Best PlacesColusa County, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Colusa County, 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.
Colusa County ranks 2,148th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Colusa County
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 Colusa County
The parts of Colusa County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Colusa
Streets are more walkable, fewer homes sit empty, and advertised internet is faster.
Arbuckle
Fewer households have young kids and it is noisier.
Williams
Colusa County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 1% of the country and others in the top 10%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Colusa County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Colusa County ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 96% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 95% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 94% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 91% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 131 pleasant days a year, better than 83% of counties
Where Colusa County ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 2% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 2% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 3% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 6% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 6% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Colusa County
A household needs to earn about $105,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Colusa County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $76,985, 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 Colusa County's effective rate of 0.69%, 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 Colusa County
Colusa County 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 Colusa County.
Who works in Colusa County, and how
Work in Colusa County centers on agriculture & forestry and manufacturing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Colusa County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Colusa County.
Is Colusa County growing, and who is moving in?
Colusa County has grown about 4% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Sacramento, CA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Colusa County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Colusa County, month by month
Colusa County sees roughly 131 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 99 degrees. January highs sit near 59, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59° | 49° | 39° |
| April | 76° | 61° | 46° |
| July | 99° | 80° | 61° |
| October | 83° | 64° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Colusa County
Sacramento International sits about 41 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 6.8 million passengers in 2025, with 85 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Colusa County
Schools across Colusa County average a C, better than 45% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- James M. Burchfield PrimaryC · 33% proficient
- Princeton ElementaryD+ · 21% proficient
- Elk Creek ElementaryD · 19% proficient
Top middle schools
- George T. Egling MiddleD+ · 26% proficient
- Indian Valley IntermediateD− · 19% proficient
- Esparto MiddleD− · 14% proficient
Top high schools
- Williams Junior/senior HighA · 75% proficient
- Colusa HighB · 48% proficient
- Colusa Alternative High (continuation)D+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Colusa County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Colusa County 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 Colusa County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Colusa County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 7% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Colusa County
Is Colusa County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Colusa County ranks 2,148th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on walkability, fast internet, and cell coverage, 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 Colusa County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $406,071. The overall cost of living runs about 6% above the national average. Set against a $76,985 median income, cost of living beats 26% of counties.
Is Colusa County safe?
Colusa County is safer than 27% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $446 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Colusa County?
July highs average about 99 degrees, and January highs near 59 with lows near 39. That works out to about 131 pleasant days a year, more than 83% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Colusa County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Colusa, Arbuckle, and Williams. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Colusa County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Colusa County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Colusa County 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.
Colusa County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Colusa County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Colusa County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Colusa County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Colusa County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Colusa County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.