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Towns / California

Winters, California

Winters is a small town of about 8,200 people in Yolo County, California. It's growing fast: its population is up 14% since 2020. A typical home costs about 5.2 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Sacramento, is about 28 miles away as the crow flies.

Boom town

Population
8,214
up 14% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$633,900
Yolo County prices up 1% since 2022
Household income
$122,951
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Sacramento area
106.7
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
11 miles
Davis, CA
To Sacramento
28 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 6.7% above the U.S. average in the Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 5.2 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood3 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 0.4 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 2.8 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town4 public schools: 2 elementary, 1 middle and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close bySutter Davis Hospital in Davis, about 11 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big citySacramento is about 28 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Winters meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

What kind of town

Boom town. The population is up 14% since 2020. Growing fast, with rising home values. Watch for chain stores and big apartment complexes: the small-town feel may not last.

The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$633,900U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 1%Yolo County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,568 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$122,951U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
70%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$3,920 a yearCalifornia: $5,124
Homes built before 1940
9%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
15%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
106.7U.S. average = 100 (the Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 1% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom metro area, not Winters alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
8,2142020: 7,190
Median age
36.2 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
14%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
24%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
32%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
6%U.S.: 6%
College students
6%share of all residents

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (21%); retail (12%); professional and business services (11%)
Unemployment rate
3%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
23 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
16%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
9%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Sutter Davis Hospital, Davis, CA, about 11 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 4 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

4 public schools in Winters, run by Winters Joint Unified.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on California's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
79%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
92%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
38°F
July average high
95°F
Days 90°F or hotter
107 a year
Nights at or below freezing
15 a year
Rain and melted snow
23.8 inches a year
Snow
0 inches a year
Elevation
132 feet

Weather station: Winters (1 mile away). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Sutter Davis Hospital, Vacaville, Sacramento.

Yolo County is in a metro area of 1 million people or more (USDA rural-urban code 1, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

1 place on the National Register of Historic Places, including Main Street Historic District-Winters.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial33 miles
  • John Muir National Historic Site38 miles
  • Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park47 miles
  • Eugene O'Neill National Historic Site49 miles
  • Golden Gate National Recreation Area51 miles

Read about Winters's history on Wikipedia.

Know Winters?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Allendale, CA (unincorporated)1,734 people, 6 miles
  • Hartley, CA (unincorporated)2,431 people, 8 miles
  • Madison, CA (unincorporated)805 people, 10 miles
  • Monument Hills, CA (unincorporated)1,551 people, 11 miles
  • Elmira, CA (unincorporated)319 people, 13 miles
  • Moskowite Corner, CA (unincorporated)225 people, 13 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.