Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 6,116, settled in 1886. 2.7 times the nonprofits per person than the typical California town.
Trash & recyclingWillows grades D− overall, 734th of 841 graded towns in California, mostly because of incomes. The median household income is $64K, and 19% of residents live below the poverty line. One bright spot: it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 69% of U.S. towns. Willows’ July high is 96°F, above both the California town median (89°F) and the median of U.S. towns (85°F). Willows has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them US Post Office-Willows Main and Willows-Glenn County Airport.
Where Willows beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Willows is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 728 in 1880, 6,293 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1917 and 4 maps from 1906 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Willows, 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 Willows.
Willows has more 90° days than nearly all U.S. towns, trades workers with Chico and other neighbors and has property taxes about half the California norm.
The median property tax bill is $1,904, against $5,124 across California, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
59% of households own their home in Willows. In the year to September 2026, typical home values climbed 3.8%. Willows’ median rent comes in at $1,237 a month.
| Willows | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 59% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,237 a month | $1,898 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The largest public high school is Willows High, with 423 students. Public schools: the Willows Unified school district. Two of its 7 schools are shown below, with the reason for each.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Murdock ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–4 | Grades K–4 | 488 | C− |
| Willows HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 423 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
In Willows, the concentration of trails is 1.0 miles per square mile. Trails total 2.9 miles in 3 parks and preserves. Parks and preserves locally: 3, covering 26 acres.
| Willows | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.0 miles per square mile | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2% | 4.3% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Sycamore Park | 0.4 mi | 11 |
| 2. Jensen Park | — | 14 |
| 3. Memorial Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Among adults in Willows, 17% report frequent physical distress and 71% had a checkup this year. In Willows, 27% of adults say their health is fair or poor.
| Willows | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 22% | 19% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 14% | 14% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 71% | 72% | 79% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 17% | 17% |
| What stands out | Willows | CA |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 22.4% | 10.6% |
| More adults with COPD | 8.2% | 5.1% |
| More smokers | 15.7% | 10.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Since 1983, 69 flood insurance claims have been paid out locally. In Willows, the FEMA risk score is 72 of 100. Of the losses FEMA expects locally, 57% come from earthquakes and 28% from inland flooding.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The Orland weather station, 16 miles away, records that about 92 days a year reach 90°, more than in 95% of U.S. towns. July afternoons average 95.5°, hotter than in 97% of U.S. towns; January nights average 38°.
Snow is almost unheard of. Willows’ January low stands at 38°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Willows has about as many jobs (2,413) as working residents, but only 565 people both live and work here.
For working residents in Willows, the share who work locally is 23%. The top destinations are Chico (7%), Orland (3%) and Sacramento (3%). Half the trips to work are shorter than 20 miles. The average commute locally is 24 minutes.
| Willows | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 23% | 6.6% | 8% |
| Median household income | $64,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
None within 15 miles of Willows; the nearest are
About 4 of every 100 Willows residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across California.
City in California, United States
Willows is a city in and the county seat of Glenn County, California, United States, located in the Sacramento Valley region of Northern California. The city is home to regional government offices, including the California Highway Patrol, the California Department of Motor Vehicles, the United States Bureau of Reclamation and the main offices of the Mendocino National Forest, which comprises about one million acres (404,686 ha) of Federal land located mostly in mountainous terrain west of Willows. The population was 6,293 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Willows grades D− overall, better than 4% of U.S. towns and #734 of 841 in California. It grades C for health and C+ for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. That is 4.7 years of the area's median household income ($67,139 across the county). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.