Best PlacesCalpack, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Calpack, 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.
Calpack ranks 46,934th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Calpack
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.
Calpack's strengths and weaknesses
Where Calpack ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 93% of towns
- TransitBetter than 90% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 138 pleasant days a year, better than 88% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 87% of towns
- BikingBetter than 78% of towns
Where Calpack ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- Short commute37.9 minutes each way, better than only 8% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Calpack
A household needs to earn about $140,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Calpack home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $69,079, 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 Calpack's effective rate of 0.65%, 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 Calpack
Calpack runs younger 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 Calpack.
Who works in Calpack, and how
Work in Calpack centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 95%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Calpack
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Calpack.
What the weather is like in Calpack, month by month
Calpack sees roughly 138 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 100 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 48° | 37° |
| April | 77° | 61° | 45° |
| July | 100° | 81° | 62° |
| October | 83° | 65° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Calpack
The nearest airport, Merced Yosemite Regional, is about 10 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Norman Y Mineta San Jose International, about 87 miles away.
The best schools in and around Calpack
Schools across Calpack average a D+, better than 16% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Plainsburg Union ElementaryC · 35% proficient
- Snelling-merced Falls ElementaryC · 34% proficient
- Planada ElementaryD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Weaver MiddleD+ · 26% proficient
- Cesar E. Chavez MiddleD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- El Capitan HighC · 33% proficient
- Golden Valley HighC− · 29% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Calpack school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Calpack 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 Calpack against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Calpack
Is Calpack a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Calpack ranks 46,934th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, transit, and the weather, and lowest on civic engagement and thin health care access. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Calpack expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $546,500. The overall cost of living runs about 0% above the national average. Set against a $69,079 median income, cost of living beats 18% of towns.
Is Calpack safe?
Calpack is safer than 8% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $620 per resident a year.
Compare Calpack with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Calpack. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Calpack 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.
Calpack detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Calpack: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Calpack: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Calpack: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Calpack: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Calpack 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.