Best Places94561, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 94561, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
94561 ranks 5,598th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 94561
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
94561's strengths and weaknesses
Where 94561 ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 178 pleasant days a year, better than 95% of zip codes
- Household income$136,953 median, better than 94% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 92% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 91% of zip codes
Where 94561 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,942 a month, better than only 1% of zip codes
- Short commute41.1 minutes each way, better than only 3% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than only 13% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 15% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 94561
A household needs to earn about $181,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 94561 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $136,953, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 94561's effective rate of 0.98%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 94561
94561 runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 94561.
Who works in 94561, and how
Work in 94561 centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 94561
94561 has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most zip codes and more parkland per resident than 73% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 94561 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 94561, month by month
94561 sees roughly 178 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 41. The comfortable stretch runs March through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 51° | 41° |
| April | 75° | 60° | 48° |
| July | 92° | 72° | 58° |
| October | 82° | 65° | 52° |
Flying in and out of 94561
The nearest airport, Stockton Metro, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is San Francisco Bay Oakland International, about 34 miles away.
The best schools in and around 94561
Schools across 94561 average a C+, better than 48% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Knightsen ElementaryD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- William B. Bristow MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Deer Valley HighC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 94561 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
94561 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 94561 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 94561 suits
Families
Schools land around the 48th percentile and crime safety beats 58%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 86% of zip codes, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 17% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 94561
Is 94561 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 94561 ranks 5,598th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on the weather, high incomes, and few empty homes, and lowest on childcare costs and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 94561 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $675,724. The overall cost of living runs about 17% above the national average. Set against a $136,953 median income, cost of living beats 86% of zip codes.
Is 94561 safe?
Yes, 94561 is safer than 58% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $328 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 94561?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 61 with lows near 41. That works out to about 178 pleasant days a year, more than 95% of zip codes.
Is 94561 good for families?
Schools beat 48% of zip codes, crime safety beats 58%, and childcare runs $1,942 a month.
Compare 94561 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 94561. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 94561 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
94561 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 94561: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 94561: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 94561: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 94561: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
94561 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.