Best PlacesCanyon Country, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Canyon Country, 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.
Canyon Country ranks 1,092nd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Canyon Country
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.
Canyon Country's strengths and weaknesses
Where Canyon Country ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 288 pleasant days a year, better than 98% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than 90% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than 84% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 84% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than 81% of cities
Where Canyon Country ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of cities
- Short commute36.9 minutes each way, better than only 3% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 9% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 10% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 11% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Canyon Country
A household needs to earn about $190,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Canyon Country home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $127,058, 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 Canyon Country's effective rate of 0.86%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Canyon Country
Canyon Country's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Canyon Country.
Who works in Canyon Country, and how
Work in Canyon Country centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Canyon Country
Canyon Country has more parkland per resident than 77% of cities. The coast is about 29 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Canyon Country and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Canyon Country, month by month
Canyon Country sees roughly 288 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 66, with lows near 51. The comfortable stretch runs October through June.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 66° | 60° | 51° |
| April | 74° | 67° | 57° |
| July | 90° | 82° | 69° |
| October | 82° | 74° | 62° |
Flying in and out of Canyon Country
Bob Hope sits about 16 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 3.1 million passengers in 2025, with 54 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Canyon Country
Schools across Canyon Country average a C, better than 24% of cities.
Top middle schools
- La Mesa Junior HighF · 10% proficient
Top high schools
- Golden Valley HighD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Canyon Country school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Canyon Country 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 Canyon Country against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Canyon Country suits
Families
Schools land around the 24th percentile and crime safety beats 74%.
Common questions about living in Canyon Country
Is Canyon Country a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Canyon Country ranks 1,092nd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on the weather, big-city access, and few empty homes, and lowest on air quality and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Canyon Country expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $721,274. The overall cost of living runs about 26% above the national average. Set against a $127,058 median income, cost of living beats 54% of cities.
Is Canyon Country safe?
Yes, Canyon Country is safer than 74% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $261 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Canyon Country?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 66 with lows near 51. That works out to about 288 pleasant days a year, more than 98% of cities.
Is Canyon Country good for families?
Schools beat 24% of cities, crime safety beats 74%, and childcare runs $1,130 a month.
Compare Canyon Country with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Canyon Country. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Canyon Country 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.
Canyon Country detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Canyon Country: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Canyon Country: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Canyon Country: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Canyon Country: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Canyon Country 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.