Best PlacesCalpine, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Calpine, 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.
Calpine ranks 46,033rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Calpine
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.
Calpine's strengths and weaknesses
Where Calpine ranks high
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Short commute18.4 minutes each way, better than 92% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 89% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 76% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 72% of towns
Where Calpine ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 7% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 9% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Calpine
A household needs to earn about $94,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Calpine home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $57,161, 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 Calpine's effective rate of 0.62%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Calpine
Calpine runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Calpine.
Who works in Calpine, and how
Work in Calpine centers on agriculture & forestry and education. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Calpine
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Calpine.
What the weather is like in Calpine, month by month
Calpine sees roughly 93 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs June through August.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 28° | 16° |
| April | 58° | 40° | 24° |
| July | 85° | 63° | 41° |
| October | 65° | 43° | 25° |
Flying in and out of Calpine
The nearest airport, Reno/Tahoe International, is about 37 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 91 miles away.
The best schools in and around Calpine
Schools across Calpine average a C, better than 32% of towns.
Top high schools
- Loyalton HighC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Calpine school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Calpine 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 Calpine against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Calpine
Is Calpine a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Calpine ranks 46,033rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on quiet, short commutes, and fast internet, and lowest on disaster risk and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Calpine expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $370,530. The overall cost of living runs about 10% above the national average. Set against a $57,161 median income, cost of living beats 7% of towns.
Is Calpine safe?
Calpine is safer than 6% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $695 per resident a year.
Compare Calpine with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Calpine. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Calpine 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.
Calpine detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Calpine: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Calpine: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Calpine: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Calpine: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Calpine 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.