Best PlacesBranscomb, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Branscomb, 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.
Branscomb ranks 50,092nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Branscomb
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.
Branscomb's strengths and weaknesses
Where Branscomb ranks high
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 89% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 87% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 124 pleasant days a year, better than 82% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 56% of towns
Where Branscomb ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$37,058 median, better than only 3% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Branscomb
A household needs to earn about $105,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Branscomb home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $37,058, 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 Branscomb's effective rate of 0.39%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Branscomb
Branscomb 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 Branscomb.
Who works in Branscomb, and how
Work in Branscomb centers on transportation & warehousing and education. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 27%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Branscomb
The coast is about 21 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Branscomb, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Branscomb, month by month
Branscomb sees roughly 124 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 98 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 47° | 38° |
| April | 74° | 57° | 42° |
| July | 98° | 76° | 56° |
| October | 82° | 61° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Branscomb
The nearest airport, Charles M Schulz/Sonoma County, is about 92 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 129 miles away.
The best schools in and around Branscomb
Schools across Branscomb average a C, better than 39% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Laytonville ElementaryD+ · 23% proficient
- Leggett Valley ElementaryD · 21% proficient
Top high schools
- Laytonville HighA · 75% proficient
- Fort Bragg HighC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Branscomb school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Branscomb 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 Branscomb against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Branscomb
Is Branscomb a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Branscomb ranks 50,092nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on quiet, low property taxes, and tree cover, and lowest on summer heat and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Branscomb expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $427,446. The overall cost of living runs about 17% above the national average. Set against a $37,058 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Branscomb safe?
Branscomb is safer than 2% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $991 per resident a year.
Compare Branscomb with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Branscomb. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Branscomb 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.
Branscomb detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Branscomb: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Branscomb: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Branscomb: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Branscomb: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Branscomb 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.