Best PlacesCarmichael, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Carmichael, 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.
Carmichael ranks 1,273rd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. Crime pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on transit.
The best neighborhoods in Carmichael
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.
Carmichael's strengths and weaknesses
Where Carmichael ranks high
- TransitBetter than 90% of cities
- BikingBetter than 88% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 148 pleasant days a year, better than 81% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 78% of cities
- QuietBetter than 70% of cities
Where Carmichael ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 4% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than only 17% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 17% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than only 24% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Carmichael
A household needs to earn about $154,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Carmichael home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $95,517, 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 Carmichael's effective rate of 0.74%, 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 Carmichael
Carmichael 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 Carmichael.
Who works in Carmichael, and how
Work in Carmichael centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Carmichael
Carmichael has more parkland per resident than 82% of cities. That concentrates in some parts of Carmichael and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Carmichael, month by month
Carmichael sees roughly 148 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 40. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58° | 48° | 40° |
| April | 74° | 60° | 47° |
| July | 96° | 77° | 60° |
| October | 80° | 64° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Carmichael
Sacramento International sits about 15 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 6.8 million passengers in 2025, with 85 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Carmichael
Schools across Carmichael average a C+, better than 37% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Charles Peck ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
- Cameron Ranch ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Arden MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
- John Barrett MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
- Will Rogers MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Mira Loma HighA+ · 80% proficient
- Rio Americano HighB+ · 52% proficient
- Del Campo HighB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Carmichael school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Carmichael 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 Carmichael against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Carmichael suits
Common questions about living in Carmichael
Is Carmichael a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Carmichael ranks 1,273rd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on transit, biking, and the weather, and lowest on crime and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Carmichael expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $594,533. The overall cost of living runs about 14% above the national average. Set against a $95,517 median income, cost of living beats 37% of cities.
Is Carmichael safe?
Carmichael is safer than 4% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $586 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Carmichael?
July highs average about 96 degrees, and January highs near 58 with lows near 40. That works out to about 148 pleasant days a year, more than 81% of cities.
Is Carmichael good for families?
Schools beat 37% of cities, crime safety beats 4%, and childcare runs $1,332 a month.
Compare Carmichael with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Carmichael. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Carmichael 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.
Carmichael detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Carmichael: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Carmichael: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Carmichael: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Carmichael: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Carmichael 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.