Best PlacesCeres, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ceres, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Ceres ranks 1,838th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Ceres
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.
The best areas in Ceres
The parts of Ceres, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
Mayfield
Bystrom
Downtown Ceres
Scores across Ceres run from about the 5th to the 59th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Ceres' strengths and weaknesses
Where Ceres ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 91% of cities
- TransitBetter than 83% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 149 pleasant days a year, better than 82% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than 81% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 76% of cities
Where Ceres ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 2% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 3% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 4% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 6% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 9% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Ceres
A household needs to earn about $112,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ceres home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $81,827, 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 Ceres' effective rate of 0.74%, 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 Ceres
Ceres runs younger than the country, 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 Ceres.
Who works in Ceres, and how
Work in Ceres centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Ceres
Ceres has more parkland per resident than 82% of cities. That concentrates in some parts of Ceres and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Ceres, month by month
Ceres sees roughly 149 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 98 degrees. January highs sit near 59, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59° | 49° | 39° |
| April | 77° | 62° | 48° |
| July | 98° | 81° | 63° |
| October | 82° | 65° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Ceres
The nearest airport, Stockton Metro, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Norman Y Mineta San Jose International, about 56 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ceres
Schools across Ceres average a D+, better than 17% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Chatom ElementaryC− · 28% proficient
- Keyes ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
- Orville Wright ElementaryF · 10% proficient
Top middle schools
- La Loma Junior HighC · 33% proficient
- Barbara Spratling MiddleD · 24% proficient
- Mountain View MiddleD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- John H. Pitman HighB− · 41% proficient
- Central Valley HighC+ · 36% proficient
- Whitmore Charter HighC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ceres school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ceres 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 Ceres against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Ceres suits
Common questions about living in Ceres
Is Ceres a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ceres ranks 1,838th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on cell coverage, transit, and the weather, and lowest on education levels and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ceres expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $433,915. The overall cost of living runs about 4% above the national average. Set against a $81,827 median income, cost of living beats 20% of cities.
Is Ceres safe?
Ceres is safer than 18% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $463 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Ceres?
July highs average about 98 degrees, and January highs near 59 with lows near 39. That works out to about 149 pleasant days a year, more than 82% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Ceres?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Mayfield, Bystrom, and Downtown Ceres. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Ceres with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ceres. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ceres 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.
Ceres detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ceres: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ceres: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ceres: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ceres: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ceres 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.