Winter GardensCA
Home to 22,131 people, this town lies in California.
Is Winter Gardens a good place to live?
Cost of living is its weak spot — the typical home is worth about $609K, 5.7 years of the San Diego metro’s $106K median household income. Winter Gardens grades C overall, better than 30% of U.S. towns, and ranks 382nd of 841 in California. Hazard risk is weaker too (D): FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 79% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. Its best grade is for walkability (A−): it is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns. It is strong on incomes as well: the median household earns $98K. Winter Gardens’ January low is 42°F, against 40°F in California’s towns and 22°F across U.S. towns. Elsewhere it is close to typical: C+ for schools and B for health.
Figures: incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · home values, Zillow · FEMA National Risk Index · schools, state test and graduation results · health, CDC PLACES · NOAA normals, 1991–2020.
What makes Winter Gardens stand out
Where Winter Gardens beats most towns.
97% of working residents leave Winter Gardens for work
Where Winter Gardens’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Winter Gardens grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Winter Gardens is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Mexico–United States border wall and 66 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Winter Gardens. Close and well known come first.
Big draw24 mi LandmarkMexico–United States border wall
Big draw12 mi Stadium & arenaSnapdragon Stadium
16 mi Stadium & arenaPetco Park
15 mi Zoo & aquariumSan Diego Zoo4.0M visitors a year
15 mi Park & preserveBalboa Park
18 mi Theme parkSeaWorld San Diego4.0M visitors a yearPhoto credits
Mexico–United States border wall: Földhegy, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Snapdragon Stadium: Terrible Tim, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Petco Park: Mds08011, CC BY 4.0 · San Diego Zoo: en:User:Cburnett, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Balboa Park: Antoine Taveneaux, CC BY-SA 3.0 · SeaWorld San Diego: ZooFari, CC BY-SA 3.0
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Moving to Winter Gardens: who provides what
Winter Gardens is unincorporated, so San Diego 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 Winter Gardens.
Winter Gardens has milder winter nights than nearly all U.S. towns, sends most of its workers to San Diego and beyond and owes part of its health edge to its incomes.
Top of a high hazard risk in Winter Gardens: inland flooding
Paid flood insurance claims in Winter Gardens since 1978: 20. 78% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by earthquakes at 12%.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Public schools in Winter Gardens fall behind 58% of California districts
The Lakeside Union Elementary school district runs its public schools. Below: Two of its 7 schools, each with why it was picked. 5 public schools serve Winter Gardens, with 2,478 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lakeside MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 724 | – |
| River Valley CharterLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 231 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
About one in three of Winter Gardens’ working residents commute to San Diego
Winter Gardens has 2,683 jobs for its 10,256 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
2.9% of Winter Gardens working residents work locally. Since 2013, Winter Gardens has added 408 jobs, to 2,683 in 2023. For half of commuters, work is under 14 miles away. The top destinations are San Diego (36%), El Cajon (10%) and Santee (4%).
| Winter Gardens | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 2.9% | 6.6% | 8% |
| Median household income | $98,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Winter Gardens: mild winters and hot summers
January nights average 41.5°, milder than in 95% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 87.6°.
Snow is almost unheard of. The July high for Winter Gardens comes to 88°F.
| Winter Gardens | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 42°F | 40°F | 22°F |
| July high | 88°F | 89°F | 85°F |
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Winter Gardens ranks healthier than 64% of the country’s towns
Against the 8,877 U.S. towns with household incomes like Winter Gardens’s, it is less healthy than 52%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
Of 32 CDC measures, Winter Gardens beats the California average on 4 and trails it on 6. 28% of adults have obesity in the town.
| Winter Gardens | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 17% | 17% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 29% | 35% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 73% | 72% | 79% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 22% | 23% |
| What stands out | Winter Gardens | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 8.4% | 10.6% |
| Fewer adults who get no exercise | 21.6% | 24.6% |
| More adults with COPD | 6.3% | 5.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The median home in Winter Gardens sells for about $835K
Winter Gardens’ rent at the middle of the market is $1,913 a month. Homes sold in Winter Gardens spent a median 29 days on the market. Bidding over the asking price: 55% of homes sold locally.
| Winter Gardens | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,913 a month | $1,895 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 64% | 64% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Winter Gardens
Colleges nearby
16 within 15 miles of the center of Winter Gardens
About 6 of every 100 Winter Gardens residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across California.
About Winter Gardens
Place in California, United States
Winter Gardens is a census-designated place (CDP) in San Diego County, California. The population was 22,380 at the 2020 census, up from 20,631 at the 2010 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 4.4 sq mi
- Elevation
- 676 ft
- Area code
- 619
Winter Gardens’s neighbors
4 towns share a border with Winter Gardens.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter Gardens | #382 | C | D | — | C+ | B |
| Santee | #142 | B | D− | B | B+ | A− |
| Lakeside | #416 | C | D | — | C+ | B |
| El Cajon | #644 | D | D | C− | C+ | C+ |
| Bostonia | #399 | C | C− | — | B− | B− |
Winter Gardens, Lakeside and Bostonia report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Winter Gardens with a neighbor →
Questions about Winter Gardens
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Winter Gardens, CA a good place to live?
It grades B for health and C+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Is Winter Gardens, CA expensive?
Yes. The typical home is worth about $609,000, 20% below 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.