Contra Costa County

Contra Costa County was incorporated in 1850 as one of the original twenty-seven counties of the new (31st) State of California. Consisting of some 802 square miles, Contra Costa County is California's ninth heavily populated county, with approximately 949,000 people as of the 2000 census.

Recreation

Perhaps the most famous geological feature in Contra Costa County is Mt. Diablo, the 3,849 foot peak that gives it's name to Mt. Diablo State Park. (For a time the county was almost named Mt. Diablo, but Contra Costa won out. Indeed, it seems there are perenial attempts to rename the mountain itself by folks who no doubt have convinced themselves that God would be mad at it otherwise.

Contra Costa County is also home to Danville's Eugene O'Neill Historic Site, and Blackhawk Auto Museum, as well as Walnut Creek's Lindsay Wildlife Museum.

Real Estate Market

Like other Bay Area locations, Contra Costa County is not cheap. At the time of this writing (June, 2006), average home prices run the gamut from a "low" of about $298 per square foot in Brentwood, to $452 per square foot in Walnut Creek. he California Association of Realtors® reported that for December, 2005, Contra Costa County's Affordability Index was 10 -- meaning that only 10% of households could afford to purchase a median priced home.

The community links at the right each contain links to homes by price range to help you find what you're looking for, or you can use our basic or advanced search tools as well to search for homes in Contra Costa County.

Resources

Communities

General

Contra Costa County Web Site
Wikipedia Article
Historical Society

Government

Planning Department
Building Department

Media

ContraCosta Times (Newspaper)
Contra Costa County Television
El Cerrito Wire