Best Places95204, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 95204, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
95204 ranks 24,812th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 95204
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.
95204's strengths and weaknesses
Where 95204 ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 95% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than 91% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 89% of zip codes
Where 95204 ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 7% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 9% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 95204
A household needs to earn about $99,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 95204 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $80,904, 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 95204's effective rate of 0.76%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 95204
95204 runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 95204.
Who works in 95204, and how
Work in 95204 centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in 95204
95204 has more parkland per resident than 67% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 95204 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 95204, month by month
95204 sees roughly 135 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 98 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs March through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 49° | 39° |
| April | 77° | 61° | 46° |
| July | 98° | 78° | 60° |
| October | 83° | 65° | 49° |
Flying in and out of 95204
The nearest airport, Stockton Metro, is about 7 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 52 miles away.
The best schools in and around 95204
Schools across 95204 average a D+, better than 22% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Don RiggioD · 16% proficient
Top high schools
- Lincoln HighB− · 43% proficient
- Stockton HighD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 95204 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
95204 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 95204 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 95204 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 10% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 95204
Is 95204 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 95204 ranks 24,812th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on walkability, transit, and cell coverage, and lowest on summer heat and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 95204 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $380,180. The overall cost of living runs about 12% above the national average. Set against a $80,904 median income, cost of living beats 26% of zip codes.
Is 95204 safe?
95204 is safer than 5% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $833 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 95204?
July highs average about 98 degrees, and January highs near 61 with lows near 39. That works out to about 135 pleasant days a year, more than 84% of zip codes.
Is 95204 good for families?
Schools beat 22% of zip codes, crime safety beats 5%, and childcare runs $1,299 a month.
Compare 95204 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 95204. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 95204 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.
95204 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 95204: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 95204: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 95204: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 95204: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
95204 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.