Metro area · California

Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA metro area

Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA is a metropolitan area of 1 county in California, home to 486,444 residents. Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA metro area has a quality-of-life score of 93 out of 100 (very high), ranking #70 of 925 US metro and micro areas. Among metro and micro areas based in California it ranks #1 of 34. It ranks best on median Air Quality Index (low), comfortable days (high) and drought exposure (low). It ranks worst on home price to income ratio (high), cost of buying a home today (high) and severe housing problems (high).

93Very high
Quality-of-life score
#70 of 925 metro and micro areas
California
#1 of 34 in CA
Population
486,444 (2025)
Land area
1,575 mi²
Density
308.8 /mi²
CBSA code
42220

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 69 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map
Location of Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA metro area

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US metro and micro areas.

  • Safety80#186/924
  • Economy92#76/925
  • Housing4#886/925
  • Health94#54/925
  • Healthcare95#48/923
  • Environment98#16/917
  • Education70#281/925
  • Infrastructure87#119/925
  • Community74#242/925
  • Leisure & amenities96#34/925

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA metro area ranks highest and lowest among US metro and micro areas (score = percentile, 100 = best).

Strengths

Weaknesses

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Metro and micro areas like Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA metro area five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA metro area in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

Federal contract spending

Federal grants & assistance

Grants, loans (counted at their subsidy cost), direct payments and insurance, by fiscal year of the action (USAspending.gov, FABS). Reported apart from contracts and never added to them.

Counties in Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA

Whole counties, as the U.S. Office of Management and Budget delineates the area. Federal spending below is the exact sum of these counties.

  1. Sonoma CountyCentral county84486,444

Principal cities

The cities the area is named for.

  1. PetalumaPrincipal city59,247
  2. Santa RosaPrincipal city177,090

Largest cities and towns

By population, for places with most of their residents in the area.

  1. Santa Rosa177,090
  2. Petaluma59,247
  3. Rohnert Park44,575
  4. Windsor26,081
  5. Healdsburg11,243
  6. Sonoma10,670
  7. Cloverdale8,886
  8. Larkfield-Wikiup8,765
  9. Cotati7,489
  10. Sebastopol7,445
  11. Boyes Hot Springs7,247
  12. Guerneville4,100
  13. Forestville3,717
  14. El Verano3,443
  15. Fetters Hot Springs-Agua Caliente3,347
  16. Sonoma State University2,210
  17. Penngrove2,119
  18. Graton1,806
  19. Temelec1,628
  20. Eldridge1,379
  21. Sea Ranch1,287
  22. Occidental1,225
  23. Bodega Bay1,139
  24. Glen Ellen1,078

Other metro and micro areas in California

Areas based in California, best score first.

Neighboring metro and micro areas

Places that share a border, best score first.

Similar metro and micro areas

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

JSON · /api/v1/places/M42220