Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.
Place dossier plate
SheetCA-GROVER-BEACH-CA · Grover Beach, CA 12,687 pop · income 64th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Grover Beach
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Grover Beach on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Lindsay · lowest
50,563
Lindsay · lowest
50,563 median HH income
29.7% of the leader · rank #1
Warfield · near
82,530
Warfield · near
82,530 median HH income
48.4% of the leader · rank #2
Santa Clara · near
82,530
Santa Clara · near
82,530 median HH income
48.4% of the leader · rank #3
Grover Beach · this city
82,534
Grover Beach · this city
82,534 median HH income
48.4% of the leader · rank #4
Arabi · near
82,540
Arabi · near
82,540 median HH income
48.4% of the leader · rank #5
Ontario · near
82,557
Ontario · near
82,557 median HH income
48.4% of the leader · rank #6
San Anselmo · highest
170,457
San Anselmo · highest
170,457 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Grover Beach on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 12,687.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Grover Beach - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Grover Beach lands in the 64th percentile for household income and the 47th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
64th
percentile, household income
93rd
percentile, home value
88th
percentile, median rent
47th
percentile, safety
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Grover Beach, CA
California's Grover Beach is a small town, with 12,687 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Median household income here is $82,534 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 10.4%. Typical homes in Grover Beach are valued around $691,900, and the median resident age is 40.5 years. 26.9% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 63.6% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 145 residential building permits were authorized in Grover Beach (Building Boom), up 190% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Grover Beach reports a comparatively low crime rate: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 1480.5 total incidents per 100,000 residents here, below the national average (agency reporting is voluntary, so this measures reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
California carries a cost-of-living premium: the state registers 110.7 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Well Above Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $2,053 monthly. Monthly utility costs average around $275 across California, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 88.7 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Very High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Grover Beach's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from work and mobility to schools and households to comparison shortlist to reported crime to population change to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Grover Beach, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, annual population history, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Grover Beach?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 72.6%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
What does the education layer cover for Grover Beach?
The NCES join finds 3 public schools within the city match. 26.9% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
Which cities make useful reference points for Grover Beach?
Within California, the closest population matches are Marysville (12,703 residents, $58,150 income); San Anselmo (12,711 residents, $170,457 income); Diamond Springs (12,642 residents, $83,288 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Tucson Estates, AZ (12,687 residents); Jerome, ID (12,689 residents); Edgewood, WA (12,683 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Grover Beach?
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 1480.5 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 35% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Population change
Is Grover Beach growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Recent estimates point downward. A falling count can reflect migration, household size, annexation boundaries, or estimation noise, so it is a prompt to inspect the full series rather than a claim about local economic health.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -211 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -1.7% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 145 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Period change
-1.7%
2025 estimate
12,456
2020 estimate
12,667
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
How far does income reach against housing in Grover Beach?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 8.4 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 10.4%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
Household income
$82,534
Home value
$691,900
Value / income
8.4×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Above median income · poverty 10.4% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
110.7 (US=100)
Highest-decile cost · BEA RPP 2024, California average
F
City profile score · Grover Beach, CA
38/100
5 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Household income C+
$82,534
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share C-
26.9%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate F
10.4%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime F
320 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Cost of living F
110.7 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Grover Beach profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 62/100 (C+) · $82,534
Bachelor's+ share: 53/100 (C-) · 26.9%
Poverty rate: 38/100 (F) · 10.4%
Violent crime: 30/100 (F) · 320 /100k
Cost of living: 6/100 (F) · 110.7 index
Where Grover Beach sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Grover Beach's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Grover Beach highlighted among 9 peers.Read the chart values
Grover Beach, CA (this city): home $691,900, crime 1,481/100k
Jerome, ID : home $214,900, crime 806/100k
Edgewood, WA : home $664,000, crime 2,236/100k
Kelso, WA : home $302,300, crime 2,163/100k
Oakland, NJ : home $567,200, crime 371/100k
Marysville, CA : home $282,700, crime 2,806/100k
Emeryville, CA : home $598,300, crime 14,719/100k
Kingsburg, CA : home $356,900, crime 1,498/100k
Lindsay, CA : home $268,400, crime 1,904/100k
How does Grover Beach compare to other US cities?
Where Grover Beach sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income64% higher than other cities
Home value93% pricier than other cities
Median rent88% pricier than other cities
Safety47% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just California and the picture shifts: Grover Beach ranks #137 of 441 California cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Grover Beach against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to California only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
California-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Grover Beach near the bottom of California's cities
Among the 1,458 California cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Grover Beach ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Grover Beach only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#741 of 1,338
45th percentile in California
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,458
0th percentile in California
Median Home Value
#454 of 1,343
66th percentile in California
Poverty Rate
#470 of 1,450
67th percentile in California
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#693 of 1,458
52nd percentile in California
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within California only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
64th percentile nationally for median household income · 47th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Grover Beach's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Grover Beach's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Grover Beach's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$691,9007th percentilemore affordable than 7% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Grover Beach's home-value-to-income ratio: 8.4×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#15,134 of 15,516
More affordable than 2% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#3,222 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 8.4×, Grover Beach sits in the pressured band:
national rank #15,134 of 15,516 and #3,222 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median, a comparison flag, not a verdict on any household.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$82,534Grover Beach, CA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Grover Beach, CA median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Grover Beach, CA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)26.9%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)10.4%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)63.6%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
12,687
Median Income
$82,534
Median Home Value
$691,900
Median Age
40.5
Poverty Rate
10.4%
Labor force participation
63.6%
Bachelor's Degree+
26.9%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1480.5
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
320.1
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1160.4
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Schools
Total Schools
3
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Grover Beach's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
12,667 residents
2021
12,704 residents
2022
12,620 residents
2023
12,543 residents
2024
12,517 residents
2025
12,456 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
145
housing units authorized
Single-Family
18
detached homes
Multifamily
127
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
11.4
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
50
31
19
$9.0M
2020
9
9
0
$2.0M
2021
22
20
2
$4.9M
2022
10
10
0
$2.3M
2023
14
12
2
$3.5M
2024
145
18
127
$33.6M
Permit volume increased 190% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
72.6%
Carpool
7.4%
Public Transit
2.3%
Walk
3.1%
Work from Home
13.3%
Other
1.3%
Based on 6,503 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
California statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $275
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across California at $275 (electricity about $150 , water and sewer about $70 ).
These are California statewide averages, not a meter reading for Grover Beach. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
California's BEA cost-of-living index is 110.7 (Well Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Grover Beach is $2,053/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to California statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 88.7 / 100 (Very High).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a California statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Grover Beach sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Grover Beach compares to similar-size California cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, FBI UCR, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.