Best PlacesCotati, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cotati, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Cotati ranks 7,794th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Cotati
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.
Cotati's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cotati ranks high
- BikingBetter than 99% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of towns
- TransitBetter than 97% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 96% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 96% of towns
Where Cotati ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 12% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 16% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Cotati
A household needs to earn about $203,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cotati home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $109,219, 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 Cotati's effective rate of 0.67%, 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 Cotati
Cotati's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Cotati.
Who works in Cotati, and how
Work in Cotati centers on health care & social and retail trade. 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 Cotati
Cotati has more restaurants and bars per resident than 85% of towns. The coast is about 34 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Cotati and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Cotati, month by month
Cotati sees roughly 160 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 41. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58° | 48° | 41° |
| April | 67° | 54° | 44° |
| July | 81° | 63° | 52° |
| October | 76° | 59° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Cotati
The nearest airport, Charles M Schulz/Sonoma County, is about 14 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is San Francisco Bay Oakland International, about 50 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cotati
Schools across Cotati average a C−, better than 29% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Monte Rio ElementaryC · 30% proficient
- Two Rock ElementaryD+ · 22% proficient
Top middle schools
- Technology MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Analy HighB+ · 55% proficient
- Rancho Cotate HighC · 33% proficient
- Tomales HighD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cotati school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cotati 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 Cotati against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Cotati
Is Cotati a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cotati ranks 7,794th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on biking, walkability, and transit, and lowest on taxes and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cotati expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $790,389. The overall cost of living runs about 26% above the national average. Set against a $109,219 median income, cost of living beats 59% of towns.
Is Cotati safe?
Yes, Cotati is safer than 56% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $300 per resident a year.
Compare Cotati with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cotati. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cotati 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.
Cotati detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cotati: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cotati: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cotati: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cotati: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cotati 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.