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Compare city quality of life facts and figures for some of the best places to retire in California.

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blank	Monterey	Napa	Palm Springs	South Lake Tahoe	San Luis Obispo	Newport Beach	Half Moon Bay	Bishop	99-City Avg
California Cities
City Type
City Type	West Coast, College Town, Wine Country	Lakes & Rivers, Wine Country	Mountains, Golf	Lakes & Rivers, Mountains, Casinos	West Coast, College Town, Wine Country	West Coast	West Coast, Mountains, Wine Country	Mountains, National Parks	na
Population (2016 est.)
Population (Current)	28,454	80,416	47,689	21,717	47,536	86,688	12,697	3,782	78,040
Population (1990)	31,954	61,842	40,181	21,585	41,958	66,643	8,886	3,475	49,272
Land Area (sq mi)	8	18	94	10	13	24	6	2	36
Persons Per Square Mile	3,557	4,468	507	2,172	3,657	3,612	2,116	1,891	2,151
Home Prices
2018	$804,639	$672,888	$449,563	$479,963	$677,902	$2,071,844	$1,260,824	$357,324	$419,000
Total Appreciation ('01 to '18)	71.3%	88.1%	112.3%	74.6%	114.9%	165.6%	89.1%	51.7%	76.0%
Annual Appreciation ('17 to '18)	6.8%	-0.8%	4.5%	12.4%	10.5%	-0.3%	19.4%	4.5%	6.0%
Avg Annual Appreciation ('01 to '18)	3.4%	4.1%	4.9%	3.6%	4.9%	6.3%	4.1%	2.8%	3.8%
Big City Prices ('18)	$1,300,000	$989,000	$629,000	$386,000	$629,000	$830,000	$989,000	$386,000	$340,000
Bargain Index	50%	55%	58%	101%	87%	202%	103%	75%	101%
Big City	San Jose	San Francisco Bay area	Los Angeles	Reno	Los Angeles	Anaheim-Santa Ana	San Francisco Bay area	Reno	na
Monthly Rent	$2,074	$2,286	$1,618	$1,580	$2,076	$2,626	$4,070	$1,427	$1,495
Price/Rent Index	26.1	19.8	18.7	20.4	21.9	53.0	20.8	16.8	19.0
Cost of Living (2018)
Cost of Living	163%	154%	117%	119%	150%	303%	253%	103%	109%
Air Quality - Annual Avg (2001-2017)
Good Days	341	284	47	241	192	126	289	225	72%
Moderate Days	23	78	178	87	154	213	73	107	25%
Unhealthy for Sensitive Persons Days	1	2	101	31	19	23	2	16	3%
Unhealthy Days	0	0	35	5	0	2	0	5	0%
Very Unhealthy Days	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	12	0%
Water Quality (2002-2014)
Good	7%	5%	47%	28%	22%	2%	5%	2%	36%
Threatened	0%	14%	20%	3%	0%	11%	9%	7%	2%
Impaired	93%	82%	34%	70%	78%	87%	86%	91%	62%
Walkability
Walk Score®	51	46	35	39	51	46	83	72	45
Nearest Large City
Distance to Nearest City	75 miles	42 miles	54 miles	61 miles	122 miles	12 miles	30 miles	204 miles	72 miles
City	San Jose	Oakland	San Bernardino	Reno	Bakersfield	Irvine	San Francisco	Reno	na
Recreation
National Parks	14	13	2	1	3	6	15	5	7
National Campgrounds	5	13	37	106	15	64	3	96	26
State Parks	30	18	5	18	10	14	63	1	11
Medical Care (2016)
Accredited Hospitals	1	3	2	1	3	10	3	1	4
Building Permits (single family homes)
2016	2	122	137	35	93	108	16	39	346
2015	3	98	121	29	151	99	17	8	324
Gain ('15 to '16)	-33%	24%	13%	21%	-38%	9%	-6%	388%	6%
blank	Monterey	Napa	Palm Springs	South Lake Tahoe	San Luis Obispo	Newport Beach	Half Moon Bay	Bishop	99-City Avg

