Best PlacesChowchilla, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Chowchilla, 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.
Chowchilla ranks 41,366th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Chowchilla
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.
Chowchilla's strengths and weaknesses
Where Chowchilla ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 94% of towns
- TransitBetter than 91% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 143 pleasant days a year, better than 90% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 90% of towns
- BikingBetter than 87% of towns
Where Chowchilla ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 4% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 6% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Chowchilla
A household needs to earn about $100,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Chowchilla home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $70,095, 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 Chowchilla's effective rate of 0.82%, 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 Chowchilla
Chowchilla 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 Chowchilla.
Who works in Chowchilla, and how
Work in Chowchilla centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Chowchilla
Chowchilla has more parkland per resident than 82% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Chowchilla and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Chowchilla, month by month
Chowchilla sees roughly 143 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 101 degrees. January highs sit near 62, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 62° | 49° | 38° |
| April | 78° | 61° | 45° |
| July | 101° | 81° | 62° |
| October | 84° | 65° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Chowchilla
The nearest airport, Merced Yosemite Regional, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Norman Y Mineta San Jose International, about 95 miles away.
The best schools in and around Chowchilla
Schools across Chowchilla average a D+, better than 18% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Plainsburg Union ElementaryC · 35% proficient
- Alview ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
- El Nido ElementaryD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dairyland ElementaryB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Golden Valley HighC− · 29% proficient
- Chowchilla Union HighC− · 28% proficient
- Gateway High (continuation)D+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Chowchilla school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Chowchilla 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 Chowchilla against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Chowchilla suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 9% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Chowchilla
Is Chowchilla a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Chowchilla ranks 41,366th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cell coverage, transit, and the weather, and lowest on civic engagement and thin health care access. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Chowchilla expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $382,983. The overall cost of living runs about 3% above the national average. Set against a $70,095 median income, cost of living beats 18% of towns.
Is Chowchilla safe?
Chowchilla is safer than 31% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $409 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Chowchilla?
July highs average about 101 degrees, and January highs near 62 with lows near 38. That works out to about 143 pleasant days a year, more than 90% of towns.
Is Chowchilla good for families?
Schools beat 18% of towns, crime safety beats 31%, and childcare runs $1,085 a month.
Compare Chowchilla with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Chowchilla. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Chowchilla 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.
Chowchilla detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Chowchilla: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Chowchilla: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Chowchilla: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Chowchilla: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Chowchilla 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.