Rank
2912of 3,144
Monterey, California
Score 4.76 / 10· population 430,723
About 430,700 people live in Monterey, California. It ranks #2,912 of 3,144 counties for liberty, and #23 of 58 in California. The combined sales tax is 7.75%, higher than in 80% of counties. Property tax takes about 0.63% of a home's value each year, less than in 62% of counties. Local government employs a larger share of working residents than in 57% of counties. The homicide rate is higher than in 71% of counties. Life expectancy is at least 80 years, longer than in 91% of counties. Air quality is better than in 57% of counties (a typical day's air quality index is 40), and flood and hurricane risk is higher than in 95% of counties. On this site's state scores, California gets 4.79 of 10 for economic freedom, based on the Fraser Institute's ranking, and 1 of 10 for gun rights.
v4 — beta, 30 October 2026, sourced values
Election 2026 updates
News that could move a factor in this ranking. The scores do not change until the data behind them does.
Eleven factors
Government behavior
- Fraser Institute state ranking (state)4.8
- 2A (state)1.0
- GOP + LP vote for President3.4
- Sales tax3.0
- Property tax6.9
Environment
- Air quality6.0
- Floods / hurricanes0.3
Private behavior
- Homicide rate7.4
- Life expectancy10.0
- Government employees4.1
- Single-parent households6.5