IntelliMoveTake the quiz →Living in Scotts Valley, CA
Scotts Valley is a big small town of 12,044 people in Santa Cruz County, California. It's about 6 miles from Santa Cruz, CA and 20 miles from San Jose, CA, the nearest major city. Summer highs average 81°F and winter highs 62°F, with almost no snow. The typical home is valued around $1.1M and rent runs about $2k a month.
12,044people
$1.1MTypical home
$2,491/moRent
81° / 62°Summer / winter
0"Snow
270Sunny days
69Rain/snow days
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Size & setting
- Big small town of 12,044
- Part of a metro area
- About 2,608 people per sq mi
- 20 mi to San Jose, CA
- 6 mi to Santa Cruz, CA
- Has its own stores and services
Money
- Typical home $1.1M (≈$6,973/mo)
- Median rent $2,491/mo
- Median household income $144k
- Property tax about 0.7% of value
- 3.0% unemployment
Weather
- Summer highs around 81°F
- Winter highs around 62°F
- Comfortable summers (dew point 51°F)
- 270 sunny days a year (95 totally clear)
- 95 cloudy days a year
- 34 of 90 winter days are gray
- 69 days a year with rain or snow
- Basically no snow
- Snow days are rare
- 6 days a year over 100°F
- Rarely drops below 10°F
- Usually calm
Safety
- Low violent crime (227 per 100k)
- About average property crime (1,520 per 100k)
People
- Median age 47
- 28% of households have kids
- 23% are 65 or older
- 55% have a college degree
- Mixed community
- 8% of residents are college students
Getting around & homes
- Average commute 27 min
- 3% walk or take transit to work
- 22 mi to SJC airport
- 22 mi to SJC (major hub)
- 35 mi to the nearest Amtrak station
- 69% single-family homes
- Typical home built around 1986
- 98% of homes have broadband
Outdoors
- Hilly terrain
- Elevation 577 ft
- 6 mi to the ocean
- 128 mi to a big lake
- 2 mi to the nearest trailhead
- 135 mi to the nearest ski area
- Campground in town
- 37 golf courses within 25 mi
Things to do
- 1,590 sit-down restaurants within 25 mi
- 129 bars within 25 mi
- 704 coffee shops within 25 mi
- 31 music venues & clubs within 25 mi
- 67 museums within 25 mi
- 17 breweries & distilleries within 25 mi
- Farmers market in town
Everyday
- Schools in the top 30% of California districts (reading)
- Grocery store in town
- 2 mi to the nearest ER hospital
- 2 mi to a 4–5★ hospital
- Vet in town
- Dog park in town
- 4 congregations per 10k people
- 5 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