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%

Mill Valley$12,050/mo

Typical home $2.13M (Zillow) · tax rate 0.50%+ · or rent about $3,278/mo · Housing →

Calabasas$9,790/mo

Typical home $1.69M (Zillow) · tax rate 0.66%+ · or rent about $3,089/mo · Housing →

The difference: $2,260 a month, about $27,100 a year, between Mill Valley and Calabasas.

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; “+” means the Census top-codes that town’s bill at $10,000, so its real rate is higher.

Report cards

Mill Valley places higher on 18 of 26 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+Mill ValleySafer than 72% of U.S. towns B−CalabasasSafer than 50% of U.S. towns

Schools

AMill ValleyBetter than 92% of districts in the state ACalabasasBetter than 87% of districts in the state

Health

A+Mill ValleyHealthier than 98% of U.S. towns A+CalabasasHealthier than 97% of U.S. towns

18Mill Valley

4Calabasas

Lists won, of 26 where both are ranked. Ties go to nobody.

Rent easiest to affordCost of living · 422 towns #13#419 Shortest commuteGetting around · 843 towns #253#703 Most new homesHousing · 438 towns #202#416 Closest to a top hospitalHealth · 844 towns #131#472 Best libraries for kidsLibraries · 117 towns #10#51 Most walkableOutdoors · 841 towns #329#578 Most library borrowingLibraries · 117 towns #4#34 Most-used librariesLibraries · 116 towns #5#32

Left end = #1 in California. Showing the lists where the towns are furthest apart. All of Mill Valley’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

Mill ValleyCalabasas

Snow a year0″0″

Hazard risk (U.S. pctl)80th 90th

Outdoors & history

Mill ValleyCalabasas

Trails22 mi 43 mi

Conserved land25.3%29.8%

Settled—1991

National Register places4 1

Archive photos18 —

Famous people born here20 10

Community

Mill ValleyCalabasas

Library hours a week55 hrs 37 hrs

Posts this month0 0

Neighbors joined0 1

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

339 miles apart

Straight-line miles between town centers.

Mill ValleyCA CalabasasCA

Mill Valley ↔ Calabasas339 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

Mill ValleyCalabasas

People

Population 14,012Lowest 22,669Highest

Growth since 20102010 → 2020 census +2.4%Highest CA: +6.1% +0.8%Lowest CA: +6.1%

Median age 48.7±2.8Highest 28% above CA 42.8±3.3Lowest 13% above CA

Mill Valley and Calabasas are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Kids under 18 18.6%±2.5Lowest CA: 22% 21.8%±2.3Highest CA: 22%

Calabasas and Mill Valley are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Age 65+ 23.5%±3.1Highest CA: 15.7% 17%±1.7Lowest CA: 15.7%

Bachelor’s degree+adults 25+ 75.8%Highest CA: 37.1% 73.3%Lowest CA: 37.1%

Enrolled in collegeshare of residents 5.2%±2.1Lowest CA: 7.6% 6.6%±1.8Highest CA: 7.6%

Calabasas and Mill Valley are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Cost of living

Household incomemedian $206,212±$11kHighest 108% above CA $165,288±$16kLowest 67% above CA

Home valuemedian, owner-occupied $2,000,001Highest 172% above CA $1,504,500±$91kLowest 105% above CA

Rentmedian gross, monthly $3,278±$682Highest 61% above CA $3,089±$154Lowest 52% above CA

Mill Valley and Calabasas are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Property taxmedian, yearly $10,000+ at least 95% above CA $10,000+ at least 95% above CA

Renters paying 30%+of income on rent 39.3%±11.9Lowest CA: 55.3% 73.4%±10.6Highest CA: 55.3%

Below poverty line 5.9%Lowest CA: 12% 8.8%Highest CA: 12%

Housing

Homeownersof occupied homes 66.2%Lowest CA: 55.9% 68.5%Highest CA: 55.9%

Typical home builtmedian year 1958Lowest 18 yrs older than CA 1984Highest 8 yrs newer than CA

Getting to work

Average commuteone way 25 minLowest 14% below CA 34 minHighest 19% above CA

Work from home 40%±5.6Highest CA: 17.2% 23.7%±2.9Lowest CA: 17.2%

Work in townworking residents 9.3%Highest 7%Lowest

Typical commute distancemedian, straight-line 11.3 miLowest 16.3 miHighest

Jobs per working residentover 1.5 = a job hub 0.99Lowest 1.53Highest

Top workplaceoutside town San Francisco (35%)Los Angeles (42%)

Between these townsresidents who work in the others Few work in CalabasasFew work in Mill Valley

Outdoors

Conserved landshare of the town 25.3%Lowest 29.8%Highest

Trailsmapped miles 22.1 miLowest 43.3 miHighest

Trail densitymiles per sq mi 4.6 miHighest 3.2 miLowest

Parks & preservesnamed on the map 16Lowest 22Highest

Street connectivityintersections per sq mi, a walkability measure 84.9Highest 47.0Lowest

Schools

Public school scoresrank in state, math + reading #48 of 574 in CA #67 of 574 in CA

School district Mill Valley Elementary · Tamalpais Union HighLas Virgenes Unified

High school in town Tamalpais HighCalabasas High

Students per teacherat that high school 19.2Lowest 26.3Highest

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.

Mill Valley neighborsTown Square →

Your question goes to Mill Valley’s Town Square.

Calabasas neighborsTown Square →

1 neighbor in Calabasas can answer.

Add a town

Set another town beside Mill Valley and Calabasas

One tap adds it. Up to 4 towns at once.

Bordering Mill Valley

+ Compare

Tamalpais-Homestead Valley12,085 people · $1.86M homes

+ Compare

Corte Madera10,077 people · $1.76M homes

+ Compare

Alto1,024 people

+ Compare

Strawberry5,830 people · $2M homes

Towns like Mill Valley

+ Compare

Solana Beach12,823 people · $2M homes

+ Compare

San Anselmo12,679 people · $1.58M homes

+ Compare

Tiburon9,012 people · $2M homes

+ Compare

Laguna Beach22,710 people · $2M homes

Not sure which town to add? Find your place ranks California towns on what matters to you.Find your place →

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.

Mill Valley vs Calabasas

Two towns, two different strengths

Where they part ways

A typical home costs $2,260 more a month in Mill Valley

Mill Valley places higher on 18 of 26 CA lists

What daily life feels like in each

339 miles apart

What matters to you?

Ask the people who live there

Set another town beside Mill Valley and Calabasas

Bordering Mill Valley

Towns like Mill Valley

Post to Mill Valley

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