Best PlacesBarstow, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Barstow, 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.
Barstow ranks 2,061st of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Barstow
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.
Barstow's strengths and weaknesses
Where Barstow ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 97% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 178 pleasant days a year, better than 89% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than 80% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than 62% of cities
- TransitBetter than 60% of cities
Where Barstow ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of cities
- School gradeD−, better than only 2% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 2% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 3% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 4% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Barstow
A household needs to earn about $64,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Barstow home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,508, 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 Barstow's effective rate of 0.65%, 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 Barstow
Barstow runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Barstow.
Who works in Barstow, and how
Work in Barstow centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Barstow
Barstow has more restaurants and bars per resident than 78% of cities and more parkland per resident than 78% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Barstow and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Barstow, month by month
Barstow sees roughly 178 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 108 degrees. January highs sit near 63, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 63° | 48° | 36° |
| April | 84° | 67° | 51° |
| July | 108° | 92° | 75° |
| October | 87° | 69° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Barstow
The nearest airport, San Bernardino International, is about 56 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Ontario International, about 66 miles away.
The best schools in and around Barstow
Schools across Barstow average a D−, better than 2% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Tiefort View IntermediateC · 33% proficient
- Yermo ElementaryD · 20% proficient
- Barstow Fine Arts AcademyD− · 13% proficient
Top middle schools
- Barstow Stem AcademyC+ · 36% proficient
- Fort Irwin MiddleC− · 28% proficient
- Barstow Junior HighF · 7% proficient
Top high schools
- Baker HighB · 50% proficient
- Silver Valley HighC+ · 40% proficient
- Barstow HighC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Barstow school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Barstow 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 Barstow against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Barstow suits
Common questions about living in Barstow
Is Barstow a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Barstow ranks 2,061st of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on cell coverage, the weather, and low property taxes, and lowest on tree cover and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Barstow expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $250,153. The overall cost of living runs about 2% above the national average. Set against a $68,508 median income, cost of living beats 8% of cities.
Is Barstow safe?
Barstow is safer than 12% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $506 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Barstow?
July highs average about 108 degrees, and January highs near 63 with lows near 36. That works out to about 178 pleasant days a year, more than 89% of cities.
Is Barstow good for families?
Schools beat 2% of cities, crime safety beats 12%, and childcare runs $1,252 a month.
Compare Barstow with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Barstow. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Barstow 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.
Barstow detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Barstow: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Barstow: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Barstow: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Barstow: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Barstow 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.