Best PlacesClifton, ID Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Clifton, 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.
Clifton ranks 3,050th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Clifton
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.
Clifton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Clifton ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 98% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 96% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 93% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 91% of towns
Where Clifton ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 27% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 33% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 34% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 34% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 38% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Clifton
A household needs to earn about $75,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Clifton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $85,138, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 Clifton's effective rate of 0.43%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Clifton
Clifton 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 Clifton.
Who works in Clifton, and how
Work in Clifton centers on manufacturing and hospitality & food. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Clifton
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Clifton.
What the weather is like in Clifton, month by month
Clifton sees roughly 114 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 24° | 13° |
| April | 62° | 47° | 33° |
| July | 95° | 75° | 53° |
| October | 65° | 47° | 32° |
Flying in and out of Clifton
The nearest airport, Pocatello Regional, is about 58 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Salt Lake City International, about 96 miles away.
The best schools in and around Clifton
Schools across Clifton average a B+, better than 79% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Harold B Lee Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Malad Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Beutler Middle SchoolA · 60% proficient
- Malad Middle SchoolA · 60% proficient
- Preston Jr High SchoolB− · 41% proficient
Top high schools
- West Side Senior High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Malad Senior High SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Preston High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Clifton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Clifton 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 Clifton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Clifton
Is Clifton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Clifton ranks 3,050th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, state finances, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on civic engagement and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Clifton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $303,326. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $85,138 median income, cost of living beats 58% of towns.
Is Clifton safe?
Yes, Clifton is safer than 100% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $131 per resident a year.
Compare Clifton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Clifton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Clifton 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.
Clifton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Clifton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Clifton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Clifton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Clifton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Clifton 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.