Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Soledad grades D overall, ranked 588th of 841 in California, mostly because of health. Residents are less healthy than 78% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. What it does well: 6% of its land is conserved. 6.1% of residents are 65 or older in Soledad, against 16% in California’s towns and 18% across U.S. towns. Soledad's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 97% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include Los Coches Rancho and Bear Valley School.
Where Soledad beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Soledad is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 136 in 1880, 24,925 in 2020. The archive holds 17 old photos and papers going back to 1981 and 4 maps from 1915 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Soledad, 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 Soledad.
Soledad fares better on crime within California than nationally and has added a third more jobs in ten years, but it trails even towns with similar incomes on health.
Of its 10 schools, two are listed below, each with the reason. Public schools: the Soledad Unified school district.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main Street MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 7–8 | Grades 7–8 | 754 | – |
| Soledad HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,546 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
Trails total 4.9 miles in 9 parks and preserves. Soledad’s density of trails is 1.1 miles per square mile.
| Soledad | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.1 miles per square mile | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 5.5% | 4.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Veterans Memorial Park | 0.7 mi | 6 |
| 2. Vosti Park | 0.3 mi | 7 |
| 3. Jesse Gallardo Park | — | 5 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Against the 9,045 U.S. towns with household incomes like Soledad’s, it is less healthy than 95%, so it trails even them.
For adults in Soledad, the share who worry about having enough food is 35%. Of 32 CDC measures, Soledad beats the California average on 4 and trails it on 20.
| Soledad | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 22% | 19% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 16% | 14% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 66% | 72% | 79% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 9% | 8.1% |
| What stands out | Soledad | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 3.3% | 6.4% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 15.8% | 20.8% |
| More uninsured adults | 24.3% | 10.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
FEMA puts 63% of Soledad’s expected hazard losses down to earthquakes, and 32% to inland flooding. Expected damage from storms and floods is higher here than in just over four fifths of U.S. communities. Federal disaster aid has reached households in Soledad after 3 declared disasters, most recently in 2023.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Jobs based here grew from 5,027 in 2013 to 6,872.
17% of Soledad residents live below the poverty line. Between 2013 and 2023, jobs here rose by 1,845, to 6,872. For Soledad, the typical journey to work is 30 minutes. The top destinations are Salinas (17%), San Jose (6%) and Gonzales (3%).
| Soledad | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 3.8% | 14% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 19% | 6.6% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 17% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The typical July afternoon high in Soledad is 81°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The going rate for rent for Soledad comes to $1,698 a month. In the year to September 2026, typical home values climbed 4.3%. The share of households in Soledad who are owner-occupiers: 58%.
| Soledad | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 58% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,698 a month | $1,898 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
At 17.7 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 81% of California’s graded towns. Reported crimes rose from 191 to 360 over the last three FBI years, a rise beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Soledad’s rate of reported violence comes in at 2.4 per 1,000 residents. Its rate of thefts and burglaries is 11.3 per 1,000 residents.
| Soledad | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.4 per 1,000 residents | 2.9 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 11.3 per 1,000 residents | 13.4 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
None within 15 miles of Soledad; the nearest are
About 9 of every 100 Soledad residents are enrolled in college, about the same as California.
City in California, United States
Soledad (Spanish for "Solitude") is a city in Monterey County, California, United States. It is in the Salinas Valley, 21 miles (34 km) southeast of Salinas, the county seat. Soledad's population was 24,925 at the 2020 census, down from 25,738 in 2010. Soledad's origins started with Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, founded by the Spanish in 1791, under the leadership of Fermín de Lasuén. Catalina Munrás began developing the town of Soledad on her Rancho San Vicente in the 1860s, which eventually incorporated as a city in 1921. Today, Soledad is a notable tourist destination, owing to the heavily restored mission, its proximity to Pinnacles National Park, and its numerous vineyards, as …
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Soledad grades D overall, better than 12% of U.S. towns and #588 of 841 in California. It grades C− for health, B− for safety and C+ for schools. Hazard risk 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.