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California · Orange County

Rancho Santa Margarita Homes,
By the Numbers.

Rancho Santa Margarita is a city of about 46,353 people in Orange County, near Mission Viejo, Lake Forest and Ladera Ranch. I help buyers and sellers across Southern California, Rancho Santa Margarita included.

Talk to Jesse Home Valuation
The real city limit
$1.0M
Typical Home Value
-0.1%
Change in One Year
46K
Residents
The place

The Story of
Rancho Santa Margarita.

Rancho Santa Margarita is a city of about 46,353 people in Orange County.

It dates to 2000. For green space, Rancho Santa Margarita has 15 parks, led by Altisima Park at roughly 12 acres. Golfers have Tijeras Creek Golf Club.

Local draws include Cinepolis Luxury Cinemas. The map shows 36 places to eat and drink, with Asian, Mexican and Pizza the most common. There are 8 public schools inside the boundary, run by Saddleback Valley Unified and Capistrano Unified. On price, Rancho Santa Margarita is the 48th highest-priced of 122 cities on my map at about $1.0M for the typical home, and values are up 84% in ten years.

Assembled from the U.S. Census Bureau, Wikidata, OpenStreetMap and the California Department of Education. Photo credits.

A view of Rancho Santa Margarita, California.
Rancho Santa Margarita
2000Established
46,353People, 2024 estimate
15Parks
87Acres of parks
8Public schools
36Places to eat

Ten Years of
Rancho Santa Margarita Home Values.

The typical home value, month by month. Move across the chart to read any month.

$1,003,793
September 2026
-0.1% 1 year+30% 5 years+84% 10 years
$1.04M$541K
20182020202220242026

The highest point in these ten years is $1,035,218, in March 2025.

What Your Money Buys
in Rancho Santa Margarita.

Typical values by home size and type, so you can match the city to your budget before you tour anything.

By bedroom count

Tap a row to load that price into the payment tool below.

Houses and condos

Single-family house$1.2M
Condo or townhome$668K

A house costs about $529,255 more than a condo here.

The range

$669Klower-priced third$1.0Mtypical$1.37Mupper third

What a Rancho Santa Margarita Home
Costs Per Month.

Move the sliders. The rate is this week's average, so the number is honest.

Renting in Rancho Santa Margarita

$2,849/mo

Typical asking rent, September 2026. That is +4.6% from a year ago. Over a year that is $34,188 in rent.

Owning, at your settings above

 

Set a price and down payment in the tool above and this compares it with the rent.

Where Rancho Santa Margarita Sits
Among 122 Cities.

Every dot is a city on my map, lined up from least to most expensive. Tap any dot to open that city.

Rancho Santa Margarita
$459K$3.71M
  • 48th highest-priced of 122 cities on my map by typical home value. The middle city is at $910K; Rancho Santa Margarita is at $1.0M.
  • 117th of 122 for price growth over the past year (-0.1%), where 1st grew the most.
  • 53rd of 104 for typical rent ($2,849 a month), where 1st is the highest rent.

Rancho Santa Margarita and the cities closest to it

Ladera Ranch$1.37MLaguna Hills$1.23MMission Viejo$1.2MLake Forest$1.17M
Rancho Santa Margarita$1.0M
Outdoors

Parks and Open Space
in Rancho Santa Margarita.

15 parks, about 87 acres of them in all. Sizes are measured from each park's mapped outline. Tap any park to see it on the map.

ParkAltisima Park12 acres
ParkTrabuco Mesa Park12 acres
ParkSolano Park10 acres
ParkArroyo Vista Park8.6 acres
ParkRancho Santa Margarita City Park7.7 acres
ParkCanada Vista7 acres
Golf courseTijeras Creek Golf Club

More parks: Trabuco Highlands Central Park, Monte Vista, Dove Canyon Community Park, Ike Arnold, Vista Verde Park, Country Hollow Lane Park, Estrella Vista Park, Cielo Vista Park, Dove Canyon Park.

Weekends

Things to Do and
Places to Hang Out.

Real places inside Rancho Santa Margarita. Tap any one to see it on the map.

Movie theater

  • Cinepolis Luxury Cinemas

Landmark

  • Alume

Library

  • Rancho Santa Margarita Library
Food and drink

Where Rancho Santa Margarita
Eats and Drinks.

