Best PlacesCambria, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cambria, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Cambria ranks 22,669th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Cambria
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.
Cambria's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cambria ranks high
- BikingBetter than 96% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 154 pleasant days a year, better than 93% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 93% of towns
- TransitBetter than 92% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 91% of towns
Where Cambria ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,391 a month, better than only 6% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Cambria
A household needs to earn about $239,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cambria home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $91,504, 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 Cambria's effective rate of 0.67%, 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 Cambria
Cambria 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 Cambria.
Who works in Cambria, and how
Work in Cambria centers on hospitality & food and education. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Cambria
Cambria has more restaurants and bars per resident than 93% of towns. The coast is about 2 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Cambria and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Cambria, month by month
Cambria sees roughly 154 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 63, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 63° | 48° | 36° |
| April | 77° | 57° | 41° |
| July | 97° | 73° | 54° |
| October | 85° | 62° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Cambria
The nearest airport, San Luis Obispo County Regional, is about 33 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Norman Y Mineta San Jose International, about 133 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cambria
Schools across Cambria average a C−, better than 19% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cayucos ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Cambria GrammarD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Templeton MiddleB+ · 50% proficient
- Santa Lucia MiddleC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Templeton HighB+ · 58% proficient
- Leffingwell High (continuation)B · 50% proficient
- Paso Robles HighB · 46% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cambria school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cambria 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 Cambria against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Cambria
Is Cambria a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cambria ranks 22,669th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on biking, the weather, and health care access, and lowest on an overheated housing market and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cambria expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $928,868. The overall cost of living runs about 33% above the national average. Set against a $91,504 median income, cost of living beats 30% of towns.
Is Cambria safe?
Yes, Cambria is safer than 57% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $318 per resident a year.
Compare Cambria with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cambria. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cambria 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.
Cambria detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cambria: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cambria: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cambria: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cambria: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cambria 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.