Best PlacesCambridge, ID Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cambridge, 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.
Cambridge ranks 20,618th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Cambridge
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.
Cambridge's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cambridge ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 98% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 96% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 96% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 91% of towns
Where Cambridge ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 9% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 21% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 26% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Cambridge
A household needs to earn about $70,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cambridge home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $65,077; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Cambridge's effective rate of 0.36%, 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 Cambridge
Cambridge runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Cambridge.
Who works in Cambridge, and how
Work in Cambridge centers on agriculture & forestry and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 15%
Life in Cambridge
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Cambridge.
What the weather is like in Cambridge, month by month
Cambridge sees roughly 79 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 22° | 12° |
| April | 52° | 38° | 26° |
| July | 85° | 68° | 48° |
| October | 58° | 42° | 29° |
Flying in and out of Cambridge
Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field sits about 75 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 2.6 million passengers in 2025, with 59 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Cambridge
Schools across Cambridge average a B−, better than 58% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cambridge Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Council Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Pioneer Primary SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top middle schools
- Weiser Middle SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
Top high schools
- Council Jr/sr High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- Weiser High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Cambridge Middle/high SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cambridge school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cambridge 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 Cambridge against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Cambridge
Is Cambridge a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cambridge ranks 20,618th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, quiet, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on an overheated housing market and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cambridge expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $284,222. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $65,077 median income, cost of living beats 26% of towns.
Is Cambridge safe?
Yes, Cambridge is safer than 58% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $310 per resident a year.
Compare Cambridge with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cambridge. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cambridge 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.
Cambridge detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cambridge: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cambridge: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cambridge: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cambridge: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cambridge 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.