Living in Rio del Mar, CA
Rio del Mar is a big small town of 9,201 people in Santa Cruz County, California. It's about 8 miles from Santa Cruz, CA and 24 miles from San Jose, CA, the nearest major city. Summer highs average 73°F and winter highs 62°F, with almost no snow. The typical home is valued around $1.3M and rent runs about $3k a month.
9,201people
$1.3MTypical home
$3,407/moRent
73° / 62°Summer / winter
0"Snow
320Sunny days
68Rain/snow days
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Size & setting
- Big small town of 9,201
- Part of a metro area
- About 3,067 people per sq mi
- 24 mi to San Jose, CA
- 8 mi to Santa Cruz, CA
- 4 mi to the nearest town of 10k+
Money
- Typical home $1.3M (≈$8,438/mo)
- Median rent $3,407/mo
- Median household income $160k
- Property tax about 0.6% of value
- 6.0% unemployment
Weather
- Summer highs around 73°F
- Winter highs around 62°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
- 68 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 51
- 22% of households have kids
- 25% are 65 or older
- 64% have a college degree
- Mixed community
- 7% of residents are college students
Getting around & homes
- Average commute 32 min
- 1% walk or take transit to work
- 26 mi to MRY airport
- 28 mi to SJC (major hub)
- 42 mi to the nearest Amtrak station
- 93% single-family homes
- Typical home built around 1973
- 96% of homes have broadband
Outdoors
- Hilly terrain
- Elevation 108 ft
- Right on the coast
- 121 mi to a big lake
- 7 mi to the nearest trailhead
- 131 mi to the nearest ski area
- Campground in town
- 35 golf courses within 25 mi
Things to do
- 1,001 sit-down restaurants within 25 mi
- 72 bars within 25 mi
- 455 coffee shops within 25 mi
- 6 music venues & clubs within 25 mi
- 54 museums within 25 mi
- 13 breweries & distilleries within 25 mi
- 5 mi to the nearest farmers market
Everyday
- Schools in the bottom 45% of California districts (reading)
- Grocery store in town
- 7 mi to the nearest ER hospital
- 8 mi to a 4–5★ hospital
- Vet in town
- 2 mi to the nearest dog park
- 4 congregations per 10k people
- 6 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