Best PlacesBig Pine, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Big Pine, 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.
Big Pine ranks 33,460th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Big Pine
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.
Big Pine's strengths and weaknesses
Where Big Pine ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 159 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of towns
- TransitBetter than 92% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 91% of towns
- BikingBetter than 85% of towns
- Short commute20.8 minutes each way, better than 85% of towns
Where Big Pine ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 8% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 10% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,205 a month, better than only 14% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Big Pine
A household needs to earn about $78,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Big Pine home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $67,562, 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 Big Pine's effective rate of 0.60%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Big Pine
Big Pine 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 Big Pine.
Who works in Big Pine, and how
Work in Big Pine centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Big Pine
Big Pine has more restaurants and bars per resident than 97% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Big Pine and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Big Pine, month by month
Big Pine sees roughly 159 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 102 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 39° | 23° |
| April | 77° | 58° | 36° |
| July | 102° | 82° | 57° |
| October | 80° | 58° | 36° |
Flying in and out of Big Pine
The nearest airport, Bishop, is about 15 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Harry Reid International, about 189 miles away.
The best schools in and around Big Pine
Schools across Big Pine average a D, better than 8% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lee Vining ElementaryB · 47% proficient
- Bishop ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
- Big Pine ElementaryD · 17% proficient
Top middle schools
- Home Street MiddleD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Bishop Union HighC+ · 40% proficient
- Lee Vining HighC+ · 37% proficient
- Palisade Glacier High (continuation)D+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Big Pine school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Big Pine 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 Big Pine against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Big Pine
Is Big Pine a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Big Pine ranks 33,460th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, transit, and civic engagement, and lowest on summer heat and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Big Pine expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $307,443. The overall cost of living runs about 11% above the national average. Set against a $67,562 median income, cost of living beats 17% of towns.
Is Big Pine safe?
Big Pine is safer than 39% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $371 per resident a year.
Compare Big Pine with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Big Pine. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Big Pine 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.
Big Pine detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Big Pine: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Big Pine: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Big Pine: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Big Pine: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Big Pine 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.