blank	Monterey	Napa	Palm Springs	South Lake Tahoe	San Luis Obispo	Newport Beach	Half Moon Bay	Bishop	99-City Avg
Population Distribution (2010)
Median Age (yrs)	37	37	52	36	27	44	43	39	37
White	78.3%	75.1%	75.7%	73.5%	84.5%	89.0%	75.8%	73.9%	80.7%
Black or African American	2.8%	0.6%	4.4%	0.9%	1.2%	1.2%	0.7%	0.6%	7.2%
Native American Indian and Alaska Native	0.5%	0.8%	1.0%	1.1%	0.6%	0.6%	0.6%	2.3%	0.8%
Asian	7.9%	2.3%	4.4%	5.5%	5.2%	2.9%	4.3%	1.6%	3.6%
Native Hawaiian	0.3%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.0%	0.2%
Other Race	5.0%	17.2%	11.1%	15.1%	4.4%	3.0%	15.1%	18.6%	4.4%
Multiple Races	5.1%	3.7%	3.1%	3.7%	4.0%	3.1%	3.4%	2.9%	3.0%
Hispanic or Latino	13.7%	37.6%	25.3%	31.1%	14.7%	10.1%	31.5%	30.9%	11.6%
Income and Housing (2010)
Family Income	$75,482	$73,392	$51,920	$52,253	$74,080	$153,446	$114,107	$62,813	$69,596
Occupied Housing	90%	93%	65%	59%	93%	88%	94%	91%	83%
Vacant Housing	10%	7%	35%	41%	7%	12%	6%	9%	17%
Home Ownership	36%	57%	59%	39%	39%	55%	71%	39%	55%
Persons Per Family	2.80	3.30	2.80	3.10	2.80	2.80	3.20	3.10	2.90
Taxes (2018)
Local and State	8.5%	8.5%	8.5%	8.5%	8.5%	8.5%	8.5%	8.5%	6.8%
Local, State and Federal	113 days	113 days	113 days	113 days	113 days	113 days	113 days	113 days	113 days
Climate - Average Temperatures (1971-2000)
Climate Type	Temperate & Dry	Temperate & Dry	Warm & Dry	Cool & Dry	Temperate & Dry	Temperate & Dry	Temperate & Dry	Cool & Dry	Temperate & Humid
January Low Temp	43 F	39 F	44 F	15 F	42 F	48 F	43 F	19 F	27 F
July High Temp	68 F	83 F	108 F	79 F	80 F	71 F	65 F	83 F	86 F
Annual Precipitation	20 in	27 in	5 in	20 in	24 in	12 in	28 in	13 in	35 in
Elevation	385 ft	35 ft	425 ft	6,254 ft	315 ft	10 ft	16 ft	6,797 ft	1,652 ft
Natural Hazard Risk
Total Hazard Risk	Higher	Higher	Higher	Higher	Higher	Higher	Higher	Higher	Moderate
Earthquake	70%	90%	100%	70%	40%	80%	80%	90%	10.9%
Tsunami	Risk	No Risk	No Risk	No Risk	Risk	No Risk	Risk	No Risk	No Risk
Hurricane	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	10
Flood	Very High	Very High	Very High	Very High	Very High	Very High	Very High	Very High	Very High
Tornado	Very Low	Very Low	Very Low	Very Low	Very Low	Very Low	Very Low	Very Low	Low
Volcano	No Risk	Low Ash Fall	Low Ash Fall	High Ash Fall	No Risk	Low Ash Fall	Low Ash Fall	High Volcanic	No Risk
Wildfire	High	High	High	High	High	High	Low	High	Low
Man-Made Hazard Risk (Nuclear)
Nearby Reactors	0	0	2	0	2	2	0	0	2
Crimes per 10,000 Population - Annual Avg (2001-2017)
Violent Crimes	54	36	69	58	36	15	16	68	40
Property Crimes	396	238	599	234	402	277	190	408	397
Home Energy Use - Annual Avg (1971-2000)
Heating Degree Days	3,092	2,689	951	8,300	2,138	1,719	3,754	6,513	4,662
Cooling Degree Days	74	529	4,224	38	476	543	11	281	1,253
blank	Monterey	Napa	Palm Springs	South Lake Tahoe	San Luis Obispo	Newport Beach	Half Moon Bay	Bishop	99-City Avg

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