A typical home in each town, bought with 20% down at 6.3% for 30 years, plus property tax at the town’s own rate and insurance. Change the numbers to fit you.

Down paymentRate%

Grover Beach$4,450/mo

Typical home $774K (Zillow) · tax rate 0.60% · or rent about $2,061/mo · Housing →

Placerville$3,110/mo

Typical home $529K (Zillow) · tax rate 0.75% · or rent about $1,234/mo · Housing →

The difference: $1,340 a month, about $16,100 a year, between Grover Beach and Placerville.

Estimates, not a quote: your price, rate, tax bill and insurance will differ. Tax rate = the Census median tax bill over the median home value.

Report cards

Placerville places higher on 12 of 22 CA lists

Our letter grades for safety, schools and health, then every California ranking list both towns are on. A grade is one measure; read the page behind it.

Safety

B−Grover BeachSafer than 46% of U.S. towns C−PlacervilleSafer than 19% of U.S. towns

Schools

C−Grover BeachBetter than 18% of districts in the state B+PlacervilleBetter than 70% of districts in the state

Health

B−Grover BeachHealthier than 52% of U.S. towns BPlacervilleHealthier than 58% of U.S. towns

9Grover Beach

12Placerville

Lists won, of 22 where both are ranked. Ties go to nobody.

Most trailsOutdoors · 677 towns #219#642 Best schoolsSchools · 574 towns #557#202 Closest to a top hospitalHealth · 844 towns #498#19 Cheapest rentCost of living · 830 towns #485#103 Most walkableOutdoors · 841 towns #35#421 SafestSafety · 411 towns #111#298 Shortest commuteGetting around · 843 towns #84#425 Fastest growingGrowth · 816 towns #729#470

Left end = #1 in California. Showing the lists where the towns are furthest apart. All of Grover Beach’s rankings →

Life in each

What daily life feels like in each

The weather, the land, the history and the people, row by row. None of it is a grade: more snow is a plus to a skier.

Seasons

Grover BeachPlacerville

Snow a year0″—

January low46°F —

July high67°F —

Growing season (days)365d —

Hazard risk (U.S. pctl)78th 80th

Outdoors & history

Grover BeachPlacerville

Trails4 mi 1 mi

Conserved land12.3%5.6%

Settled1887 —

National Register places—9

Archive photos18 24

Famous people born here1 27

Community

Grover BeachPlacerville

Library hours a week—35 hrs

Posts this month0 0

Neighbors joined0 0

A dot marks the most on each row. Climate: NOAA 1991–2020 normals at the nearest station. Hazard risk: FEMA National Risk Index, expected yearly damage vs U.S. towns.

Where they are

250 miles apart

Straight-line miles between town centers.

Grover BeachCA PlacervilleCA

Grover Beach ↔ Placerville250 miles apart

Everything, side by side

What matters to you?

Pick a few. Those rows jump to the top and the best fit on each is marked. There’s no overall score: what matters is up to you.

Only big differences vs California average

Grover BeachPlacerville

People

Population 12,604Highest 10,762Lowest

Growth since 20102010 → 2020 census -3.5%Lowest CA: +6.1% +3.4%Highest CA: +6.1%

Median age 40.5±1.6Lowest 7% above CA 46.8±4.2Highest 23% above CA

Kids under 18 19.2%±3.3Highest CA: 22% 17.7%±3.8Lowest CA: 22%

Grover Beach and Placerville are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Age 65+ 17.8%±3Lowest CA: 15.7% 24.2%±4Highest CA: 15.7%

Placerville and Grover Beach are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Bachelor’s degree+adults 25+ 28.7%Highest CA: 37.1% 23.4%Lowest CA: 37.1%

Enrolled in collegeshare of residents 5.8%±1.8Highest CA: 7.6% 5.4%±2.7Lowest CA: 7.6%

Grover Beach and Placerville are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Cost of living

Household incomemedian $86,458±$22kHighest 13% below CA $67,274±$14kLowest 32% below CA

Grover Beach and Placerville are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Home valuemedian, owner-occupied $727,500±$51kHighest about the CA average $473,100±$17kLowest 36% below CA

Rentmedian gross, monthly $2,061±$102Highest about the CA average $1,234±$175Lowest 39% below CA

Property taxmedian, yearly $4,399Highest 14% below CA $3,563Lowest 30% below CA

Renters paying 30%+of income on rent 51.3%±12Lowest CA: 55.3% 65%±14Highest CA: 55.3%

Placerville and Grover Beach are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Below poverty line 11.8%Lowest CA: 12% 15.9%Highest CA: 12%

Housing

Homeownersof occupied homes 50.5%Lowest CA: 55.9% 58.3%Highest CA: 55.9%

Typical home builtmedian year 1978Highest 2 yrs newer than CA 1975Lowest 1 yr older than CA

Getting to work

Average commuteone way 20 minLowest 30% below CA 28 minHighest about the CA average

Work from home 14.7%±4.2Lowest CA: 17.2% 16%±5.1Highest CA: 17.2%

Placerville and Grover Beach are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Work in townworking residents 7.5%Lowest 17.7%Highest

Typical commute distancemedian, straight-line 11.3 miLowest 23.8 miHighest

Jobs per working residentover 1.5 = a job hub 0.52Lowest 1.90Highest

Top workplaceoutside town San Luis Obispo (19%)Diamond Springs (9%)

Between these townsresidents who work in the others Few work in PlacervilleFew work in Grover Beach

Outdoors

Conserved landshare of the town 12.3%Highest 5.6%Lowest

Trailsmapped miles 3.8 miHighest 1.3 miLowest

Trail densitymiles per sq mi 1.7 miHighest 0.2 miLowest

Parks & preservesnamed on the map 7Highest 5Lowest

Street connectivityintersections per sq mi, a walkability measure 153Highest 70.1Lowest

Schools

Public school scoresrank in state, math + reading #557 of 574 in CA #202 of 574 in CA

School district Lucia Mar UnifiedEl Dorado Union High · Placerville Union Elementary

High school in town None in townEl Dorado High

Students per teacherat that high school — 20.7

California average“±” Census margin of errorACS 2020–2024

Deciding?

Ask the people who live there

The numbers stop at the town line. Neighbors can tell you about the commute at 7am, the schools, the winters and the feel of the place.

Grover Beach neighborsTown Square →

Your question goes to Grover Beach’s Town Square.

Placerville neighborsTown Square →

Your question goes to Placerville’s Town Square.

Add a town

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Bordering Grover Beach

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Arroyo Grande18,372 people · $814K homes

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Pismo Beach8,014 people · $1.02M homes

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Oceano7,128 people · $556K homes

Towns like Grover Beach

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Artesia15,889 people · $777K homes

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Signal Hill11,468 people · $783K homes

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South Lake Tahoe21,269 people · $682K homes

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Port Hueneme21,582 people · $587K homes

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2010 & 2020 censuses, LEHD commute flows; Zillow Home Value Index; NCES Common Core of Data; FBI crime reporting; CDC PLACES; FEMA National Risk Index; NOAA U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020; USGS PAD-US and OpenStreetMap. “±” is the Census margin of error; differences inside it are never called. Property tax is top-coded by the Census at $10,000+. There is no overall score: which town is better depends on what matters to you.

Grover Beach vs Placerville

Two towns, two different strengths

Where they part ways

A typical home costs $1,340 more a month in Grover Beach

Placerville places higher on 12 of 22 CA lists

What daily life feels like in each

250 miles apart

What matters to you?

Ask the people who live there

Set another town beside Grover Beach and Placerville

Bordering Grover Beach

Towns like Grover Beach

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