Best PlacesDelano, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Delano, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Delano ranks 2,067th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. A weak job market pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on cell coverage.
The best neighborhoods in Delano
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.
Delano's strengths and weaknesses
Where Delano ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 86% of cities
- Short commute22.3 minutes each way, better than 75% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 73% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 116 pleasant days a year, better than 69% of cities
- QuietBetter than 64% of cities
Where Delano ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 1% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 1% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Delano
A household needs to earn about $78,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Delano home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $66,803, 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 Delano's effective rate of 0.75%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Delano
Delano 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 Delano.
Who works in Delano, and how
Work in Delano centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 95%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Delano
Delano has more restaurants and bars per resident than 66% of cities and more parkland per resident than 79% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Delano and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Delano, month by month
Delano sees roughly 116 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 101 degrees. January highs sit near 62, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 62° | 49° | 38° |
| April | 79° | 62° | 46° |
| July | 101° | 84° | 65° |
| October | 84° | 66° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Delano
The nearest airport, Meadows Field, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bob Hope, about 120 miles away.
The best schools in and around Delano
Schools across Delano average a D+, better than 15% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Columbine ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
- Pond ElementaryC− · 27% proficient
- Kern Avenue ElementaryD · 16% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mcfarland Junior HighD− · 14% proficient
- Earlimart MiddleF · 13% proficient
Top high schools
- Cesar E. Chavez HighB− · 41% proficient
- Delano HighC · 35% proficient
- Robert F. Kennedy HighC− · 29% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Delano school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Delano 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 Delano against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Delano suits
Common questions about living in Delano
Is Delano a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Delano ranks 2,067th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on cell coverage, short commutes, and walkability, and lowest on a weak job market and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Delano expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $301,052. The overall cost of living runs about 4% above the national average. Set against a $66,803 median income, cost of living beats 3% of cities.
Is Delano safe?
Delano is safer than 13% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $533 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Delano?
July highs average about 101 degrees, and January highs near 62 with lows near 38. That works out to about 116 pleasant days a year, more than 69% of cities.
Is Delano good for families?
Schools beat 15% of cities, crime safety beats 13%, and childcare runs $1,161 a month.
Compare Delano with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Delano. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Delano 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.
Delano detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Delano: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Delano: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Delano: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Delano: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Delano 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.