Chico, CA vs Santa Clara, CA

Side-by-side comparison of housing, income, commute, safety, and quality of life.

Score Snapshot

No universal winner

Scores summarize the published model. Use the objective metric differences below and your own priorities to choose.

Chico

66.4

#1544 nationally

Santa Clara

65.7

#1617 nationally

Santa Clara leads in crime level (5.0 vs 19.2). Santa Clara leads in median household income ($165,352 vs $65,932). Chico leads in cost of living index (133 vs 241).

Metric-by-Metric Breakdown

Metric	Chico, CA	Santa Clara, CA
WhereAtHome Score	66.4 (#1544)	65.7 (#1617)
Population	101,301	131,062
Typical Home Value (ZHVI)	$464,980	$1,680,833
Median Household Income	$65,932	$165,352
Average Commute	17.5 min	23.6 min
Walk Score	49	58
Crime Level	19.2	5.0
School Rating	N/A	N/A
Cost of Living Index	133	241
Political lean County 2024 presidential margin — context only, not scored	R+3.1	D+40.0