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Mid-size city

Living in Watsonville, CA

Watsonville is a mid-size city of 51,712 people in Santa Cruz County, California. It's about 15 miles from Santa Cruz, CA and 26 miles from San Jose, CA, the nearest major city. Summer highs average 72°F and winter highs 62°F, with almost no snow. The typical home is valued around $686k and rent runs about $2k a month.

51,712people
$686kTypical home
$1,889/moRent
72° / 62°Summer / winter
0"Snow
320Sunny days
66Rain/snow days

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Size & setting

  • Mid-size city of 51,712
  • Part of a metro area
  • About 7,620 people per sq mi
  • 26 mi to San Jose, CA
  • 15 mi to Santa Cruz, CA
  • Has its own stores and services

Money

  • Typical home $686k (≈$4,326/mo)
  • Median rent $1,889/mo
  • Median household income $78k
  • Property tax about 0.6% of value
  • 8.0% unemployment

Weather

  • Summer highs around 72°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
  • 66 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 (413 per 100k)
  • Low property crime (993 per 100k)

People

  • Median age 34
  • 42% of households have kids
  • 13% are 65 or older
  • 13% have a college degree
  • Mixed community
  • 7% of residents are college students

Getting around & homes

  • Average commute 29 min
  • 2% walk or take transit to work
  • 24 mi to MRY airport
  • 32 mi to SJC (major hub)
  • 46 mi to the nearest Amtrak station
  • 60% single-family homes
  • Typical home built around 1977
  • 90% of homes have broadband

Outdoors

  • Gently rolling terrain
  • Elevation 98 ft
  • 5 mi to the ocean
  • 115 mi to a big lake
  • 11 mi to the nearest trailhead
  • 127 mi to the nearest ski area
  • 4 mi to the nearest campground
  • 38 golf courses within 25 mi

Things to do

  • 750 sit-down restaurants within 25 mi
  • 64 bars within 25 mi
  • 370 coffee shops within 25 mi
  • 7 music venues & clubs within 25 mi
  • 51 museums within 25 mi
  • 10 breweries & distilleries within 25 mi
  • Farmers market in town

Everyday

  • Schools in the bottom 18% of California districts (reading)
  • Grocery store in town
  • 2 mi to the nearest ER hospital
  • 14 mi to a 4–5★ hospital
  • 6 mi to the nearest vet
  • 3 mi to the nearest dog park
  • 4 congregations per 10k people
  • 13 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

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