Best PlacesBig River, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Big River, 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.
Big River ranks 45,791st 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 River
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 River's strengths and weaknesses
Where Big River ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 185 pleasant days a year, better than 98% of towns
- Short commute13.4 minutes each way, better than 98% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 95% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 84% of towns
- QuietBetter than 71% of towns
Where Big River ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$37,500 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 4% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Big River
A household needs to earn about $32,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Big River home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $37,500, 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 Big River's effective rate of 0.44%, 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 4 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 River
Big River 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 River.
Who works in Big River, and how
Work in Big River centers on retail trade and construction. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Big River
Big River has more restaurants and bars per resident than 96% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Big River and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Big River, month by month
Big River sees roughly 185 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 112 degrees. January highs sit near 69, with lows near 41. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 69° | 55° | 41° |
| April | 91° | 75° | 57° |
| July | 112° | 98° | 82° |
| October | 93° | 76° | 60° |
Flying in and out of Big River
The nearest airport, Yuma MCAS/Yuma International, is about 103 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Harry Reid International, about 142 miles away.
The best schools in and around Big River
Schools across Big River average a D−, better than 4% of towns.
Top middle schools
- Wallace Jr High SchoolD− · 17% proficient
Top high schools
- Parker High SchoolF · 8% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Big River school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Big River 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 River against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Big River
Is Big River a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Big River ranks 45,791st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, short commutes, and low disaster risk, and lowest on summer heat and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Big River expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $128,100. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $37,500 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Big River safe?
Big River is safer than 18% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $460 per resident a year.
Compare Big River with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Big River. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Big River 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 River detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Big River: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Big River: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Big River: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Big River: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Big River 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.