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Place dossier plate
SheetCA-SANTA-ROSA-CA · Santa Rosa, CA 177,216 pop · income 76th pct · 122 tracts
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 Santa Rosa
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Santa Rosa on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Chattanooga · lowest
61,028
Chattanooga · lowest
61,028 median HH income
47.2% of the leader · rank #1
Viera East · near
97,386
Viera East · near
97,386 median HH income
75.3% of the leader · rank #2
Waterman · near
97,386
Waterman · near
97,386 median HH income
75.3% of the leader · rank #3
Loop · near
97,396
Loop · near
97,396 median HH income
75.3% of the leader · rank #4
Santa Rosa · this city
97,410
Santa Rosa · this city
97,410 median HH income
75.3% of the leader · rank #5
New Berlin · near
97,414
New Berlin · near
97,414 median HH income
75.3% of the leader · rank #6
Cary · highest
129,399
Cary · highest
129,399 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 Santa Rosa 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: 177,216.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Santa Rosa - the verdict
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Santa Rosa places in the 76th percentile for household income and the 41st percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
76th
percentile, household income
92nd
percentile, home value
88th
percentile, median rent
41st
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: Santa Rosa, CA
Santa Rosa is a mid-sized U.S. city in California, home to 177,216 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Santa Rosa households earn a median of $97,410 annually, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 5.4%. Home values in Santa Rosa run a median of $685,000, and the median resident age is 40.5 years. About 34.8% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 62.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 292 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Construction Slowdown), down 75% from five years earlier. Santa Rosa reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR reporting places total crime at 1662.6 incidents per 100,000 residents, below the national average (voluntary agency reporting, reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). NOAA puts Santa Rosa's yearly average temperature at 59.0°F with 31.5 inches of precipitation per year.
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. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $2,053 per month statewide. Monthly utility costs average around $275 across California, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. Natural-hazard exposure scores 88.7 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Very High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Santa Rosa'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 population change to schools and households to housing and income to climate and hazard context to work and mobility to within-city variation to reported crime to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Santa Rosa, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, annual population history, local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Population change
Is Santa Rosa growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
The recent population line is broadly flat. That makes the composition of change more important than the headline count: housing turnover, household size, and age structure can shift even when the total barely moves.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +1,499 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +0.8% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 292 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
What does the education layer cover for Santa Rosa?
The NCES join finds 63 public schools within the city match. 34.8% 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.
What can 122 Census tracts reveal inside Santa Rosa?
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
PlainCities matches 122 Census tracts to this city.
Which cities make useful reference points for Santa Rosa?
Within California, the closest population matches are Elk Grove (177,221 residents, $122,229 income); Ontario (178,347 residents, $82,806 income); Rancho Cucamonga (174,693 residents, $109,511 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Eugene, OR (177,520 residents); Cary, NC (176,686 residents); Salem, OR (176,666 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.
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.
Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Santa Rosa?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 7.0 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 5.4%, 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
$97,410
Home value
$685,000
Value / income
7.0×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
What physical conditions frame life in Santa Rosa?
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 59.0°F, with 31.5 inches of precipitation. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for California is 88.7 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
Mean temperature
59.0°F
Annual precipitation
31.5 in
FEMA risk index (state avg)
88.7
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
What does the journey to work look like in Santa Rosa?
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 73.1%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Public transit
1.1%
Work from home
10.5%
Drive alone
73.1%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 88,876 workers age 16+.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Santa Rosa?
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 1662.6 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 27% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Property rate
1320.0
Violent rate
342.6
Total reported rate
1662.6
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
Highest-decile cost · BEA RPP 2024, California average
D
City profile score · Santa Rosa, CA
48/100
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 B+
$97,410
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share B-
34.8%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate C+
5.4%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime F
343 /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.
Santa Rosa profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 76/100 (B+) · $97,410
Bachelor's+ share: 66/100 (B-) · 34.8%
Poverty rate: 63/100 (C+) · 5.4%
Violent crime: 27/100 (F) · 343 /100k
Cost of living: 6/100 (F) · 110.7 index
Where Santa Rosa sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Santa Rosa'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 - Santa Rosa highlighted among 13 peers.Read the chart values
Santa Rosa, CA (this city): home $685,000, crime 1,663/100k
Eugene, OR : home $435,400, crime 3,574/100k
Cary, NC : home $525,200, crime 1,388/100k
Salem, OR : home $382,400, crime 3,336/100k
Aurora, IL : home $260,400, crime 1,518/100k
Clarksville, TN : home $236,100, crime 2,042/100k
Chattanooga, TN : home $259,200, crime 4,766/100k
Elk Grove, CA : home $603,400, crime 1,422/100k
Ontario, CA : home $568,000, crime 2,090/100k
Rancho Cucamonga, CA : home $694,400, crime 2,105/100k
Oceanside, CA : home $702,000, crime 2,131/100k
Garden Grove, CA : home $765,500, crime 2,035/100k
Lancaster, CA : home $409,100, crime 2,755/100k
How does Santa Rosa compare to other US cities?
Here's how Santa Rosa stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income76% higher than other cities
Home value92% pricier than other cities
Median rent88% pricier than other cities
Safety41% 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: Santa Rosa ranks #176 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 Santa Rosa 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 Santa Rosa near the bottom of California's cities
Among the 1,458 California cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Santa Rosa ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Santa Rosa only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#542 of 1,338
59th percentile in California
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,458
0th percentile in California
Median Home Value
#458 of 1,343
66th percentile in California
Poverty Rate
#803 of 1,450
44th percentile in California
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#529 of 1,458
64th 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
76th percentile nationally for median household income · 41st percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Santa Rosa's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Santa Rosa'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 Santa Rosa's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$685,0008th percentilemore affordable than 8% 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
Santa Rosa's home-value-to-income ratio: 7.0×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#14,680 of 15,516
More affordable than 5% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#651 of 750
Mid-size cities (50,000–199,999)
At 7.0×, Santa Rosa sits in the pressured band:
national rank #14,680 of 15,516 and #651 of 750mid-size cities (50,000–199,999).
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
$97,410Santa Rosa, CA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Santa Rosa, 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 Santa Rosa, CA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)34.8%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)5.4%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)62.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
177,216
Median Income
$97,410
Median Home Value
$685,000
Median Age
40.5
Poverty Rate
5.4%
Labor force participation
62.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
34.8%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1662.6
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
342.6
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1320.0
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.
Climate
Avg Temperature
59.0°F
Annual Precipitation
31.5"
Annual Snowfall
0.0"
Schools
Total Schools
63
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Santa Rosa's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
177,938 residents
2021
177,374 residents
2022
176,182 residents
2023
176,493 residents
2024
177,940 residents
2025
179,437 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
292
housing units authorized
Single-Family
292
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
1.6
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
1,190
939
251
$471.6M
2020
628
440
188
$214.0M
2021
1,451
420
1,031
$321.6M
2022
1,197
286
911
$296.5M
2023
1,346
441
905
$343.6M
2024
292
292
0
$107.6M
Permit volume decreased 75% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
73.1%
Carpool
11.1%
Public Transit
1.1%
Walk
2.3%
Work from Home
10.5%
Other
1.9%
Based on 88,876 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 Santa Rosa. 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 Santa Rosa 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 Santa Rosa sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Santa Rosa 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, NOAA Climate Normals, 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.