Best PlacesDowntown Salinas, Salinas, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Downtown Salinas, Salinas, 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.
Downtown Salinas, Salinas ranks 4,564th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Downtown Salinas, Salinas
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.
Downtown Salinas, Salinas' strengths and weaknesses
Where Downtown Salinas, Salinas ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
- Air qualityBetter than 95% of neighborhoods
- Nice weatherabout 225 pleasant days a year, better than 91% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than 88% of neighborhoods
- WalkabilityBetter than 87% of neighborhoods
Where Downtown Salinas, Salinas ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 7% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than only 8% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 12% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Downtown Salinas, Salinas
A household needs to earn about $204,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Downtown Salinas, Salinas home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $63,108, 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 Downtown Salinas, Salinas' effective rate of 0.64%, 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 Downtown Salinas, Salinas
Downtown Salinas, Salinas 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 Downtown Salinas, Salinas.
Who works in Downtown Salinas, Salinas, and how
Work in Downtown Salinas, Salinas centers on retail trade and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Downtown Salinas, Salinas
Downtown Salinas, Salinas has more restaurants and bars per resident than 88% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 15 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Downtown Salinas, Salinas and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Downtown Salinas, Salinas, month by month
Downtown Salinas, Salinas sees roughly 225 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 72 degrees. January highs sit near 64, with lows near 42. The comfortable stretch runs April through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64° | 52° | 42° |
| April | 69° | 56° | 47° |
| July | 72° | 62° | 55° |
| October | 78° | 61° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Downtown Salinas, Salinas
The nearest airport, Monterey Regional, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Norman Y Mineta San Jose International, about 50 miles away.
Downtown Salinas, Salinas 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 Downtown Salinas, Salinas against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Downtown Salinas, Salinas
Is Downtown Salinas, Salinas a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Downtown Salinas, Salinas ranks 4,564th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on cell coverage, clean air, and the weather, and lowest on crime and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Downtown Salinas, Salinas expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $796,017. The overall cost of living runs about 21% above the national average. Set against a $63,108 median income, cost of living beats 12% of neighborhoods.
Is Downtown Salinas, Salinas safe?
Downtown Salinas, Salinas is safer than 6% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,319 per resident a year.
Compare Downtown Salinas, Salinas with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Downtown Salinas, Salinas. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Downtown Salinas, Salinas 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.
Downtown Salinas, Salinas detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Downtown Salinas, Salinas: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Downtown Salinas, Salinas: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Downtown Salinas, Salinas: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Downtown Salinas, Salinas: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Downtown Salinas, Salinas 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.