Best PlacesAlturas, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Alturas, 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.
Alturas ranks 42,423rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Alturas
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.
Alturas' strengths and weaknesses
Where Alturas ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of towns
- Short commute17.6 minutes each way, better than 94% of towns
- TransitBetter than 93% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 90% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 87% of towns
Where Alturas ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 5% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 10% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Alturas
A household needs to earn about $55,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Alturas home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $62,081, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 Alturas' effective rate of 0.71%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Alturas
Alturas runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Alturas.
Who works in Alturas, and how
Work in Alturas centers on health care & social and public administration. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 13%
Life in Alturas
Alturas has more restaurants and bars per resident than 78% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Alturas and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Alturas, month by month
Alturas sees roughly 122 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 32° | 21° |
| April | 63° | 46° | 29° |
| July | 93° | 72° | 47° |
| October | 68° | 47° | 28° |
Flying in and out of Alturas
The nearest airport, Redding Regional, is about 113 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 200 miles away.
The best schools in and around Alturas
Schools across Alturas average a D, better than 10% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Surprise Valley ElementaryC · 35% proficient
- Alturas ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
- Big Valley ElementaryD− · 15% proficient
Top middle schools
- High Desert Community DayD+ · 25% proficient
- Modoc MiddleD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Surprise Valley HighB− · 42% proficient
- Tulelake HighD · 20% proficient
- Modoc HighD− · 17% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Alturas school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Alturas 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 Alturas against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Alturas
Is Alturas a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Alturas ranks 42,423rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on clean air, short commutes, and transit, and lowest on disaster risk and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Alturas expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $211,446. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $62,081 median income, cost of living beats 20% of towns.
Is Alturas safe?
Alturas is safer than 11% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $603 per resident a year.
Compare Alturas with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Alturas. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Alturas 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.
Alturas detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Alturas: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Alturas: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Alturas: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Alturas: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Alturas 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.