Living in Santa Cruz, CA
Beach town in California
Santa Cruz is a beach town in California, home to about 61,000 people, with 2.3 million living within 31 mi. Day to day, you can walk or take transit almost everywhere. Life moves at a fast pace, and homes are mostly apartments.
Is Santa Cruz a good place to live? Pros and cons
👍 Pros
- Great outdoors: coast or a lake close by
- Mild summers: highs around 75°F
- Dog-friendly: 12 dog parks within 9 mi
- Easy flying: SJC is 27 mi away
👎 Cons
- Pricey housing: a typical 3-bedroom home is about $1.43M, and rent is $5,380 a month
- 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 Santa Cruz ranks against your own priorities.
Key facts
Living in Santa Cruz: common questions
What is the cost of living in Santa Cruz?
A typical 3-bedroom home is worth about $1.43M, and a 3-bedroom rents for about $5,380 a month including utilities. Overall living costs are above the US average (index 110, where the US is 100).
What are taxes like in Santa Cruz?
California collects about $3,279 in state income tax per resident, and homeowners here pay about 0.56% of their home's value in property tax each year.
Is Santa Cruz safe?
Violent crime is somewhat above the national rate (1.6× in FBI 2019 data).
What is the weather like in Santa Cruz?
Santa Cruz has mild winters: winter days average around 63°F and summer days around 75°F.
Does Santa Cruz get natural disasters?
Natural disaster risk is moderate, mainly from earthquakes and flooding: 10 federally declared disasters have hit the county since 2000, and FEMA expects about 1.46 deaths or injuries per 100,000 residents a year.
What is the nearest major airport to Santa Cruz?
The nearest major airport is SJC, about 27 mi away.
How Santa Cruz scores
Each bar compares Santa Cruz with the other 1143 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).
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Nearby
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Is Santa Cruz right for you?
Answer 27 quick questions and see how it ranks against your priorities.