Santee

San Diego County59,332 residents2 school districts
58
C
Suburbgrade score

10th of 30 San Diego suburbs. Strongest on amenities, held back by housing & affordability.

Launch-day rule. Residents is not counted for Santee yet: no poll responses so far. The overall score of 58 is computed on the other six categories, re-normalised to 100%. Answer the poll →

What living here is actually like
Written summary in preparation This page is waiting for its written summary, and for a person to check it. Until then it is excluded from search engines.

What Santee is like to live in, by category

Bars show Santee against San Diego. Weights are published in full.

Housing & affordability

18% of the score · 45/100
D
Median home value$727,200
San Diego $854,700
Median rent$2,250/mo
San Diego $2,246/mo
Cost-burdened households39%
San Diego 44%

Schools

18% of the score · 54/100
C−
Within-state proficiency78th pct
San Diego median 60th pct
Student–teacher ratio23.6
San Diego median 22.6
Graduation rate83%
San Diego median 86%
EDFacts SY2021–22 · NCES CCD 2024–25 · EDFacts ACGR SY2018–19Full page →

Cost of living

14% of the score · 70/100
B−
Housing cost index94
San Diego 100
Eff. tax rate0.64%
San Diego 0.67%
Local sales tax7.75%
San Diego median 7.75%
Composed in-house · ACS 2020–24 · ACS 2020–24 · CDTFA 2026-09Full page →

Commute & transport

14% of the score · 58/100
C
Mean commute26.7 min
San Diego 25.5 min
Under 30 minutes60%
San Diego 64%
Transit stops / sq mi4.9
San Diego median 4.2 · within 2 miles

Amenities

12% of the score · 71/100
B−
Restaurants & cafés66
San Diego median 50 · within 2 miles
Groceries7
San Diego median 6 · within 2 miles
Parks32
San Diego median 23 · within 2 miles

Employment & income

12% of the score · 56/100
C−
Median household income$113,394
San Diego $106,268
Unemployment4.7%
San Diego 6.1%
Professional occupations47%
San Diego 48%

Residents

12% of the score · inactive
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No responses yet. Residents is excluded from the score until eight people answer.

Ask the people who live here

Twelve yes/no questions, one tap each. No dataset knows whether the yards are kept or whether anyone talks to their neighbours. Answers feed the Residents grade, which needs eight responses before it counts.

0 responses·Residents category: waiting for first responses·Live

Nobody has answered for Santee yet. If you live here, you can be the first.

Is it quiet at night?
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Do you feel safe walking after dark?
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Can you walk to a grocery store?
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Is it good for young children?
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Are yards and streets well kept?
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Tap either button to answer — no account neededAll twelve questions →

Better than Santee on housing & affordability

Santee's weakest grade is D. Six suburbs are within 25 miles and score higher on the same four inputs.

Median home value: ACS 2020–24 · Ownership rate: ACS 2020–24

Common questions about living in Santee

Is Santee, CA a good place to live?

Santee scores 58 out of 100, 10th of 30 San Diego suburbs. It is strongest on amenities and weakest on housing & affordability. Every weight behind that score is published on the methodology page.

Is Santee expensive to live in?

Cost of living grades B−. The median home is $727,200, 15% below the San Diego median, and the effective property tax rate is 0.64%. $2,250/mo is the median gross rent.

How good are the schools in Santee?

Schools grade C−. The districts serving Santee sit at the 78th pct within-state proficiency percentile, with a 83% graduation rate and a 23.6 student–teacher ratio. Santee is served by Grossmont Union High and Santee. Proficiency is only ever compared inside the same state.

How long is the commute from Santee?

The mean commute is 26.7 min, with 60% of workers travelling under 30 minutes and 17% working from home. Transit density is 4.9 stops per square mile.

Can you walk anywhere in Santee?

Within two miles there are 7 groceries, 66 restaurants and cafés and 32 parks, which grades B− on amenities.

Are the homes in Santee old or new?

The median home in Santee was built in 1979 — close to the San Diego median of 1980. That is a median, so a town can be half post-war and half new-build and still land there. 69% of homes are houses rather than flats.

Every answer is built from the figures on this page, with their sources and as-of dates on the methodology page.