Graton, California

Geography

Graton has a total area of 1.58 sqmi, all land.

Graton is located at the southeastern end of Green Valley, on the east bank of the seasonally flooding Atascadero Creek. The elevation ranges from approximately 85 ft above Mean Sea Level (MSL) at Atascadero Creek to 213 ft MSL at Oak Grove School.

Graton is noted as lying at the approximate furthest southern and eastern extent of Russian colonization of the Americas. Research on Fort Ross has indicated that several farms were developed inland from the coastal fur trading fort in northwestern Sonoma County. These farms or ranches were used for producing additional food and for agricultural projects conducted by Fort Ross's agronomist Yegor Chernykh. In 1836, a farm was established along Purrington Creek, between what are now the towns of Occidental and Graton. There Chernykh erected barracks and five other structures, and grew vegetables, fruit, wheat, and other grains. Chernykh also developed a large vineyard, introducing what has since become a major crop in the area.

Climate

This region experiences warm (but not hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above 71.6 F. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Graton has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated Csb on climate maps.

| Jan record high F = 84 | Feb record high F = 88 | Mar record high F = 90 | Apr record high F = 98 | May record high F = 103 | Jun record high F = 108 | Jul record high F = 113 | Aug record high F = 108 | Sep record high F = 114 | Oct record high F = 106 | Nov record high F = 92 | Dec record high F = 81 | year record high F = | Jan avg record high F = 69.9 | Feb avg record high F = 75.8 | Mar avg record high F = 80.6 | Apr avg record high F = 86.9 | May avg record high F = 91.0 | Jun avg record high F = 98.4 | Jul avg record high F = 98.4 | Aug avg record high F = 100.4 | Sep avg record high F = 100.2 | Oct avg record high F = 95.1 | Nov avg record high F = 82.5 | Dec avg record high F = 70.0 | year avg record high F = 103.5 | Jan avg record low F = 26.0 | Feb avg record low F = 27.9 | Mar avg record low F = 30.4 | Apr avg record low F = 32.3 | May avg record low F = 36.5 | Jun avg record low F = 40.1 | Jul avg record low F = 42.9 | Aug avg record low F = 42.5 | Sep avg record low F = 39.1 | Oct avg record low F = 33.9 | Nov avg record low F = 28.0 | Dec avg record low F = 25.5 | year avg record low F = 23.4 | Jan record low F = 18 | Feb record low F = 17 | Mar record low F = 25 | Apr record low F = 25 | May record low F = 29 | Jun record low F = 33 | Jul record low F = 38 | Aug record low F = 36 | Sep record low F = 28 | Oct record low F = 22 | Nov record low F = 22 | Dec record low F = 14 | year record low F = 14

|access-date=June 19, 2022 |publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Demographics

1990 2000 2010

2020

The 2020 United States census reported that Graton had a population of 1,683. The population density was 1,065.9 PD/sqmi. The racial makeup of Graton was 1,279 (76.0%) White, 10 (0.6%) African American, 11 (0.7%) Native American, 25 (1.5%) Asian, 4 (0.2%) Pacific Islander, 135 (8.0%) from other races, and 219 (13.0%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 298 persons (17.7%).

The census reported that 99.2% of the population lived in households, 14 people (0.8%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and no one was institutionalized.

There were 678 households, out of which 153 (22.6%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 318 (46.9%) were married-couple households, 44 (6.5%) were cohabiting couple households, 215 (31.7%) had a female householder with no partner present, and 101 (14.9%) had a male householder with no partner present. 212 households (31.3%) were one person, and 123 (18.1%) were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.46.

The age distribution was 280 people (16.6%) under the age of 18, 96 people (5.7%) aged 18 to 24, 377 people (22.4%) aged 25 to 44, 446 people (26.5%) aged 45 to 64, and 484 people (28.8%) who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 49.9years. For every 100 females, there were 81.6 males.

There were 725 housing units at an average density of 459.2 /mi2, of which 678 (93.5%) were occupied. Of these, 514 (75.8%) were owner-occupied, and 164 (24.2%) were occupied by renters.

In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that the median household income in 2023 was $108,750, and the per capita income was $64,330. About 22.2% of families and 19.3% of the population were below the poverty line.

2010

At the 2010 census Graton had a population of 1,707. The population density was 1,080.9 PD/sqmi. The racial makeup of Graton was 1,402 (82.1%) White, 10 (0.6%) African American, 29 (1.7%) Native American, 25 (1.5%) Asian, 3 (0.2%) Pacific Islander, 144 (8.4%) from other races, and 94 (5.5%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 322 people (18.9%).

The census reported that 99.2% of the population lived in households and 0.8% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters.

There were 680 households, 193 (28.4%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 304 (44.7%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 90 (13.2%) had a female householder with no husband present, 19 (2.8%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 35 (5.1%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 18 (2.6%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 188 households (27.6%) were one person and 73 (10.7%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.49. There were 413 families (60.7% of households); the average family size was 3.03.

The age distribution was 343 people (20.1%) under the age of 18, 131 people (7.7%) aged 18 to 24, 352 people (20.6%) aged 25 to 44, 643 people (37.7%) aged 45 to 64, and 238 people (13.9%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 45.9 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.8 males. The median resident age is 48.2 years, compared to the California average of 36.2 years.

There were 723 housing units at an average density of 457.8 /sqmi, of which 72.2% were owner-occupied and 27.8% were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.6%; the rental vacancy rate was 2.6%. 72.0% of the population lived in owner-occupied housing units and 27.2% lived in rental housing units.

The median household income was $83,082 (+70.4% from 2000), and the median family income was $87,641 (+53.9% from 2000). The median per capita income for the CDP was $35,410 (+62.1% from 2000). For comparison, statewide California median per capita income in the 2010 Census was $27,885 (+22.8% from 2000).

Government

Graton is represented by the following elected officials:

• Sonoma County Board of Supervisors (District 5): Lynda Hopkins (Dem)
• California State Assembly:
• California State Senate:
• U.S. House of Representatives (2nd District):
• U.S. Senate: Alex Padilla (Dem) and Adam Schiff (Dem)

Education

The school districts are Oak Grove Union Elementary School District and West Sonoma County Union High School District.

Notable people

• George Segal, Academy Award–nominated actor and musician
• Ned Kahn, artist, sculptor, MacArthur Fellow

References

References

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6. (2 September 2011). "Gravenstein Apples Struggle to Survive in Sonoma County". New York Times.
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