Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 7,532, settled in 1867. 3.6 times the nonprofits per person than the typical California town.
Trash & recyclingSebastopol's standout: it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 96% of U.S. towns. Overall it grades C+, ranked 321st of 841 in California. It is healthier than 85% of U.S. towns and it has 6 miles of trail. Its weakest subject is hazard risk: FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 91% of U.S. communities, with earthquakes at the top. Sebastopol’s trail density is 3.0 miles per square mile, where California’s towns sit at 1.0 and U.S. towns at 0.4. On civic life, just 1 of California’s 463 towns do better. The typical home is worth about $1.1 million, 10.4 years of the Santa Rosa metro’s $105K median household income.
Where Sebastopol beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
11% 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 Sebastopol is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 197 in 1880, 7,521 in 2020. The archive holds 7 old photos and papers going back to 1874 and 4 maps from 1942 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Sebastopol. Close and well known come first.
24 mi Ancient siteFort Ross
37 mi National MonumentMuir Woods National Monument757K visitors a year
34 mi LakeLake Berryessa
35 mi MountainMount Tamalpais
14 mi National SeashorePoint Reyes National Seashore2.4M visitors a year
37 mi Theme parkSix Flags Discovery KingdomFort Ross: Frank Schulenburg, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Muir Woods National Monument: Unknown, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Lake Berryessa: Unknown, Public domain · Mount Tamalpais: Originally uploaded by Nelso (Transferred by DimiTalen), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Point Reyes National Seashore: King of Hearts, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Six Flags Discovery Kingdom: Tinned Elk, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Sebastopol, 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 Sebastopol.
Sebastopol has an unusually large share working from home and has a longer frost-free season than most of the country, though not than most of California; it also has homes that cost more against local pay than most of California.
In the comparison, Sebastopol comes against 4.2% in California’s towns and 4.3% across U.S. towns.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Ives Park | 0.7 mi | 5 |
| 2. Laguna Uplands Preserve | 0.4 mi | 8 |
| 3. Tomodachi Park | 0.1 mi | 9 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the West Sonoma County Union High school district. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Analy High, with 1,473 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Park Side ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–4 | Grades K–4 | 268 | – |
| Analy HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,473 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
Since 1978, 50 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Sebastopol.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
| Sebastopol | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 36% | 33% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 29% | 35% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 35% | 36% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 24% | 25% |
| What stands out | Sebastopol | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5.4% | 10.6% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9.2% | 17.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11.1% | 6.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 10.4 years of the Santa Rosa metro’s $105K median household income, the typical home (about $1.09M) 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 rent in Sebastopol is $1,902 a month. The typical Sebastopol home is worth about $1,090,000, up 2.4% in a year, 43% above the California typical home. 56% of Sebastopol households own their home.
| Sebastopol | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 56% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,902 a month | $1,895 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Sebastopol’s violent crime rate is 3.7 per 1,000 residents. Within California, it does better than 48% of towns.
| Sebastopol | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.7 per 1,000 residents | 2.9 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 11.1 per 1,000 residents | 13.4 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The Graton weather station records that the frost-free season runs about 240 days: longer than most of the country, but shorter than 78% of California places with climate records.
Sebastopol has mild winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 80°, January nights drop to 39° and snow is almost unheard of.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
29.6% of workers work from home, against 17.2% across California.
Most working residents leave Sebastopol for work: only 11% work in town. Jobs based in Sebastopol fell to 3,929 in 2023, 293 fewer than in 2013. The top destinations are Santa Rosa (21%), Petaluma (5%) and San Francisco (5%).
| Sebastopol | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 30% | 14% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 11% | 6.6% | 8% |
| Median household income | $88,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
2 within 15 miles of the center of Sebastopol
About 5 of every 100 Sebastopol residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across California.
4 places in Sebastopol on the National Register of Historic Places.
7 notable people were born in Sebastopol.
City in California, United States
Sebastopol ( sib-AST-ə-pohl, -pool) is a city in Sonoma County, California, United States with a recorded population of 7,521, per the 2020 U.S. census. Sebastopol was once primarily a plum- and apple-growing region. The creation of The Barlow, a $32 million mall on a floodplain in Sebastopol, has converted old agricultural warehouses into a marketplace for dining, tasting rooms, and art, and has made Sebastopol a Wine Country destination. Horticulturist Luther Burbank had gardens in this region. The city hosts an annual Apple Blossom Festival in April, Gravenstein Apple Fair in August, and is home to the Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Sebastopol.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sebastopol | #321 | C+ | D− | C | B | A |
| Santa Rosa | #447 | C | D− | C | B− | B+ |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Sebastopol grades C+ overall, better than 36% of U.S. towns and #321 of 841 in California. It grades A for health, C for safety and B for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D−.
Within California, it does better than 48% 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−.
7 notable people were born here, including Karen Valentine and Luke Lamperti.
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