Homes, condos and land for sale and rent in Cambria, CA

Cambria has benefited greatly from the building of the Hearst Castle. During the high unemployment years of the Great Depression, many of the Cambria citizens found welcome employment in the building activities. Additionally, Cambria provided supplies, services, and accommodations for many who came to build the Castle, creating prosperity in Cambria in an otherwise not really prosperous decade.
War also affected Cambria when the 8,000-ton Union Oil tanker, SS Montebello, was attacked and sunk in the early morning of December 23, 1941. Cambria citizens rallied to the rescue and all six crewmen were rescued. According to the captain, Olaf Eckstrom, these citizens of Cambria were real heroes: “God Bless ’em — they performed like American seamen, orderly, efficient, without hysteria.”
Other notable locations in the town include the historical Old Santa Rosa Chapel which was built in 1870, and as one of the oldest churches in the county of San Luis Obispo, held Catholic mass until May 26, 1963. The church fell into neglect until 1978, when the chapel and cemetery were restored. Wooden markers and tombstones as old as the founding year of the chapel (1870) grace the Santa Rosa Catholic Cemetery to the rear of the small chapel; at the entrance there is a large sign reading: In Pace Requiescat (Latin for Rest In Peace).

Cambria is located at 35°33′15″N 121°05′15″W.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 8.5 square miles (22 km2), all of it land.

The primary economic activity of Cambria is tourism. Located on the Pacific Ocean, the area has rocky cliffs and beaches. The town and adjacent hills are known for the extensive Monterey pines that give the area a particular character. Tragically the 2012–14 drought devastated the forests with estimates that as many as 40% of the trees were dying.
There are many bed and breakfast inns and hotels, especially along Moonstone Beach Drive.The beach is home to various sea life such as seals and sea otters and tide pools filled with sea anemones, sea urchins, star fish, crabs, snails and more. The beach was named after the moonstones that wash ashore there. Moonstone Beach Boardwalk is a 1.5 mi (2.4 km) walk with several beach access points and benches to allow for sea life observation and beach combing.
Hearst Castle is located approximately six miles north, and the Northern elephant seal rookery at Piedras Blancas is some fifteen miles to the north.
Cambria is home to the Cambria Historical Museum in the historic East Village and to the California State Historical Landmark No 939, Nitt Witt Ridge.

The 2010 United States Census reported that Cambria had a population of 6,032. The population density was 708.9 people per square mile (273.7/km²). The racial makeup of Cambria was 5,166 (85.6 %) White, 18 (0.3 %) African American, 47 (0.8 %) Native American, 78 (1.3 %) Asian, 14 (0.2 %) Pacific Islander, 557 (9.2 %) from other races, and 152 (2.5 %) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1,187 persons (19.7 %).
The Census reported that 6,031 people (100 % of the population) lived in households; only 1 (0 %) was known to live in non-institutionalized group quarters, and none were institutionalized.
There were 2,762 households, out of which 442 (16.0 %) had children under the age of 18 living with them; 1,483 (53.7 %) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 200 (7.2 %) had a female householder with no husband present, 75 (2.7 %) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 130 (4.7 %) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships and 31 (1.1 %) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 804 households (29.1 %) were made up of individuals and 422 (15.3 %) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.18 persons. There were 1,758 families (63.6 % of all households); the average family consisted of 2.61 persons.
The population was spread out with 858 people (14.2 %) under the age of 18, 281 people (4.7 %) aged 18 to 24, 865 people (14.3 %) aged 25 to 44, 2,116 people (35.1 %) aged 45 to 64, and 1,912 people (31.7 %) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 57.1 years. For every 100 females there were 90.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.2 males.
There were 4,062 housing units at an average density of 477.4 per square mile (184.3/km²), of which 1,985 (71.9 %) were owner-occupied, and 900 (28.1 %) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 3.4 %; the rental vacancy rate was 10.1 %. 4,030 people (66.8 % of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 2,001 people (33.2%) lived in rental housing units.