Best PlacesDowney, ID Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Downey, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Downey ranks 8,560th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Downey
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.
Downey's strengths and weaknesses
Where Downey ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 98% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 96% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 89% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 86% of towns
- Household income$98,882 median, better than 84% of towns
Where Downey ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 6% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 7% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 14% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 15% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Downey
A household needs to earn about $55,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Downey home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $98,882, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 Downey's effective rate of 0.46%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Downey
Downey'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 Downey.
Who works in Downey, and how
Work in Downey centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Downey
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Downey.
What the weather is like in Downey, month by month
Downey sees roughly 108 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 25° | 16° |
| April | 62° | 46° | 31° |
| July | 93° | 74° | 51° |
| October | 65° | 47° | 32° |
Flying in and out of Downey
The nearest airport, Pocatello Regional, is about 40 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Salt Lake City International, about 114 miles away.
The best schools in and around Downey
Schools across Downey average a B, better than 66% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lava Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Mountain View Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Downey Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Marsh Valley Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Marsh Valley High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Downey school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Downey 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 Downey against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Downey
Is Downey a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Downey ranks 8,560th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, cheap car insurance, and what local pay buys, and lowest on civic engagement and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Downey expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $221,923. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $98,882 median income, cost of living beats 89% of towns.
Is Downey safe?
Yes, Downey is safer than 86% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $218 per resident a year.
Compare Downey with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Downey. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Downey 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.
Downey detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Downey: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Downey: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Downey: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Downey: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Downey 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.