Best PlacesDinsmore, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Dinsmore, 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.
Dinsmore ranks 49,436th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Dinsmore
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.
Dinsmore's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dinsmore ranks high
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 86% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 73% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 70% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 60% of towns
Where Dinsmore ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 55 pleasant days a year, better than only 3% of towns
- Household income$39,102 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 4% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Dinsmore
A household needs to earn about $108,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dinsmore home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $39,102, 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 Dinsmore'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 Dinsmore
Dinsmore runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Dinsmore.
Who works in Dinsmore, and how
Work in Dinsmore centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Dinsmore
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Dinsmore.
What the weather is like in Dinsmore, month by month
Dinsmore sees roughly 55 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 65 degrees. January highs sit near 55, with lows near 42. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55° | 47° | 42° |
| April | 58° | 50° | 44° |
| July | 65° | 57° | 52° |
| October | 65° | 54° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Dinsmore
The nearest airport, California Redwood Coast- Humboldt County, is about 43 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 163 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dinsmore
Schools across Dinsmore average a D+, better than 19% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Hayfork ElementaryB · 45% proficient
- Van Duzen ElementaryC− · 29% proficient
- Maple Creek ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Arcata HighB+ · 58% proficient
- Hayfork HighB+ · 52% proficient
- Fortuna Union HighD · 22% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dinsmore school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dinsmore 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 Dinsmore against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Dinsmore
Is Dinsmore a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dinsmore ranks 49,436th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on quiet, clean air, and tree cover, and lowest on a weak job market and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dinsmore expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $421,491. The overall cost of living runs about 4% above the national average. Set against a $39,102 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Dinsmore safe?
Dinsmore is safer than 13% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $541 per resident a year.
Compare Dinsmore with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dinsmore. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dinsmore 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.
Dinsmore detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dinsmore: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dinsmore: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dinsmore: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dinsmore: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dinsmore 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.