Pick the ferry, and Vallejo, the northern edge of the Bay Area, gets you to San Francisco in about 55 minutes. The city has about 123,000 people, a long naval history at Mare Island, and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, which draws crowds much of the year.
Day to day it is a working, mixed city with a walkable waterfront, hillside neighborhoods like Glen Cove, and the upscale Hiddenbrooke community. You can tour the Mare Island museum and historic buildings, stroll the waterfront, or shop the year-round farmers market. Compared with most of the Bay Area it is more affordable, but it is still expensive by national standards. Be realistic about safety. Violent and property crime run above the California average, and car break-ins and vehicle theft are the usual trouble, including in theme park lots.
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- Known as
- Home of Six Flags Discovery Kingdom; Mare Island Naval Shipyard city; The Gateway to the Wine Country; Bay Area's largest ferry-served North Bay city; Home of California Maritime Academy
- Founded
- 1851 laid out and named for General Mariano Vallejo; state capital briefly in 1852 and 1853; 1868 incorporated as a city; Mare Island Navy Yard established 1854
- Languages
- English; Spanish; Tagalog; Chinese; Vietnamese; Hindi; Ilocano
- Airports
- Oakland International (OAK), about 38 miles south; San Francisco International (SFO), about 45 miles southwest; Sacramento International (SMF), about 55 miles northeast; Sonoma County Airport (STS), about 45 miles northwest; Nut Tree Airport (VCB) in Vacaville and Napa County Airport (APC) are general aviation only
- Tipping
- Restaurants 18-20%; bars $1-2 per drink; taxis and rideshare 15-20%; hotel housekeeping $3-5 per night; bellhops $2-5 per bag; counter service optional; delivery 15-20%
About this data
Population (123,287, July 1 2025), land area (30.42 sq mi), median owner value and median gross rent are from Census QuickFacts, fetched this pass. Metro figure 455,376 is the Vallejo-Fairfield MSA resident population for 2025 from Federal Reserve data via Trading Economics, so treat as approximate. Visitor site and event page are from Visit Vallejo found in search. Elevation, coordinates, founding details, event names and months (several not verified as current), hotel ranges, tipping, cost-of-living index, crime rates, airport distances, home sale price and 1BR rent are approximate or from general knowledge and not verified in this pass; lower confidence. URLs not load-tested.
