Best PlacesCalaveras County, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Calaveras County, 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.
Calaveras County ranks 1,808th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Calaveras County
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.
The best areas in Calaveras County
The parts of Calaveras County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Arnold
Tree cover is thicker, commutes are shorter, and more adults hold degrees.
Angels & Copperopolis
More homes sit empty and prices have run up more.
Valley Springs & San Andreas
Crime runs lower, though schools score lower.
Rancho Calaveras
More households have young kids, though disaster risk is higher.
Scores across Calaveras County run from about the 6th to the 80th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Calaveras County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Calaveras County ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 93% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 142 pleasant days a year, better than 89% of counties
- QuietBetter than 89% of counties
- Household income$87,394 median, better than 84% of counties
- TransitBetter than 77% of counties
Where Calaveras County ranks low
- Short commute34.2 minutes each way, better than only 5% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 6% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 8% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 12% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,044 a month, better than only 15% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Calaveras County
A household needs to earn about $124,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Calaveras County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $87,394, 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 Calaveras County's effective rate of 0.71%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Calaveras County
Calaveras County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Calaveras County.
Who works in Calaveras County, and how
Work in Calaveras County centers on construction and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Calaveras County
Calaveras County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 73% of counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Calaveras County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Calaveras County growing, and who is moving in?
Calaveras County has grown about 4% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Stockton, CA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Calaveras County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Calaveras County, month by month
Calaveras County sees roughly 142 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58° | 46° | 37° |
| April | 71° | 57° | 43° |
| July | 97° | 80° | 61° |
| October | 79° | 63° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Calaveras County
The nearest airport, Stockton Metro, is about 37 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 63 miles away.
The best schools in and around Calaveras County
Schools across Calaveras County average a C, better than 36% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Mark Twain ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Vallecito Independent Study (alternative)B · 50% proficient
- Hazel Fischer ElementaryC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Avery MiddleC · 35% proficient
- Toyon MiddleD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Calaveras HighC+ · 38% proficient
- Argonaut HighC+ · 35% proficient
- Gold Strike HighD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Calaveras County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Calaveras County 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 Calaveras County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Calaveras County suits
Families
Schools land around the 36th percentile and crime safety beats 67%.
Retirees
The weather beats 89% of counties, health care access beats 71%, and it is quieter than 89%.
Common questions about living in Calaveras County
Is Calaveras County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Calaveras County ranks 1,808th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on big-city access, the weather, and quiet, and lowest on long commutes and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Calaveras County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $478,908. The overall cost of living runs about 7% above the national average. Set against a $87,394 median income, cost of living beats 55% of counties.
Is Calaveras County safe?
Yes, Calaveras County is safer than 67% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $336 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Calaveras County?
July highs average about 97 degrees, and January highs near 58 with lows near 37. That works out to about 142 pleasant days a year, more than 89% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Calaveras County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Arnold, Angels & Copperopolis, and Valley Springs & San Andreas. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Calaveras County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Calaveras County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Calaveras County 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.
Calaveras County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Calaveras County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Calaveras County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Calaveras County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Calaveras County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Calaveras County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.