Best PlacesCentral Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Central Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Central Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz ranks 1,739th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Central Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Central Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz's strengths and weaknesses
Where Central Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 96% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than 94% of neighborhoods
- Low property taxBetter than 90% of neighborhoods
- Nice weatherabout 203 pleasant days a year, better than 88% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than 85% of neighborhoods
Where Central Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 8% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 12% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$1,701 a month, better than only 13% of neighborhoods
- Local economyBetter than only 14% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Central Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz
A household needs to earn about $314,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Central Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $98,145, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Central Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz's effective rate of 0.54%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Central Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz
Central Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz runs younger than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Central Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz.
Who works in Central Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, and how
Work in Central Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in Central Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz
Central Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz has more restaurants and bars per resident than 77% of neighborhoods and more parkland per resident than 93% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 2 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Central Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Central Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, month by month
Central Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz sees roughly 203 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 73 degrees. January highs sit near 63, with lows near 40. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 63° | 50° | 40° |
| April | 68° | 55° | 44° |
| July | 73° | 60° | 53° |
| October | 77° | 60° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Central Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz
Norman Y Mineta San Jose International sits about 27 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 5.3 million passengers in 2025, with 67 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Central Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz
Schools across Central Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz average a B, better than 75% of neighborhoods.
Top high schools
- Santa Cruz HighA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Central Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Central Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Central Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Central Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz
Is Central Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Central Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz ranks 1,739th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on clean air, biking, and low property taxes, and lowest on cell coverage and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Central Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,245,398. The overall cost of living runs about 41% above the national average. Set against a $98,145 median income, cost of living beats 37% of neighborhoods.
Is Central Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz safe?
Yes, Central Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz is safer than 58% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $438 per resident a year.
Compare Central Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Central Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Central Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Central Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Central Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Central Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Central Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Central Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Central Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.