Best PlacesAmador County, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Amador County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Amador County ranks 1,501st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Amador 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.
The best areas in Amador County
The parts of Amador County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Ione
Fewer homes sit empty, more households have young kids, and commutes are shorter.
Jackson
Biking is better, though tree cover is thinner.
Sutter Creek & Pine Grove
More residents vote, though prices have run up more.
Carbondale
Pioneer
More adults hold degrees, though it is noisier.
Scores across Amador County run from about the 11th to the 75th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Amador County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Amador County ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 94% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 149 pleasant days a year, better than 92% of counties
- QuietBetter than 87% of counties
- Household income$89,147 median, better than 86% of counties
- TransitBetter than 77% of counties
Where Amador County ranks low
- Short commute34.0 minutes each way, better than only 5% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 6% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 8% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 17% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 18% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Amador County
A household needs to earn about $121,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Amador County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $89,147, 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 Amador County's effective rate of 0.70%, 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 Amador County
Amador County 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 Amador County.
Who works in Amador County, and how
Work in Amador County centers on retail trade and construction. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Amador County
Amador County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 81% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Amador County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Amador County growing, and who is moving in?
Amador County has grown about 14% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Sacramento, CA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Amador County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Amador County, month by month
Amador County sees roughly 149 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58° | 46° | 37° |
| April | 71° | 57° | 43° |
| July | 97° | 80° | 61° |
| October | 79° | 63° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Amador County
The nearest airport, Stockton Metro, is about 43 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 49 miles away.
The best schools in and around Amador County
Schools across Amador County average a C−, better than 22% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Pine Grove Elementary Stem MagnetC+ · 37% proficient
- Jackson ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
- Sutter Creek ElementaryC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ione Junior HighD · 23% proficient
- Jackson Junior HighD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Argonaut HighC+ · 35% proficient
- Amador HighC · 32% proficient
- Independence High (continuation)F · 10% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Amador County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Amador 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 Amador County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Amador County suits
Families
Schools land around the 22nd percentile and crime safety beats 67%.
Retirees
The weather beats 92% of counties, health care access beats 72%, and it is quieter than 87%.
Common questions about living in Amador County
Is Amador County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Amador County ranks 1,501st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on big-city access, the weather, and quiet, and lowest on long commutes and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Amador County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $471,021. The overall cost of living runs about 6% above the national average. Set against a $89,147 median income, cost of living beats 59% of counties.
Is Amador County safe?
Yes, Amador County is safer than 67% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $323 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Amador County?
July highs average about 97 degrees, and January highs near 58 with lows near 37. That works out to about 149 pleasant days a year, more than 92% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Amador County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Ione, Jackson, and Sutter Creek & Pine Grove. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Amador County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Amador County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Amador 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.
Amador County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Amador County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Amador County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Amador County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Amador County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Amador 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.