IntelliMoveTake the quiz →
Small city

Living in Live Oak, CA

Live Oak is a small city of 16,911 people in Santa Cruz County, California. It's about 3 miles from Santa Cruz, CA and 23 miles from San Jose, CA, the nearest major city. Summer highs average 75°F and winter highs 63°F, with almost no snow. The typical home is valued around $1.0M and rent runs about $2k a month.

16,911people
$1.0MTypical home
$2,421/moRent
75° / 63°Summer / winter
0"Snow
320Sunny days
65Rain/snow days

Is Live Oak right for you?

Take the 5-minute quiz and see your match — and how it stacks up against 34,000 other places.

Take the quiz →Open in the app

Size & setting

  • Small city of 16,911
  • Part of a metro area
  • About 5,215 people per sq mi
  • 23 mi to San Jose, CA
  • 3 mi to Santa Cruz, CA
  • Has its own stores and services

Money

  • Typical home $1.0M (≈$6,402/mo)
  • Median rent $2,421/mo
  • Median household income $104k
  • Property tax about 0.7% of value
  • 4.0% unemployment

Weather

  • Summer highs around 75°F
  • Winter highs around 63°F
  • Comfortable summers (dew point 51°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
  • Rarely hits 100°F
  • Rarely drops below 10°F
  • Usually calm

Safety

  • About average violent crime (312 per 100k), county-wide
  • Low property crime (1,282 per 100k), county-wide

People

  • Median age 42
  • 26% of households have kids
  • 20% are 65 or older
  • 41% have a college degree
  • Very diverse community
  • 11% of residents are college students

Getting around & homes

  • Average commute 24 min
  • 6% walk or take transit to work
  • 26 mi to SJC airport
  • 26 mi to SJC (major hub)
  • 40 mi to the nearest Amtrak station
  • 62% single-family homes
  • Typical home built around 1978
  • 95% of homes have broadband

Outdoors

  • Hilly terrain
  • Elevation 121 ft
  • Right on the coast
  • 126 mi to a big lake
  • 2 mi to the nearest trailhead
  • 135 mi to the nearest ski area
  • 2 mi to the nearest campground
  • 32 golf courses within 25 mi

Things to do

  • 1,043 sit-down restaurants within 25 mi
  • 95 bars within 25 mi
  • 457 coffee shops within 25 mi
  • 22 music venues & clubs within 25 mi
  • 52 museums within 25 mi
  • 15 breweries & distilleries within 25 mi
  • Farmers market in town

Everyday

  • Schools in the top 32% of California districts (reading)
  • Grocery store in town
  • 3 mi to the nearest ER hospital
  • 3 mi to a 4–5★ hospital
  • Vet in town
  • Dog park in town
  • 4 congregations per 10k people
  • 2 mi to the nearest college

Politics

  • Santa Cruz County: D+54 in 2024
  • California: D+20 in 2024

Natural hazards

  • Very low hurricane risk
  • Very low tornado risk
  • Moderate wildfire risk
  • High earthquake risk
  • Moderate flood risk
  • Moderate drought risk
  • Very low winter storm risk
  • Moderate heat wave risk
  • Very low volcano risk

Places near Live Oak

More places in California →