Best PlacesCalifornia, NC 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. 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.
California ranks 22,421st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and noise is 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
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 94% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 93% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 86% of towns
Where California ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 8% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 8% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 9% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 14% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in California
A household needs to earn about $51,000 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 $84,390, 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 0.87%, 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 California
California 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 California.
Who works in California, and how
Work in California centers on professional & technical 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 88%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in California
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across California.
What the weather is like in California, month by month
California sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 54, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54° | 43° | 35° |
| April | 75° | 62° | 52° |
| July | 91° | 81° | 72° |
| October | 75° | 64° | 54° |
Flying in and out of California
The nearest airport, Pitt-Greenville, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 73 miles away.
The best schools in and around California
Schools across California average a C+, better than 48% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Sam D Bundy ElementaryC · 32% proficient
- Falkland ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Farmville MiddleB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Farmville Central HighB− · 42% 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 22,421st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, few empty homes, and an educated workforce, and lowest on noise and biking. 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 $193,976. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $84,390 median income, cost of living beats 77% of towns.
Is California safe?
California is safer than 14% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $548 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.