SeacliffCA
A town of 3,299.
Is Seacliff a good place to live?
Seacliff's standout: 28% of its land is conserved. Overall it grades C, 350th of 841 graded towns in California. It is healthier than 85% of U.S. towns and the median household earns $130K. Its weakest subject is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $1.1 million, 10.3 years of the Santa Cruz metro’s $111K median household income. Seacliff’s July high is 71°F, below both the California town median (89°F) and the median of U.S. towns (85°F). FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 86% of U.S. communities, with earthquakes at the top. New Brighton State Beach, at 89 acres with 2.9 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
What makes Seacliff stand out
Where Seacliff beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
4 miles of trails in Seacliff
28.4% of the town is conserved land, across 3 parks and preserves.
How Seacliff grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Seacliff is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Levi's Stadium and 77 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Seacliff. Close and well known come first.
Big draw30 mi Stadium & arenaLevi's Stadium
Big draw29 mi Theme parkCalifornia's Great America
25 mi Stadium & arenaSAP Center
6 mi Theme parkSanta Cruz Beach Boardwalk
25 mi Zoo & aquariumMonterey Bay Aquarium
26 mi MuseumMonterey Museum of ArtPhoto credits
Levi's Stadium: Matthew Roth, CC BY-SA 2.0 · California's Great America: Oleg Alexandrov, CC BY-SA 4.0 · SAP Center: Dicklyon, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk: Josta Photo, CC BY 2.0 · Monterey Bay Aquarium: Meij.kobayashi, Public domain · Monterey Museum of Art: Sgerbic, CC BY-SA 4.0
Moving to Seacliff: who provides what
Seacliff is unincorporated, so Santa Cruz County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Seacliff.
Seacliff is a second-home town and has a longer frost-free season than nearly all U.S. towns, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of California.
Compared with most of California and the rest of the country, trail density in Seacliff is higher
In 3 parks and preserves, walkers have 4.0 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. New Brighton State Beach | 2.9 mi | 89 |
| 2. Seacliff Village Park | 0.1 mi | 2 |
| 3. Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
For health, Seacliff earns an A
Against the 4,504 U.S. towns with household incomes like Seacliff’s, it is healthier than 58%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
Two figures for adults in Seacliff: 18% get no exercise outside work, 31% sleep under 7 hours. Against the California average, Seacliff comes out ahead on 13 CDC measures out of 32, and behind on 3. For adults in the town, the share who smoke cigarettes is 9.9%.
| Seacliff | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 29% | 35% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 24% | 25% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 35% | 36% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 9.9% | 11% | 14% |
| What stands out | Seacliff | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9.6% | 17.9% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5.7% | 10.6% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.6% | 6.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Seacliff faces a very high natural-hazard risk, led by earthquakes
Of the losses FEMA expects in Seacliff, 75% come from earthquakes and 20% from inland flooding. 54 flood insurance claims have been paid in the town since 1978.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
With only 0.3 jobs per working resident, most people in Seacliff work out of town
In Seacliff, the typical journey to work is 24 minutes. Employers in Seacliff shed 51 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 376. Also worth knowing: 5.5% of residents live below the poverty line in the town. Half of commuters travel less than 10 miles.
| Seacliff | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $130,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 5.5% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.2% | 6.6% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expect mild winters and pleasant summers in Seacliff
The Santa Cruz weather station, 5 miles away, records that the frost-free season runs about 323 days, longer than in 96% of U.S. towns. January nights average 42.2°, milder than in 95% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 70.6°.
Snow is almost unheard of. The January low in the town is 42°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Fewer children than California overall
19.7% of homes are seasonal or vacation homes, against 2.4% statewide, which helps explain the older median age.
The share of residents in Seacliff who are under 18: 14%. Children under 18 are 14% of residents (22% statewide); people 65 and older are 21% of residents (16% statewide). In Seacliff, the median age is 44.7 years. Here, 45% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree, against 37% in California as a whole.
| Seacliff | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 14% | 22% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 45% | 29% | 29% |
| Median age | 44.7 years | 39 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 21% | 16% | 18% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±5.9 points. Across California, 50.1% of residents are women.
| Seacliff | CA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 6.2% | 11.4% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 7.8% | 10.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 10.8% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 14.1% | 14.8% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.4% | 13.9% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 7% | 12.5% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 21.9% | 12.1% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 12.8% | 9.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8% | 6.5% | 7% |
| No diploma | 1.6% | 15.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 14.1% | 20.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 19.2% | 19.3% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 20% | 7.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 25.2% | 22.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 19.9% | 14.4% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 3,300, single groups can be off by several points
The median home in Seacliff sells for about $1.65M
At 10.3 years of the Santa Cruz metro’s $111K median household income, the typical home costs more against local pay than in 79% of California towns; that ratio is one input to its D− for cost of living. The median property tax bill is $8,396, against $5,124 across California, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
On the market in Seacliff: a median 46 days to sell. For Seacliff, the median rent is $2,462 a month. Seacliff: 53% of households own their home.
| Seacliff | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,462 a month | $1,895 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 53% | 64% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Seacliff
Colleges nearby
3 within 15 miles of the center of Seacliff
About 13 of every 100 Seacliff residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across California.
97% of working residents leave Seacliff for work
Where Seacliff’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About Seacliff
Census-designated place in the United States
Seacliff is an unincorporated community in Santa Cruz County, California, United States that includes Seacliff State Beach. It is identified as one of several small communities with a combined population of 24,402 forming the unincorporated town of Aptos by the local Chamber of Commerce along with: Aptos Village Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley, a rural area north of State Route 1 Cabrillo Rio Del Mar, south of State Route 1, from Aptos Creek southeast to Seascape Seascape, south of State Route 1, centered on Seascape Beach Resort For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Seacliff as a census-designated place (CDP). The census definition of the area may not precisely co…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 0.8 sq mi
- Elevation
- 144 ft
Seacliff’s neighbors
3 towns share a border with Seacliff.
All 3 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its C; Rio del Mar (C+) is closest.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seacliff | #350 | C | D− | — | C | A |
| Capitola | #305 | C+ | D | C− | A− | A− |
| Rio del Mar | #326 | C+ | D− | — | C | A |
| Aptos | #260 | C+ | D | — | C | A |
Seacliff, Rio del Mar and Aptos report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Seacliff with a neighbor →
Questions about Seacliff
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Seacliff, CA a good place to live?
Seacliff grades C overall, better than 34% of U.S. towns and #350 of 841 in California. It grades A for health and C for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D−.
Is Seacliff, CA expensive?
Yes. The typical home is worth about $1,144,000, 50% above the California typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D−.