Best Places95497, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 95497, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
95497 ranks 17,090th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 95497
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.
95497's strengths and weaknesses
Where 95497 ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Household income$127,613 median, better than 92% of zip codes
Where 95497 ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- Short commute37.4 minutes each way, better than only 7% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than only 9% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 10% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 95497
A household needs to earn about $335,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 95497 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $127,613, 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 95497's effective rate of 0.64%, 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 95497
95497 runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 95497.
Who works in 95497, and how
Work in 95497 centers on professional & technical and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 36%
- Work from home 56%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in 95497
The coast is about 1 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 95497, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 95497, month by month
95497 sees roughly 136 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 98 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 47° | 38° |
| April | 74° | 57° | 42° |
| July | 98° | 76° | 56° |
| October | 82° | 61° | 45° |
Flying in and out of 95497
The nearest airport, Charles M Schulz/Sonoma County, is about 39 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is San Francisco International, about 97 miles away.
95497 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 95497 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 95497
Is 95497 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 95497 ranks 17,090th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on health care access, an educated workforce, and a strong job market, and lowest on summer heat and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 95497 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,310,737. The overall cost of living runs about 62% above the national average. Set against a $127,613 median income, cost of living beats 54% of zip codes.
Is 95497 safe?
95497 is safer than 13% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $527 per resident a year.
Compare 95497 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 95497. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 95497 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.
95497 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 95497: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 95497: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 95497: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 95497: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
95497 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.