Best PlacesCalimesa, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Calimesa, 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.
Calimesa ranks 29,792nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Calimesa
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.
Calimesa's strengths and weaknesses
Where Calimesa ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 192 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 97% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 95% of towns
- TransitBetter than 93% of towns
- BikingBetter than 89% of towns
Where Calimesa ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 5% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,337 a month, better than only 8% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Calimesa
A household needs to earn about $118,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Calimesa home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $100,679, 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 Calimesa's effective rate of 0.93%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Calimesa
Calimesa runs older than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Calimesa.
Who works in Calimesa, and how
Work in Calimesa centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Calimesa
Calimesa has more restaurants and bars per resident than 80% of towns and more parkland per resident than 94% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Calimesa and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Calimesa, month by month
Calimesa sees roughly 192 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 99 degrees. January highs sit near 67, with lows near 44. The comfortable stretch runs February through June and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 67° | 54° | 44° |
| April | 79° | 64° | 52° |
| July | 99° | 82° | 68° |
| October | 86° | 70° | 57° |
Flying in and out of Calimesa
The nearest airport, San Bernardino International, is about 13 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Ontario International, about 32 miles away.
The best schools in and around Calimesa
Schools across Calimesa average a C+, better than 47% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Clayton A. Record Jr. ElementaryD− · 16% proficient
Top middle schools
- Monte Vista MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Beaumont Senior HighB · 50% proficient
- Yucaipa HighB− · 44% proficient
- San Jacinto HighC− · 26% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Calimesa school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Calimesa 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 Calimesa against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Calimesa
Is Calimesa a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Calimesa ranks 29,792nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, big-city access, and fast internet, and lowest on air quality and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Calimesa expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $442,863. The overall cost of living runs about 12% above the national average. Set against a $100,679 median income, cost of living beats 60% of towns.
Is Calimesa safe?
Yes, Calimesa is safer than 61% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $319 per resident a year.
Compare Calimesa with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Calimesa. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Calimesa 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.
Calimesa detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Calimesa: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Calimesa: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Calimesa: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Calimesa: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Calimesa 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.