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Data on this report is based on areas within the legal city boundary, outlined in black on the map. Any additional neighborhoods shown on the map are associated with the city by name and are included for reference only.

Petaluma, CA
Real Estate & Demographic Data






Petaluma profile


Living in Petaluma



Petaluma is a larger medium-sized coastal city (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of California. With a population of 58,652 people and 15 constituent neighborhoods, Petaluma is the 157th largest community in California.

Housing costs in Petaluma are among some of the highest in the nation, although real estate prices here don't compare to real estate prices in the most expensive communities in California.

Also of interest is that Petaluma has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

A relatively large number of people in Petaluma telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 13.29% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

One of the nice things about Petaluma is that it is nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Because of this, visitors and locals will often go to these areas to take in the scenery or to enjoy waterfront activities.

One downside of living in Petaluma is that it can take a long time to commute to work. In Petaluma, the average commute to work is 30.86 minutes, which is quite a bit higher than the national average.

Petaluma is one of the most well-educated cities in the nation. 40.32% of adults in Petaluma have at least a bachelor's degree. Compare that to the average community in America, which has just 21.84% with a bachelor's degree or higher.

The per capita income in Petaluma in 2018 was $50,664, which is upper middle income relative to California, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $202,656 for a family of four. However, Petaluma contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Petaluma is a very ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Petaluma home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Petaluma residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Petaluma also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 21.62% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Petaluma include German, Irish, Italian, English, and French.

The most common language spoken in Petaluma is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Chinese.