Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 7,019, settled in 1880.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Sausalito grades B+ overall, ranked 110th of 841 in California. Residents are healthier than 98% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates and its public schools beat 85% of California towns on state tests and graduation. What holds it back is price: the typical home is worth about $1.6 million, 11.7 years of the San Francisco metro’s $136K median household income. 34% of residents are 65 or older in Sausalito, above both the California town median (16%) and the median of U.S. towns (18%). Few places in the country are easier to get around without a car. Only 17 of California’s 463 towns score higher on civic life.
Where Sausalito beats most towns.
18.1% of the town is conserved land, across 6 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Sausalito 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 B+ overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 476 in 1880, 7,269 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1873 and 7 maps from 1895 on.
5 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Sausalito. Close and well known come first.
Big draw4 mi MuseumAlcatraz Federal Penitentiary
Big draw4 mi GardenPresidio of San Francisco
Big draw6 mi LandmarkLombard Street
Big draw9 mi Stadium & arenaChase Center
Big draw8 mi Stadium & arenaOracle Park
Big draw12 mi MuseumUSS HornetAlcatraz Federal Penitentiary: druchoy, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Presidio of San Francisco: Robert Campbell, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Lombard Street: The original uploader was Y6y6y6 at English Wikipedia., Public domain · Chase Center: Gregory Varnum, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Oracle Park: User Coasttocoast on en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · USS Hornet: kitmasterbloke, CC BY 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Sausalito, 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 Sausalito.
Sausalito draws workers from San Francisco 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 11.7 years of the San Francisco metro’s $136K median household income, the typical home (about $1.59M) costs more against local pay than in 85% of California towns; that ratio is one input to that grade. The typical value, about $1.59M, is 12% below its June 2022 peak.
A home in Sausalito typically sold within 14 days of listing. The typical Sausalito home is worth about $1,589,000, up 3.9% in a year, about twice the California typical home. In Sausalito, the midpoint rent is $3,501 a month.
| Sausalito | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $3,501 a month | $1,895 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 60% | 64% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
That grade comes with a D− for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $1.59M.
Its two schools are below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| The New Village School PrivateLargest elementary schoolGrades PK–8 | Grades PK–8 | 116 | – |
| Headlands Preparatory School PrivateLargest high schoolGrades 6–12 | Grades 6–12 | 39 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
The biggest park or preserve is Cypress Ridge Open Space, at 20 acres. 4.9 miles of trail in 6 parks and preserves. The trail density in Sausalito is 2.2 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Martin Luther King Junior Park | 0.5 mi | 11 |
| 2. Cypress Ridge Open Space | 0.1 mi | 20 |
| 3. Dunphy Park | 0.2 mi | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Against the 1,293 U.S. towns with household incomes like Sausalito’s, it is healthier than 79%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
The share of adults in Sausalito who have obesity: 20%. Of 32 CDC measures, Sausalito beats the California average on 21 and trails it on 2.
| Sausalito | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 36% | 33% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 29% | 35% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 35% | 36% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 17% | 17% |
| What stands out | Sausalito | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 3.2% | 10.6% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 5.7% | 17.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11.4% | 6.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
4,316 jobs are based in Sausalito, 1.6 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. 45.5% of workers work from home, against 17.2% across California.
Jobs in Sausalito fell by 734 from 2013 to 2023, to 4,316. Most people who work leave Sausalito to do it: just 10% work in town. For Sausalito, the typical household income is $182,000. The top destinations are San Francisco (38%), San Rafael (5%) and Oakland (3%).
| Sausalito | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $182,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 8% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 10% | 6.6% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The natural-hazard score from FEMA for Sausalito comes to 84 of 100. 33 flood insurance claims have been paid locally since 1978. Expected losses in Sausalito break down as 43% from earthquakes and 28% from inland flooding. Federal aid has come to Sausalito households in 5 declared disasters; the latest was in 2023.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
January nights average 44°, milder than in 96% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 70.2°.
Sausalito’s January low is 44°F. Snow is a rarity.
| Sausalito | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 70°F | 89°F | 85°F |
| January low | 44°F | 40°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Within California, it does better than three quarters of towns. Sausalito’s rate of reported violence comes in at 0.6 per 1,000 residents.
| Sausalito | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.6 per 1,000 residents | 2.9 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 17.4 per 1,000 residents | 13.3 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
32 within 15 miles of the center of Sausalito
About 7 of every 100 Sausalito residents are enrolled in college, about the same as California.
Coastal flooding makes up 9% of the storm damage FEMA expects here.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA · OpenStreetMap
5 places in Sausalito on the National Register of Historic Places.
City in California, United States
Sausalito (Spanish for "small willow grove") is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) southeast of Marin City, 8 miles (13 km) south-southeast of San Rafael, and about 4 miles (6 km) north of San Francisco from the Golden Gate Bridge. Sausalito's population was 7,269 as of the 2020 census. The community is situated near the northern end of the Golden Gate Bridge, and prior to the building of that bridge served as a terminus for rail, car, and ferry traffic. Sausalito developed rapidly as a shipbuilding center in World War II, with its industrial character giving way in postwar years to a reputation as a wealthy and artistic enclave, a pictures…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Sausalito.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sausalito | #110 | B+ | D− | B− | A | A+ |
| Tamalpais-Homestead Valley | #21 | A | D− | — | A+ | A+ |
Tamalpais-Homestead Valley reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Sausalito with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Sausalito grades B+ overall, better than 66% of U.S. towns and #110 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−.
Within California, it does better than 75% of towns.
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−.
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