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%

Placerville$3,110/mo

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

Grover Beach$4,450/mo

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

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

Schools

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

Health

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

12Placerville

9Grover Beach

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

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

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

PlacervilleGrover Beach

Snow a year—0″

January low—46°F

July high—67°F

Growing season (days)—365d

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

Outdoors & history

PlacervilleGrover Beach

Trails1 mi 4 mi

Conserved land5.6%12.3%

Settled—1887

National Register places9 —

Archive photos24 18

Famous people born here27 1

Community

PlacervilleGrover Beach

Library hours a week35 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.

PlacervilleCA Grover BeachCA

Placerville ↔ Grover Beach250 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

PlacervilleGrover Beach

People

Population 10,762Lowest 12,604Highest

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

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

Kids under 18 17.7%±3.8Lowest CA: 22% 19.2%±3.3Highest 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+ 24.2%±4Highest CA: 15.7% 17.8%±3Lowest 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+ 23.4%Lowest CA: 37.1% 28.7%Highest CA: 37.1%

Enrolled in collegeshare of residents 5.4%±2.7Lowest CA: 7.6% 5.8%±1.8Highest 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 $67,274±$14kLowest 32% below CA $86,458±$22kHighest 13% 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 $473,100±$17kLowest 36% below CA $727,500±$51kHighest about the CA average

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

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

Renters paying 30%+of income on rent 65%±14Highest CA: 55.3% 51.3%±12Lowest 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 15.9%Highest CA: 12% 11.8%Lowest CA: 12%

Housing

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

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

Getting to work

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

Work from home 16%±5.1Highest CA: 17.2% 14.7%±4.2Lowest 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 17.7%Highest 7.5%Lowest

Typical commute distancemedian, straight-line 23.8 miHighest 11.3 miLowest

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

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

Between these townsresidents who work in the others Few work in Grover BeachFew work in Placerville

Outdoors

Conserved landshare of the town 5.6%Lowest 12.3%Highest

Trailsmapped miles 1.3 miLowest 3.8 miHighest

Trail densitymiles per sq mi 0.2 miLowest 1.7 miHighest

Parks & preservesnamed on the map 5Lowest 7Highest

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

Schools

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

School district El Dorado Union High · Placerville Union ElementaryLucia Mar Unified

High school in town El Dorado HighNone in town

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.

Placerville neighborsTown Square →

Your question goes to Placerville’s Town Square.

Grover Beach neighborsTown Square →

Your question goes to Grover Beach’s Town Square.

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Bordering Placerville

+ Compare

Diamond Springs10,927 people · $423K homes

Towns like Placerville

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Jackson5,048 people · $443K homes

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Fort Bragg7,032 people · $535K homes

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Mammoth Lakes7,214 people · $867K homes

+ Compare

Hughson7,648 people · $511K 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.

Placerville vs Grover Beach

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 Placerville and Grover Beach

Bordering Placerville

Towns like Placerville

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