Best PlacesAvenal, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Avenal, 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.
Avenal ranks 47,233rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Avenal
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.
Avenal's strengths and weaknesses
Where Avenal ranks high
- BikingBetter than 95% of towns
- TransitBetter than 94% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 92% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 90% of towns
Where Avenal ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of towns
- School gradeD−, better than only 2% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Avenal
A household needs to earn about $57,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Avenal home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $55,919; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Avenal's effective rate of 0.69%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Avenal
Avenal runs younger than the country, 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 Avenal.
Who works in Avenal, and how
Work in Avenal centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 95%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Avenal
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Avenal.
What the weather is like in Avenal, month by month
Avenal sees roughly 141 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 103 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 48° | 36° |
| April | 81° | 63° | 45° |
| July | 103° | 84° | 63° |
| October | 85° | 66° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Avenal
The nearest airport, Fresno Yosemite International, is about 59 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Norman Y Mineta San Jose International, about 138 miles away.
The best schools in and around Avenal
Schools across Avenal average a D−, better than 2% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Kettleman City ElementaryF · 10% proficient
- Avenal ElementaryF · 8% proficient
- Tamarack ElementaryF · 5% proficient
Top middle schools
- Reef Sunset MiddleF · 7% proficient
Top high schools
- Coalinga HighC− · 28% proficient
- Avenal HighD+ · 24% proficient
- Sunrise High (continuation)F · 10% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Avenal school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Avenal 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 Avenal against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Avenal
Is Avenal a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Avenal ranks 47,233rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on biking, transit, and walkability, and lowest on thin health care access and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Avenal expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $222,151. The overall cost of living runs about 3% above the national average. Set against a $55,919 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Avenal safe?
Avenal is safer than 45% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $354 per resident a year.
Compare Avenal with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Avenal. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Avenal 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.
Avenal detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Avenal: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Avenal: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Avenal: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Avenal: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Avenal 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.