Best PlacesDel Monte Forest, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Del Monte Forest, 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.
Del Monte Forest ranks 4,765th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Del Monte Forest
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.
Del Monte Forest's strengths and weaknesses
Where Del Monte Forest ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 209 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 97% of towns
- Short commute15.5 minutes each way, better than 97% of towns
- BikingBetter than 97% of towns
Where Del Monte Forest ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,371 a month, better than only 7% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Del Monte Forest
A household needs to earn about $456,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Del Monte Forest home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $129,460, 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 Del Monte Forest's effective rate of 0.63%, 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 Del Monte Forest
Del Monte Forest 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 Del Monte Forest.
Who works in Del Monte Forest, and how
Work in Del Monte Forest centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 36%
- Work from home 31%
- Transit, walk, or bike 33%
Life in Del Monte Forest
Del Monte Forest has more restaurants and bars per resident than 73% of towns. The coast is about 4 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Del Monte Forest and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Del Monte Forest, month by month
Del Monte Forest sees roughly 209 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 69 degrees. January highs sit near 63, with lows near 43. The comfortable stretch runs April through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 63° | 52° | 43° |
| April | 65° | 56° | 48° |
| July | 69° | 60° | 54° |
| October | 72° | 60° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Del Monte Forest
The nearest airport, Monterey Regional, is about 5 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Norman Y Mineta San Jose International, about 53 miles away.
The best schools in and around Del Monte Forest
Schools across Del Monte Forest average a B, better than 66% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Carmel River ElementaryA · 66% proficient
Top middle schools
- Carmel MiddleA · 66% proficient
Top high schools
- Carmel HighA · 70% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Del Monte Forest school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Del Monte Forest 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 Del Monte Forest against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Del Monte Forest
Is Del Monte Forest a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Del Monte Forest ranks 4,765th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, an educated workforce, and population health, 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 Del Monte Forest expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,786,882. The overall cost of living runs about 71% above the national average. Set against a $129,460 median income, cost of living beats 44% of towns.
Is Del Monte Forest safe?
Del Monte Forest is safer than 40% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $347 per resident a year.
Compare Del Monte Forest with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Del Monte Forest. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Del Monte Forest 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.
Del Monte Forest detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Del Monte Forest: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Del Monte Forest: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Del Monte Forest: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Del Monte Forest: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Del Monte Forest 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.