Twin LakesCA
5,073 residents make their home in this town in California.
What should you know before moving to Twin Lakes?
Where it falls short is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $959K, 8.6 years of the Santa Cruz metro’s $111K median household income. Its strongest subject is walkability (A+). All told, that adds up to a B− overall and a rank of 206th of 841 in California. It comes out better than 49% of U.S. towns. Hazard risk is weaker too: FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 85% of U.S. communities, with earthquakes at the top. The biggest park or preserve is Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, at 294 acres. Twin Lakes’ typical July afternoon high is 70°F, below both the California town median (89°F) and the median of U.S. towns (85°F). 14% of the land locally is conserved, above both California’s towns (4.2%) and U.S. towns (4.3%).
Figures: home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenStreetMap · NOAA normals, 1991–2020 · USGS PAD-US.
What makes Twin Lakes stand out
Where Twin Lakes beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
3 miles of trails in Twin Lakes
13.6% of the town is conserved land, across 7 parks and preserves.
How Twin Lakes grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Twin Lakes is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 99% of comparable towns) to D− for cost of living (better than 2%), so the B− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Levi's Stadium and 78 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Twin Lakes. Close and well known come first.
Big draw31 mi Stadium & arenaLevi's Stadium
Big draw30 mi Theme parkCalifornia's Great America
2 mi Theme parkSanta Cruz Beach Boardwalk
26 mi Stadium & arenaSAP Center
24 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 · Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk: Josta Photo, CC BY 2.0 · SAP Center: Dicklyon, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Monterey Bay Aquarium: Meij.kobayashi, Public domain · Monterey Museum of Art: Sgerbic, CC BY-SA 4.0
Moving to Twin Lakes: who provides what
Twin Lakes 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 Twin Lakes.
Twin Lakes has a longer frost-free season than nearly all U.S. towns and has commutes shorter than most of California.
Open space protected for good: 13.6% of Twin Lakes
In 7 parks and preserves, walkers have 2.9 miles of trail. Twin Lakes’ concentration of trails comes in at 2.4 miles per square mile. Parks and preserves here: 7, covering 409 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Twin Lakes State Beach | 1.9 mi | 85 |
| 2. Felt Street Park | 0.3 mi | 2 |
| 3. Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary | — | 294 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Public schools in Twin Lakes beat 65% of California districts
The public schools here belong to the Live Oak Elementary school district. One of its 2 schools is below, with the reason it’s listed. The 2 public schools in Twin Lakes teach 800 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shoreline MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 478 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests
The biggest natural risk in Twin Lakes is earthquakes, at a very high overall level
Expected losses in Twin Lakes break down as 65% from earthquakes and 19% from inland flooding. Paid flood insurance claims here since 2023: 3.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Residents of Twin Lakes are healthier than 78% of U.S. towns
For adults in Twin Lakes, the share who report frequent physical distress is 13%. On the CDC’s 32 measures, Twin Lakes is ahead of California on 8 and behind on 2. In Twin Lakes, 20% of adults get no exercise outside work, and 73% had a checkup this year.
| Twin Lakes | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 29% | 35% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 24% | 25% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 73% | 72% | 79% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 16% | 16% |
| What stands out | Twin Lakes | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 7.1% | 10.6% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 12.2% | 17.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 8.9% | 6.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Most of Twin Lakes’ workers commute out: the town has 0.5 jobs for each of them
The average commute for its 1,807 working residents takes 20.5 minutes, against 28.7 across California.
Most working residents leave Twin Lakes for work: only 2% work in town. For Twin Lakes, the mean commuting time is 21 minutes. Employers in Twin Lakes shed 53 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 939. Half commute less than 11 miles.
| Twin Lakes | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.5% | 6.6% | 8% |
| Work from home | 15% | 14% | 11% |
| Median household income | $90,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Twin Lakes: mild winters and pleasant summers
The Santa Cruz weather station records that the frost-free season runs about 323 days, longer than in 96% of U.S. towns. January nights average 42.5°, milder than in 96% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 70°.
The January low in Twin Lakes is 43°F. Snow almost never falls.
| Twin Lakes | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 70°F | 89°F | 85°F |
| January low | 43°F | 40°F | 22°F |
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Homes in Twin Lakes sell for about $1.8M
A home in Twin Lakes typically sold within 16 days of listing. Twin Lakes’ typical rent is $2,344 a month. In Twin Lakes, just over two in five households are owner-occupiers.
| Twin Lakes | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 41% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $2,344 a month | $1,895 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Twin Lakes
Colleges nearby
3 within 15 miles of the center of Twin Lakes
About 8 of every 100 Twin Lakes residents are enrolled in college, about the same as California.
98% of working residents leave Twin Lakes for work
Where Twin Lakes’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About Twin Lakes
Census-designated place in California, United States
Twin Lakes is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Cruz County, California, United States. The population was 4,944 at the 2020 census, up from 4,917 at the 2010 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 1.2 sq mi
- Elevation
- 52 ft
Twin Lakes’s neighbors
3 towns share a border with Twin Lakes.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Twin Lakes | #206 | B− | D− | — | B+ | A− |
| Pleasure Point | #163 | B | D− | — | B+ | A |
| Santa Cruz | #291 | C+ | D− | D | A− | A− |
| Live Oak | #211 | B− | D− | — | B+ | B+ |
Twin Lakes, Pleasure Point and Live Oak report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Twin Lakes with a neighbor →
Questions about Twin Lakes
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Twin Lakes, CA a good place to live?
Twin Lakes grades B− overall, better than 49% of U.S. towns and #206 of 841 in California. It grades A− for health and B+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D−.
Is Twin Lakes, CA expensive?
Yes. The typical home is worth about $959,000, 26% 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−.