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City vs city

Monterey vs Santa Cruz, CA

Monterey currently scores 1 points higher overall than Santa Cruz, with the largest gap in wildfire.

Use this comparison for relocation decisions, insurance shopping, and hazard-prioritized mitigation planning.

Monterey

21/100

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Santa Cruz

20/100

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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

Monterey: 21/100 · Santa Cruz: 20/100

Monterey is 1 points higher.

Flood

Monterey: 33/100 · Santa Cruz: 13/100

Monterey is 20 points higher.

Monterey: FEMA NFHL flood zones: 8 features intersect this tile.

Santa Cruz: FEMA NFHL flood zones: 5 features intersect this tile.

Wind

Monterey: 1/100 · Santa Cruz: 1/100

No gap.

Monterey: Wind exposure derived from ingested design wind / climatology tiles.

Santa Cruz: Wind exposure derived from ingested design wind / climatology tiles.

Lightning

Monterey: 0/100 · Santa Cruz: 0/100

No gap.

Monterey: Lightning exposure derived from ingested climatology tiles.

Santa Cruz: Lightning exposure derived from ingested climatology tiles.

Tornado

Monterey: 0/100 · Santa Cruz: 12/100

Santa Cruz is 12 points higher.

Monterey: Tornado risk derived from NOAA SPC historical reports.

Santa Cruz: Tornado risk derived from NOAA SPC historical reports.

Hail

Monterey: 8/100 · Santa Cruz: 10/100

Santa Cruz is 2 points higher.

Monterey: Hail risk derived from NOAA SPC historical reports.

Santa Cruz: Hail risk derived from NOAA SPC historical reports.

Storm surge

Monterey: Unavailable · Santa Cruz: Unavailable

A score difference cannot be calculated without both sources.

Monterey: Storm surge model is not available for this location yet.

Santa Cruz: Storm surge model is not available for this location yet.

Wildfire

Monterey: 37/100 · Santa Cruz: 58/100

Santa Cruz is 21 points higher.

Monterey: Wildfire exposure derived from ingested fire potential tiles.

Santa Cruz: Wildfire exposure derived from ingested fire potential tiles.

Ingested air quality

Monterey: 26/100 · Santa Cruz: 23/100

Monterey is 3 points higher.

Monterey: 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.