Best PlacesCrystal Bay, NV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Crystal Bay, 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.
Crystal Bay ranks 10,106th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on high incomes by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Crystal Bay
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.
Crystal Bay's strengths and weaknesses
Where Crystal Bay ranks high
- Household income$217,182 median, better than 99% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 98% of towns
- TransitBetter than 97% of towns
Where Crystal Bay ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 7% of towns
- Short commute38.1 minutes each way, better than only 8% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Crystal Bay
A household needs to earn about $495,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Crystal Bay home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $217,182, 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 Crystal Bay's effective rate of 0.41%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Crystal Bay
Crystal Bay runs older than the country, 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 Crystal Bay.
Who works in Crystal Bay, and how
Work in Crystal Bay centers on arts & entertainment and finance & insurance. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 54%
- Work from home 42%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Crystal Bay
Crystal Bay has more restaurants and bars per resident than 99% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Crystal Bay and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Crystal Bay, month by month
Crystal Bay sees roughly 139 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs June through August.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 28° | 16° |
| April | 58° | 40° | 24° |
| July | 85° | 63° | 41° |
| October | 65° | 43° | 25° |
Flying in and out of Crystal Bay
The nearest airport, Reno/Tahoe International, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 93 miles away.
The best schools in and around Crystal Bay
Schools across Crystal Bay average a C−, better than 23% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Incline ElementaryC− · 29% proficient
Top middle schools
- Incline Middle SchoolD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- Incline High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Crystal Bay school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Crystal Bay 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 Crystal Bay against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Crystal Bay
Is Crystal Bay a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Crystal Bay ranks 10,106th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on high incomes, health care access, and civic engagement, and lowest on an overheated housing market and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Crystal Bay expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $2,000,001. The overall cost of living runs about 87% above the national average. Set against a $217,182 median income, cost of living beats 95% of towns.
Is Crystal Bay safe?
Crystal Bay is safer than 10% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $643 per resident a year.
Compare Crystal Bay with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Crystal Bay. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Crystal Bay 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.
Crystal Bay detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Crystal Bay: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Crystal Bay: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Crystal Bay: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Crystal Bay: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Crystal Bay 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.