IntelliMoveTake the quiz →Living in Country around Big Sur, CA
Country around Big Sur is a rural area of about 1,464 people in Monterey County, California, named for the post office its ZIP code uses. It's about 45 miles from Salinas, CA and 88 miles from San Jose, CA, the nearest major city. Summer highs average 68°F and winter highs 51°F, with almost no snow. The typical home is valued around $1.9M and rent runs about $1k a month.
1,464people
$1.9MTypical home
$1,116/moRent
68° / 51°Summer / winter
0"Snow
320Sunny days
65Rain/snow days
Is Near Big Sur right for you?
Take the 5-minute quiz and see your match — and how it stacks up against 34,000 other places.
Size & setting
- Rural — about 1,464 people spread over the area
- A standalone small town, not a suburb
- About 9 people per sq mi
- 88 mi to San Jose, CA
- 45 mi to Salinas, CA
- 24 mi to the nearest town of 10k+
Money
- Typical home $1.9M (≈$12k/mo)
- Median rent $1,116/mo
- Median household income $87k
- Property tax about 0.3% of value
- 2.0% unemployment
Weather
- Summer highs around 68°F
- Winter highs around 51°F
- Dry summers (dew point 47°F)
- 320 sunny days a year (173 totally clear)
- 45 cloudy days a year
- 23 of 90 winter days are gray
- 65 days a year with rain or snow
- Basically no snow
- Snow days are rare
- 3 days a year over 100°F
- Rarely drops below 10°F
- Usually calm
Safety
- About average violent crime (417 per 100k), county-wide
- Low property crime (1,101 per 100k), county-wide
People
- Median age 38
- 36% of households have kids
- 20% are 65 or older
- 39% have a college degree
- Mixed community
- 9% of residents are college students
Getting around & homes
- Average commute 20 min
- 28% walk or take transit to work
- 41 mi to MRY airport
- 93 mi to SJC (major hub)
- 92 mi to the nearest Amtrak station
- 75% single-family homes
- Typical home built around 1978
- 92% of homes have broadband
Outdoors
- Mountain country
- Elevation 3,412 ft
- 3 mi to the ocean
- 120 mi to a big lake
- Trailhead in town
- 151 mi to the nearest ski area
- Campground in town
- 1 golf course within 25 mi
Things to do
- 3 sit-down restaurants within 25 mi
- Few or no bars within 25 mi
- Few or no coffee shops within 25 mi
- No music venues & clubs within 25 mi
- 2 museums within 25 mi
- No breweries & distilleries within 25 mi
- 24 mi to the nearest farmers market
Everyday
- Schools in the top 32% of California districts (reading)
- 24 mi to the nearest grocery store
- 26 mi to the nearest ER hospital
- 39 mi to a 4–5★ hospital
- 25 mi to the nearest vet
- 28 mi to the nearest dog park
- 2 congregations per 10k people
- 43 mi to the nearest college
Politics
- Monterey County: D+30 in 2024
- California: D+20 in 2024
Natural hazards
- Very low hurricane risk
- Very low tornado risk
- High wildfire risk
- High earthquake risk
- Very low flood risk
- High drought risk
- Very low winter storm risk
- Moderate heat wave risk
- Very low volcano risk
Some of this place's Census numbers are blended with county figures because its survey sample is small.