Best PlacesAnderson, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Anderson, 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.
Anderson ranks 40,224th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Anderson
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.
Anderson's strengths and weaknesses
Where Anderson ranks high
- TransitBetter than 95% of towns
- BikingBetter than 93% of towns
- Short commute21.1 minutes each way, better than 84% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 83% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 82% of towns
Where Anderson ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 17% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Anderson
A household needs to earn about $81,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Anderson home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $66,666, 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 Anderson's effective rate of 0.75%, 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 Anderson
Anderson's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Anderson.
Who works in Anderson, and how
Work in Anderson centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Anderson
Anderson has more restaurants and bars per resident than 67% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Anderson and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Anderson, month by month
Anderson sees roughly 115 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 103 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 49° | 38° |
| April | 76° | 62° | 47° |
| July | 103° | 86° | 67° |
| October | 83° | 66° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Anderson
The nearest airport, Redding Regional, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 128 miles away.
The best schools in and around Anderson
Schools across Anderson average a C, better than 34% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Grant ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Millville ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- Prairie ElementaryB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Cottonwood Junior HighB− · 40% proficient
- Pacheco ElementaryC− · 29% proficient
- Anderson MiddleD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- Shasta HighA− · 60% proficient
- Foothill HighB · 49% proficient
- Enterprise HighB− · 41% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Anderson school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Anderson 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 Anderson against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Anderson suits
Common questions about living in Anderson
Is Anderson a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Anderson ranks 40,224th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on transit, biking, and short commutes, and lowest on summer heat and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Anderson expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $312,457. The overall cost of living runs about 4% above the national average. Set against a $66,666 median income, cost of living beats 17% of towns.
Is Anderson safe?
Anderson is safer than 47% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $330 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Anderson?
July highs average about 103 degrees, and January highs near 61 with lows near 38. That works out to about 115 pleasant days a year, more than 78% of towns.
Is Anderson good for families?
Schools beat 34% of towns, crime safety beats 47%, and childcare runs $1,036 a month.
Compare Anderson with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Anderson. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Anderson 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.
Anderson detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Anderson: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Anderson: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Anderson: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Anderson: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Anderson 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.