Gardena, CA vs Santa Cruz, 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.

Gardena

61.9

#1883 nationally

Santa Cruz

60.5

#1932 nationally

Santa Cruz leads in median household income ($105,491 vs $75,443). Gardena leads in cost of living index (154 vs 205). Santa Cruz leads in average commute (22.2 min vs 28.4 min).

Metric-by-Metric Breakdown

Metric	Gardena, CA	Santa Cruz, CA
WhereAtHome Score	61.9 (#1883)	60.5 (#1932)
Population	58,377	61,501
Typical Home Value (ZHVI)	$792,958	$1,360,355
Median Household Income	$75,443	$105,491
Average Commute	28.4 min	22.2 min
Walk Score	75	63
Crime Level	19.3	16.8
School Rating	N/A	N/A
Cost of Living Index	154	205
Political lean County 2024 presidential margin — context only, not scored	D+32.9	D+54.4