36 places are on the map inside Rancho Santa Margarita: 25 restaurants, 6 cafes, 3 ice cream shops, 1 brewery. 27 of them are local, not chains.

27 local spots9 chain locations

What is on the menu

The kitchens you find most often here.

Asian4
Mexican3
Pizza3
American2
Thai2
Italian2
Donuts2

Local spots on the map

  • The Pizza PressPizza
  • Wood Ranch BBQ & GrillBarbecue
  • Thai SmileThai
  • The Blind PigAmerican
  • Celinda'sMexican
  • Wan-FuAsian
  • Pho O-oh TastyRestaurant
  • The Trough Sandwich KitchenSandwiches
  • Tutto FrescoItalian
  • Laguna Beach Beer CompanyBrewery

Listed from OpenStreetMap, not a ranking or a recommendation. Restaurants open and close, so check hours before you go.

Rancho Santa Margarita on the Map.

The outline is the official city limit. The dots are its public schools, parks, things to do and local food. Tap the chips to show or hide each kind. Pick any nearby city to open its guide.

8 public schools inside the Rancho Santa Margarita limits

6Elementary
2Middle

School districts: Saddleback Valley Unified and Capistrano Unified.

See every school by name

Elementary

  • Arroyo Vista Elementary
  • Cielo Vista Elementary
  • Melinda Heights Elementary
  • Robinson Elementary
  • Tijeras Creek Elementary
  • Trabuco Mesa Elementary

Middle

  • Arroyo Vista Middle
  • Rancho Santa Margarita Intermediate

Counted from the California Department of Education school directory by each campus location. Which school a home is assigned to depends on the address, so confirm with the district before you buy.

Rancho Santa Margarita Questions,
Answered.

What is the typical home value in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA?

As of September 2026, the typical home in Rancho Santa Margarita is worth about $1,003,793, based on the Zillow Home Value Index. Prices vary a lot by street, lot size and condition, so ask for a valuation of your specific home.

Are home values in Rancho Santa Margarita going up or down?

The typical home value in Rancho Santa Margarita is down 0.1% over the past year, from about $1,004,836 to about $1,003,793. Over ten years it is up 84%.

How much is a 3-bedroom home in Rancho Santa Margarita?

Typical values in Rancho Santa Margarita by bedroom count: 1 bedroom about $447,722, 2 bedroom about $653,275, 3 bedroom about $1,028,588, 4 bedroom about $1,338,580, 5+ bedroom about $1,623,122. Source: Zillow Home Value Index, September 2026.

What is the typical rent in Rancho Santa Margarita?

The typical asking rent in Rancho Santa Margarita is about $2,849 a month as of September 2026, based on the Zillow Observed Rent Index.

How many public schools are in Rancho Santa Margarita?

8 public schools sit inside the Rancho Santa Margarita boundary: 6 elementary and 2 middle. They belong to Saddleback Valley Unified and Capistrano Unified. School assignment depends on the home address, so confirm with the district.

What are the biggest parks in Rancho Santa Margarita?

Rancho Santa Margarita has 15 parks. The largest are Altisima Park (about 12 acres), Trabuco Mesa Park (about 12 acres) and Solano Park (about 10 acres). Sizes are measured from OpenStreetMap.

What cities are near Rancho Santa Margarita?

Rancho Santa Margarita is in Orange County. The closest cities I cover are Mission Viejo, Lake Forest, Ladera Ranch and Laguna Hills.

How do I find out what my Rancho Santa Margarita home is worth?

Enter your address on the home valuation form at jessetek.net/valuation. You get an automated estimate right away and a Comparative Market Analysis from Jesse within 24 hours, with no obligation.

Home values: Zillow Home Value Index, typical value, September 2026. Rent: Zillow Observed Rent Index, September 2026. Population: U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 estimate. Schools: California Department of Education public school directory. Parks, places and restaurants: OpenStreetMap contributors. Boundary: U.S. Census Bureau.

Ready for the next step? Start with my buyer guide or how I sell homes, get weekly mortgage rate texts, or browse the latest SoCal market insights.

Nearby Cities

Also Considering
These Cities?

Mission Viejo $1.2M Lake Forest $1.17M Ladera Ranch $1.37M Laguna Hills $1.23M
See every city I cover on the map →