Sonoma County · Santa Rosa-Petaluma · population 177,524
Where Santa Rosa stands
Steady, no major recent move.
Home value trajectory · last 10 years
Zillow ZHVI · monthlyLifestyle scores
Scores are heuristic estimates from population density, state, and known transit/walkable cities. Not based on a paid Walk Score / Transit Score API — see methodology for the formula.
Rent trajectory · last 5 years
Zillow ZORI · monthlyHome value vs rent · indexed to 100
Both rebased at first month of ZORI data (~2015)Rent vs buy
At a 23.7 price-to-rent ratio, the math is starting to lean toward renting in Santa Rosa. Owner-occupier ROI requires longer holds and the assumption that prices keep appreciating roughly at the rate of rent.
How the momentum score breaks down
methodology →Santa Rosa has held up across the cycle: home values at $720,443 with +1.6% 5-year CAGR. The bull case is structural — population, location, employer base — and holds even if next year's print is soft.
Santa Rosa's bear case is the boring one: the cycle is real and any market that's run hard can stall. Watch for slowing population growth, rising days-on-market, or builder discounts as the early warning signals.
About Santa Rosa
Santa Rosa is a city in Sonoma County, California, with an estimated population of 177,524. It anchors the Santa Rosa-Petaluma metro area. The median home value in Santa Rosa is $720,443 as of 2026-04, down 2.0% over the last 12 months. Over the last five years, home values have averaged +1.6% annual growth (-3.4% from the 5-year peak). Rents in Santa Rosa average $2,534 per month, roughly flat year-over-year (+0.7%). The composite momentum score is 49 of 100 (Stable). Conditions are neither hot nor cold, so the local fit matters more than market timing.
▲ Bull case
▼ Bear case
About Santa Rosa (Wikipedia)
Santa Rosa is a city in and the county seat of Sonoma County, United States, in the North Bay region of the Bay Area in California. Its population as of the 2020 census was 178,127. It is the largest city in California's Wine Country and Redwood Coast. It is the fifth most populous city in the Bay Area after San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, and Fremont; and the 27th-most populous city in California.
Source: Wikipedia · this summary is contributed and licensed under CC-BY-SA.
City facts
Extracted from the Wikipedia infobox. Values may be slightly out of date relative to the latest sources.
Things to see in Santa Rosa(Tourism)
- Sonoma County
- California
- Alexander
- Russian
- Sonoma
- Hotel La Rose
- Russian River
- Jack London State Historic Park
- Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve
- Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital
- Bodega Bay
- Calistoga
+13 more on Wikipedia.
Extracted from the Wikipedia article. Names linked in the source — open the city’s Wikipedia page for details.
Playbook
Lifestyle fit matters more than market timing in a Stable market. Take your time on the home and neighborhood; the macro trend isn't urgent. Negotiate normally.
Price competitively from day one or risk a 60+ day listing. Staging, photography, and presentation matter more in Stable markets than in Hot ones.
Stable cap rates, no big appreciation story to lean on. Underwrite this as a pure cash-flow play — the math has to work on rent alone.
Local safety & alerts
No active National Weather Service alerts for Sonoma County right now.
Public-safety links are official .gov sources, not curated by us. Sonoma County routes NWS alerts; check the state EM portal for non-weather emergencies.
Neighborhoods of Santa Rosa
14 tracked · ranked by median home valueCities like Santa Rosa
Run the numbers for Santa Rosa
Sources: Zillow ZHVI (home values), Zillow ZORI (rents), US Census ACS + place population. Updated when source agencies publish revisions.
Climate & natural-disaster risk
State-level averages from NOAA Climate Normals (1991-2020) and FEMA National Risk Index. City-level conditions can vary significantly within a state.
Current weather
Find rentals & listings
Open current Santa Rosa listings on the major real-estate sites.
Links open the live search on the destination site — results are always current.
Local news & community
Latest news
- California’s largest wildfire has destroyed historic sites, threatened rare plantsKTLA · 9h ago
- California's Santa Rosa Island Fire possibly sparked by shipwreck SOSUSA Today · 12h ago
- Map: California’s biggest wildfire of the year was started by rescue flares in national parkThe Press Democrat · 2d ago
- Largest fire ever recorded on Santa Rosa Island endangers ‘gem of California coast’Los Angeles Times · 2d ago
- California’s largest active wildfire likely sparked by shipwrecked marinerKTLA · 1d ago
- Santa Rosa Man Dies After SUV Falls Off Highway 1 CliffPatch · 5h ago
Local chatter (Reddit)
Updated 2026-05-21 from Google News + Reddit RSS. Headlines link to original sources.
Local sports teams
Major professional teams the Santa Rosa-Petaluma area cheers for. Detailed stats, schedules, and player pages on intherafters.com.
Local economy & environment
Humidity is annual average relative humidity (NOAA). Income is Census ACS 5-year estimate. Industries are largest employment sectors statewide (BLS); the local mix in a given city may vary.
Cities similar to Santa Rosa
Explore other places with comparable momentum or affordability.