City vs city
Carmel-by-the-Sea vs Santa Cruz, CA
Santa Cruz currently scores 1 points higher overall than Carmel-by-the-Sea, with the largest gap in wildfire.
Use this comparison for relocation decisions, insurance shopping, and hazard-prioritized mitigation planning.
Hazard breakdown
Scores describe each city’s reference grid tile, not every property. A missing model is unavailable, not zero risk. Air quality uses an ingested EPA AirNow snapshot and may not reflect current conditions; other factors describe baseline exposure. The overall score blends different hazards and is not a probability of damage. Read the scoring methodology and sources.
Overall
Carmel-by-the-Sea: 19/100 · Santa Cruz: 20/100
Santa Cruz is 1 points higher.
Flood
Carmel-by-the-Sea: 63/100 · Santa Cruz: 13/100
Carmel-by-the-Sea is 50 points higher.
Carmel-by-the-Sea: FEMA NFHL flood zones: 9 features intersect this tile.
Santa Cruz: FEMA NFHL flood zones: 5 features intersect this tile.
Wind
Carmel-by-the-Sea: 1/100 · Santa Cruz: 1/100
No gap.
Carmel-by-the-Sea: Wind exposure derived from ingested design wind / climatology tiles.
Santa Cruz: Wind exposure derived from ingested design wind / climatology tiles.
Lightning
Carmel-by-the-Sea: 0/100 · Santa Cruz: 0/100
No gap.
Carmel-by-the-Sea: Lightning exposure derived from ingested climatology tiles.
Santa Cruz: Lightning exposure derived from ingested climatology tiles.
Tornado
Carmel-by-the-Sea: 8/100 · Santa Cruz: 12/100
Santa Cruz is 4 points higher.
Carmel-by-the-Sea: Tornado risk derived from NOAA SPC historical reports.
Santa Cruz: Tornado risk derived from NOAA SPC historical reports.
Hail
Carmel-by-the-Sea: 8/100 · Santa Cruz: 10/100
Santa Cruz is 2 points higher.
Carmel-by-the-Sea: Hail risk derived from NOAA SPC historical reports.
Santa Cruz: Hail risk derived from NOAA SPC historical reports.
Storm surge
Carmel-by-the-Sea: Unavailable · Santa Cruz: Unavailable
A score difference cannot be calculated without both sources.
Carmel-by-the-Sea: Storm surge model is not available for this location yet.
Santa Cruz: Storm surge model is not available for this location yet.
Wildfire
Carmel-by-the-Sea: 7/100 · Santa Cruz: 58/100
Santa Cruz is 51 points higher.
Carmel-by-the-Sea: Wildfire exposure derived from ingested fire potential tiles.
Santa Cruz: Wildfire exposure derived from ingested fire potential tiles.
Ingested air quality
Carmel-by-the-Sea: 26/100 · Santa Cruz: 23/100
Carmel-by-the-Sea is 3 points higher.
Carmel-by-the-Sea: Air quality score derived from the latest ingested EPA AirNow AQI grid; may not reflect current conditions. See methodology for the recorded ingest date.
Santa Cruz: Air quality score derived from the latest ingested EPA AirNow AQI grid; may not reflect current conditions. See methodology for the recorded ingest date.