Best PlacesCalifornia, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around California, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
California ranks 13,827th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores best on what local pay buys, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in California
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.
California's strengths and weaknesses
Where California ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 88% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 88% of towns
- Household income$103,340 median, better than 87% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 87% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 80% of towns
Where California ranks low
- Short commute36.5 minutes each way, better than only 10% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 14% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 76 pleasant days a year, better than only 38% of towns
- Cheap childcare$883 a month, better than only 39% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 39% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in California
A household needs to earn about $77,000 a year to comfortably buy the median California home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $103,340, 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 California's effective rate of 0.79%, 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 California
California runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for California.
Who works in California, and how
Work in California centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in California
California has more restaurants and bars per resident than 94% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of California and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in California, month by month
California sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 33° | 27° |
| April | 66° | 55° | 46° |
| July | 86° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 69° | 58° | 49° |
Flying in and out of California
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International sits about 22 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.4 million passengers in 2025, with 99 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around California
Schools across California average a C+, better than 46% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Grant's Lick Elementary SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Campbell Ridge ElementaryC+ · 40% proficient
- Northern Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Campbell County Middle SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Phillip Sharp Middle SchoolD · 21% proficient
Top high schools
- Campbell County High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Pendleton County High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every California school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
California 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 California against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in California
Is California a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, California ranks 13,827th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on what local pay buys, few empty homes, and high incomes, and lowest on long commutes and car insurance costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is California expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $295,704. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $103,340 median income, cost of living beats 88% of towns.
Is California safe?
California is safer than 53% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $286 per resident a year.
Compare California with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to California. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in California 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.
California detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for California: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in California: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of California: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in California: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
California 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.