Best PlacesAtascadero, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Atascadero, 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.
Atascadero ranks 1,148th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Atascadero
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.
Atascadero's strengths and weaknesses
Where Atascadero ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 92% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 164 pleasant days a year, better than 86% of cities
- Short commute22.5 minutes each way, better than 74% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 68% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than 64% of cities
Where Atascadero ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than only 16% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 20% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,391 a month, better than only 23% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than only 24% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Atascadero
A household needs to earn about $184,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Atascadero home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $104,189, 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 Atascadero'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 Atascadero
Atascadero runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Atascadero.
Who works in Atascadero, and how
Work in Atascadero centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Atascadero
Atascadero has more restaurants and bars per resident than 80% of cities and more parkland per resident than 89% of cities. The coast is about 23 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Atascadero and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Atascadero, month by month
Atascadero sees roughly 164 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 63, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 63° | 48° | 36° |
| April | 77° | 57° | 41° |
| July | 97° | 73° | 54° |
| October | 85° | 62° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Atascadero
The nearest airport, San Luis Obispo County Regional, is about 17 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Norman Y Mineta San Jose International, about 148 miles away.
The best schools in and around Atascadero
Schools across Atascadero average a B−, better than 50% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Cayucos ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Vineyard ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Del Mar ElementaryC · 32% proficient
Top middle schools
- Teach ElementaryA+ · 80% proficient
- Templeton MiddleB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Templeton HighB+ · 58% proficient
- San Luis Obispo HighB+ · 52% proficient
- Morro Bay HighB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Atascadero school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Atascadero 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 Atascadero against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Atascadero suits
Common questions about living in Atascadero
Is Atascadero a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Atascadero ranks 1,148th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on clean air, the weather, and short commutes, and lowest on taxes and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Atascadero expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $708,970. The overall cost of living runs about 18% above the national average. Set against a $104,189 median income, cost of living beats 48% of cities.
Is Atascadero safe?
Atascadero is safer than 38% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $378 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Atascadero?
July highs average about 97 degrees, and January highs near 63 with lows near 36. That works out to about 164 pleasant days a year, more than 86% of cities.
Is Atascadero good for families?
Schools beat 50% of cities, crime safety beats 38%, and childcare runs $1,391 a month.
Compare Atascadero with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Atascadero. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Atascadero 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.
Atascadero detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Atascadero: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Atascadero: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Atascadero: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Atascadero: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Atascadero 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.