Living in Eureka, CA
Small city in California
Eureka is a small city in California, home to about 26,000 people, with 109,000 living within 31 mi. Day to day, much of daily life is walkable. Life moves at a relaxed pace, and homes are a mix of apartments and houses.
Is Eureka a good place to live? Pros and cons
👍 Pros
- Mild summers: highs around 63°F
- Great outdoors: coast or a lake close by
- Strong healthcare: 2 top-rated (4–5★) hospitals within 31 mi
- Affordable housing: a typical 3-bedroom home is about $426k and rents for $2,160 a month
👎 Cons
- Smaller job market: about 109,000 people live within 31 mi
- Weaker public schools: test results well below the US average
- Fewer graduates: 31% of adults have a bachelor's degree or higher
- Fewer family amenities than most places
Whether it's a good place for you depends on what you value. Take the quiz to see how Eureka ranks against your own priorities.
Key facts
Living in Eureka: common questions
What is the cost of living in Eureka?
A typical 3-bedroom home is worth about $426k, and a 3-bedroom rents for about $2,160 a month including utilities. Overall living costs are above the US average (index 111, where the US is 100).
What are taxes like in Eureka?
California collects about $3,279 in state income tax per resident, and homeowners here pay about 0.65% of their home's value in property tax each year.
Is Eureka safe?
Violent crime is well above the national rate (1.9× in FBI 2019 data).
How are the schools in Eureka?
Public schools in Eureka test well below the US average in math and reading (2018–19 state tests, put on one national scale with NAEP), with about 22 students per teacher.
What is the weather like in Eureka?
Eureka has mild winters: winter days average around 55°F and summer days around 63°F.
Does Eureka get natural disasters?
Natural disaster risk is high, mainly from earthquakes and tsunamis: 6 federally declared disasters have hit the county since 2000, and FEMA expects about 3.95 deaths or injuries per 100,000 residents a year.
What is the nearest major airport to Eureka?
The nearest major airport is SMF, about 199 mi away.
How Eureka scores
Each bar compares Eureka with the other 1,990 places in Best Life Fit Me. A dot shows where it sits between two ends, such as major metro and small town; neither end is better. Coloured bars run from poor (red) to excellent (green).
Places like Eureka
These places have the most similar overall profile across all 24 aspects.
The circle is each place's all-round score out of 100: the average of its 15 quality scores, from red (poor) to green (excellent).
Nearby
See all the best places to live in California.
Is Eureka right for you?
Answer 27 quick questions and see how it ranks against your priorities.