Best PlacesDos Palos, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Dos Palos, 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.
Dos Palos ranks 45,191st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Dos Palos
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.
Dos Palos' strengths and weaknesses
Where Dos Palos ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 97% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 96% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 96% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 142 pleasant days a year, better than 90% of towns
- TransitBetter than 88% of towns
Where Dos Palos ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 2% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 5% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Dos Palos
A household needs to earn about $89,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dos Palos home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $45,568, 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 Dos Palos' effective rate of 0.65%, 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 Dos Palos
Dos Palos's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Dos Palos.
Who works in Dos Palos, and how
Work in Dos Palos centers on agriculture & forestry and other services. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 13%
Life in Dos Palos
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Dos Palos.
What the weather is like in Dos Palos, month by month
Dos Palos sees roughly 142 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 100 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 48° | 37° |
| April | 77° | 61° | 45° |
| July | 100° | 81° | 62° |
| October | 83° | 65° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Dos Palos
The nearest airport, Merced Yosemite Regional, is about 21 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Norman Y Mineta San Jose International, about 76 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dos Palos
Schools across Dos Palos average a D, better than 5% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mcswain ElementaryC+ · 39% proficient
- Alview ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
- El Nido ElementaryD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dairyland ElementaryB+ · 48% proficient
- Bryant MiddleD− · 13% proficient
Top high schools
- Buhach Colony HighC− · 29% proficient
- Golden Valley HighC− · 29% proficient
- Chowchilla Union HighC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dos Palos school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dos Palos 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 Dos Palos against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Dos Palos
Is Dos Palos a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dos Palos ranks 45,191st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cell coverage, walkability, and few empty homes, and lowest on thin health care access and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dos Palos expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $346,568. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $45,568 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Dos Palos safe?
Dos Palos is safer than 15% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $507 per resident a year.
Compare Dos Palos with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dos Palos. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dos Palos 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.
Dos Palos detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dos Palos: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dos Palos: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dos Palos: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dos Palos: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dos Palos 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.