Best PlacesCatheys Valley, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Catheys Valley, 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.
Catheys Valley ranks 33,014th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Catheys Valley
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.
Catheys Valley's strengths and weaknesses
Where Catheys Valley ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 173 pleasant days a year, better than 97% of towns
- QuietBetter than 93% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 84% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 82% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 72% of towns
Where Catheys Valley ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 3% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Catheys Valley
A household needs to earn about $105,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Catheys Valley home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $78,741, 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 Catheys Valley'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 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 Catheys Valley
Catheys Valley 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 Catheys Valley.
Who works in Catheys Valley, and how
Work in Catheys Valley centers on health care & social and public administration. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Catheys Valley
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Catheys Valley.
What the weather is like in Catheys Valley, month by month
Catheys Valley sees roughly 173 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 100 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 48° | 37° |
| April | 77° | 61° | 45° |
| July | 100° | 81° | 62° |
| October | 83° | 65° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Catheys Valley
The nearest airport, Merced Yosemite Regional, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Norman Y Mineta San Jose International, about 101 miles away.
The best schools in and around Catheys Valley
Schools across Catheys Valley average a C+, better than 45% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Snelling-merced Falls ElementaryC · 34% proficient
- Raymond-knowles ElementaryC · 32% proficient
- Mariposa ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cesar E. Chavez MiddleD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Mariposa County HighB · 50% proficient
- El Capitan HighC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Catheys Valley school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Catheys Valley 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 Catheys Valley against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Catheys Valley
Is Catheys Valley a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Catheys Valley ranks 33,014th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, quiet, and big-city access, and lowest on disaster risk and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Catheys Valley expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $411,525. The overall cost of living runs about 7% above the national average. Set against a $78,741 median income, cost of living beats 35% of towns.
Is Catheys Valley safe?
Catheys Valley is safer than 40% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $367 per resident a year.
Compare Catheys Valley with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Catheys Valley. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Catheys Valley 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.
Catheys Valley detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Catheys Valley: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Catheys Valley: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Catheys Valley: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Catheys Valley: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Catheys Valley 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.