Best PlacesClayton, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Clayton, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Clayton ranks 1,902nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on high incomes by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Clayton
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.
Clayton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Clayton ranks high
- Household income$167,782 median, better than 98% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- BikingBetter than 98% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 97% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 172 pleasant days a year, better than 97% of towns
Where Clayton ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,942 a month, better than only 1% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- Short commute37.1 minutes each way, better than only 9% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 11% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Clayton
A household needs to earn about $267,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Clayton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $167,782, 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 Clayton's effective rate of 0.77%, 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 Clayton
Clayton runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Clayton.
Who works in Clayton, and how
Work in Clayton centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Clayton
The coast is about 38 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Clayton, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Clayton, month by month
Clayton sees roughly 172 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 41. The comfortable stretch runs March through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 51° | 41° |
| April | 75° | 60° | 48° |
| July | 92° | 72° | 58° |
| October | 82° | 65° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Clayton
San Francisco Bay Oakland International sits about 22 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.5 million passengers in 2025, with 64 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Clayton
Schools across Clayton average a B, better than 68% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Altamont Creek ElementaryA · 68% proficient
- Mt. Diablo ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- Highlands ElementaryB+ · 51% proficient
Top middle schools
- William Mendenhall MiddleA · 63% proficient
- Diablo View MiddleB+ · 47% proficient
- Pine Hollow MiddleC · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- Monte Vista HighA · 75% proficient
- Northgate HighA · 70% proficient
- Livermore HighA · 67% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Clayton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Clayton 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 Clayton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Clayton
Is Clayton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Clayton ranks 1,902nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on high incomes, few empty homes, and biking, and lowest on childcare costs and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Clayton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,025,444. The overall cost of living runs about 32% above the national average. Set against a $167,782 median income, cost of living beats 94% of towns.
Is Clayton safe?
Clayton is safer than 51% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $333 per resident a year.
Compare Clayton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Clayton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Clayton 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.
Clayton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Clayton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Clayton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Clayton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Clayton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Clayton 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.