Best PlacesAlpine County, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Alpine County, 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.
Alpine County ranks 1,891st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and walkability ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Alpine County
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.
Alpine County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Alpine County ranks high
- QuietBetter than 99% of counties
- Household income$105,521 median, better than 94% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 92% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 87% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 85% of counties
Where Alpine County ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 2% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 2% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 2% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 2% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 4% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Alpine County
A household needs to earn about $149,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Alpine County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $105,521, 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 Alpine County's effective rate of 0.55%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Alpine County
Alpine County's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Alpine County.
Who works in Alpine County, and how
Work in Alpine County centers on arts & entertainment and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Alpine County
Alpine County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 99% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Alpine County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Alpine County growing, and who is moving in?
Alpine County has grown about 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from San Francisco, CA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Alpine County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Alpine County, month by month
Alpine County sees roughly 102 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 30° | 18° |
| April | 57° | 41° | 27° |
| July | 83° | 64° | 43° |
| October | 65° | 45° | 28° |
Flying in and out of Alpine County
The nearest airport, Reno/Tahoe International, is about 53 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 94 miles away.
The best schools in and around Alpine County
Schools across Alpine County average a C+, better than 56% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Bear Valley ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Diamond Valley ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Coleville HighB− · 42% proficient
- Douglas High SchoolC · 31% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Alpine County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Alpine County 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 Alpine County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Alpine County
Is Alpine County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Alpine County ranks 1,891st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on quiet, high incomes, and an educated workforce, and lowest on walkability and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Alpine County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $590,200. The overall cost of living runs about 6% above the national average. Set against a $105,521 median income, cost of living beats 87% of counties.
Is Alpine County safe?
Alpine County is safer than 4% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $681 per resident a year.
Compare Alpine County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Alpine County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Alpine County 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.
Alpine County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Alpine County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Alpine County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Alpine County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Alpine County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Alpine County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.