Thomas Wolf, www.foto-tw.de, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Santa Monica, 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 Monica.
Santa Monica draws workers from Los Angeles and beyond 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.
At 17.3 years of the Los Angeles metro’s $96K median household income, the typical home (about $1.66M) costs more against local pay than in 94% of California towns; that ratio is one input to its D− for cost of living. The typical value, about $1.66M, is 9% below its June 2022 peak.
28% of Santa Monica households own their home. The typical Santa Monica home is worth about $1,658,000, up 1.7% in a year, about twice the California typical home. Santa Monica’s median rent is $2,402 a month.
| Santa Monica | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 28% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $2,402 a month | $1,895 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 45% | 55% | 48% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its A for schools comes with a D− for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $1.66M.
Its public schools are run by the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified school district. Two of its 23 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lincoln MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 914 | C− |
| Santa Monica HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,588 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
Property crime runs at 40.4 per 1,000 residents, about twice the California rate, most of it theft. Reported crimes fell from 4,991 to 4,206 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The property crime rate in Santa Monica is 40.4 per 1,000 residents. Santa Monica reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 97% report less. The violent crime rate in Santa Monica is 6.2 per 1,000 residents.
| Santa Monica | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 40.4 per 1,000 residents | 13.3 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 6.2 per 1,000 residents | 2.9 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its widest gap with California is no health insurance: 4.6% of those 18–64 have no health insurance, against 10.6% statewide.
23% of adults have obesity in Santa Monica. Santa Monica beats the California average on 22 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 2. 16% of adults get no exercise outside work in Santa Monica.
| Santa Monica | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 29% | 35% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 24% | 25% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 8% | 11% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Santa Monica | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 4.6% | 10.6% |
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 5.4% | 10.6% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 8.1% | 6.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
82,407 jobs are based in Santa Monica, 2 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. 38.4% of workers work from home, against 17.2% across California.
Most working residents leave Santa Monica for work: only 17% work in town. Jobs based in Santa Monica grew to 82,407 in 2023, 6,867 more than in 2013. The top destinations are Los Angeles (42%), Burbank (6%) and Culver City (3%).
| Santa Monica | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 38% | 14% | 11% |
| Median household income | $115,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 17% | 6.6% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 25 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 87% of U.S. communities. Since 1980, 21 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Santa Monica.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
January nights average 49.8°, milder than in 99% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 74.2°.
Santa Monica has warm winters and cool summers, with very little rain. Only 8 of the 846 California towns we compare have a higher January low than Santa Monica. Snow is almost unheard of.
| Santa Monica | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 74°F | 89°F | 85°F |
| January low | 50°F | 40°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
9.3 miles of trail in 23 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, 244 acres with 1.4 miles of trail.
| Santa Monica | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.5% | 4.3% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Palisades Park | 2.5 mi | 22 |
| 2. Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area | 1.4 mi | 244 |
| 3. Tongva Park | 1.4 mi | 6 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
46 within 15 miles of the center of Santa Monica
About 7 of every 100 Santa Monica residents are enrolled in college, about the same as California.
3 colleges in town.
11 places in Santa Monica on the National Register of Historic Places.
21 notable people were born in Santa Monica.
Resort city in California, United States
Santa Monica (Spanish: Santa Mónica, lit. 'Saint Monica') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. As of the 2020 census, Santa Monica had a population of 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to its climate, beaches, and hospitality industry. It has a diverse economy, hosting headquarters of companies such as Hulu, Activision Blizzard, Universal Music Group, Game Show Network, Starz Entertainment, Lionsgate Studios, Illumination, Snap Inc., and The Recording Academy. Santa Monica traces its history to Rancho San Vicente y Santa Mónica, granted in 1839 to the Sepúlveda family of California. …
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Santa Monica.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Monica | #266 | C+ | D− | D− | A | A |
| Los Angeles | #613 | D | D− | D | B− | B− |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Santa Monica grades C+ overall, better than 42% of U.S. towns and #266 of 841 in California. It grades A for health, D− 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−.
21 notable people were born here, including Sean Penn and Robert Redford.
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