Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A city of 70,012, settled in 1849.
Homes are expensive, about $990K for a typical one and 7.3 times the San Francisco metro’s $136K median household income. Overall it grades B−, 223rd among California's 841 graded towns. Residents are healthier than 96% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates and the median household earns $130K. Its weakest subject is hazard risk: FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 92% of U.S. communities, with earthquakes at the top. 71% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Walnut Creek, above both California’s towns (29%) and U.S. towns (29%). On walkability, just 91 of California’s 1,063 towns do better. The biggest place to walk is Shell Ridge Open Space, 1,386 acres with 28.7 miles of trail.
Where Walnut Creek beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
24.2% of the town is conserved land, across 24 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Walnut Creek is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 96% of comparable towns) to D− for cost of living (better than 4%), so the B− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Its founding year, 1849, comes before those of 94% of the California towns we grade with a known year.
Census counts: 94 in 1880, 70,127 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2009 and 8 maps from 1897 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Walnut Creek. Close and well known come first.
Big draw22 mi MuseumAlcatraz Federal Penitentiary
Big draw17 mi MuseumUSS Hornet
Big draw21 mi Stadium & arenaChase Center
Big draw35 mi Stadium & arenaLevi's Stadium
Big draw21 mi Stadium & arenaOracle Park
Big draw22 mi LandmarkLombard StreetAlcatraz Federal Penitentiary: druchoy, CC BY-SA 2.0 · USS Hornet: kitmasterbloke, CC BY 2.0 · Chase Center: Gregory Varnum, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Levi's Stadium: Matthew Roth, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Oracle Park: User Coasttocoast on en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Lombard Street: The original uploader was Y6y6y6 at English Wikipedia., Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Walnut Creek, 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 Walnut Creek.
Walnut Creek draws workers from Concord and beyond and fares better on crime within California than nationally.
81 miles of trail in 24 parks and preserves. The trail density in Walnut Creek is 4.1 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Shell Ridge Open Space | 28.7 mi | 1,386 |
| 2. Lime Ridge Open Space | 17.5 mi | 971 |
| 3. Acalanes Ridge Open Space | 6.1 mi | 189 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Mt. Diablo Unified school district. Three of its 22 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foothill MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,005 | A |
| Las Lomas HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,577 | A |
| Northgate HighTop results in townGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,546 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
13% of adults report frequent mental distress in Walnut Creek. Walnut Creek beats the California average on 21 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 2. 6.4% of adults smoke cigarettes in Walnut Creek.
| Walnut Creek | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 17% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 6.4% | 11% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 29% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Walnut Creek | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 6.8% | 17.9% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 4.2% | 10.6% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.7% | 6.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
53,279 jobs are based in Walnut Creek, 1.9 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. 30.8% of workers work from home, against 17.2% across California.
Most working residents leave Walnut Creek for work: only 12% work in town. 31% of Walnut Creek workers work from home. The top destinations are San Francisco (18%), Oakland (8%) and Concord (5%).
| Walnut Creek | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 31% | 14% | 11% |
| Median household income | $130,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 31 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 6.4% | 10% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Since 1979, 67 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Walnut Creek.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
At 37.3 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 69% of California’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 2,093 to 1,851 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Walnut Creek’s property crime rate is 24 per 1,000 residents.
| Walnut Creek | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 24 per 1,000 residents | 13.3 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.1 per 1,000 residents | 2.9 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The typical Walnut Creek home is worth about $991,000, up 1.3% in a year, 30% above the California typical home.
| Walnut Creek | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,680 a month | $1,895 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 64% | 64% | 73% |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 51% | 55% | 48% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Walnut Creek has mild winters and warm summers, with very little rain. July afternoons reach 87°, January nights drop to 39° and snow is almost unheard of.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
20 within 15 miles of the center of Walnut Creek
About 6 of every 100 Walnut Creek residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across California.
Where Walnut Creek’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
3 places in Walnut Creek on the National Register of Historic Places.
48 notable people were born in Walnut Creek.
City in California, United States
Walnut Creek is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States, located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, approximately 16 miles (26 kilometers) east of the city of Oakland and 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of San Francisco. Walnut Creek has a total population of 70,127 per the 2020 census, is located at the junction of the highways from Sacramento and San Jose (I-680) and San Francisco/Oakland (SR-24), and is accessible by BART. The city shares its borders with Clayton, Lafayette, Alamo, Pleasant Hill and Concord.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
10 towns share a border with Walnut Creek.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walnut Creek | #223 | B− | D− | C− | B+ | A+ |
| Saranap | #13 | A | D | — | A+ | A+ |
| Acalanes Ridge | — | — | D− | — | A+ | A+ |
| Contra Costa Centre | #118 | B | D− | — | B+ | A+ |
| North Gate | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Alamo | #15 | A | D− | — | A+ | A+ |
| Pleasant Hill | #300 | C+ | D− | D | B | A |
| Reliez Valley | #92 | B+ | D− | — | B+ | A+ |
Acalanes Ridge has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Saranap, Acalanes Ridge, Contra Costa Centre, Alamo and Reliez Valley report no FBI crime data of their own. North Gate isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Walnut Creek with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Walnut Creek grades B− overall, better than 48% of U.S. towns and #223 of 841 in California. It grades A+ for health, C− for safety and B+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D−.
48 notable people were born here, including Kyle Gass and Christy Turlington.
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