Best PlacesElk Grove, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Elk Grove, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Elk Grove ranks 81st of 445 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $125,564, wages outrun the cost of living, and a strong job market ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are tree cover, taxes, and long commutes.
The best neighborhoods in Elk Grove
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.
The best areas in Elk Grove
The parts of Elk Grove, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the city.
Western Elk Grove
More adults hold degrees, more residents vote, and local pay stretches further.
Laguna Center
Streets are more walkable, though incomes run lower.
Valley High-North Laguna
Biking is better, though health care is harder to reach.
Scores across Elk Grove run from about the 18th to the 98th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Elk Grove's strengths and weaknesses
Elk Grove ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Few empty homes is the standout, in the top 2% of cities. High incomes and population health follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Tree cover, taxes, and long commutes hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Elk Grove ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of cities
- Household income$125,564 median, better than 88% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than 88% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 85% of cities
- School gradeB+, better than 82% of cities
Where Elk Grove ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 14% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 15% of cities
- Short commute30.6 minutes each way, better than only 16% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than only 21% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 23% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Elk Grove
A household needs to earn about $164,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Elk Grove home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $125,564, 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 Elk Grove's effective rate of 0.83%, 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 Elk Grove
Elk Grove'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 Elk Grove.
Who works in Elk Grove, and how
Work in Elk Grove centers on health care & social and public administration. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Elk Grove
Elk Grove has more parkland per resident than 85% of cities. That concentrates in some parts of Elk Grove and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Elk Grove, month by month
Elk Grove sees roughly 157 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 59, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59° | 49° | 39° |
| April | 76° | 60° | 46° |
| July | 96° | 75° | 59° |
| October | 82° | 64° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Elk Grove
Sacramento International sits about 22 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 6.8 million passengers in 2025, with 85 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Elk Grove
Schools across Elk Grove average a B+, better than 82% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Zehnder Ranch ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- Elliott Ranch ElementaryA · 64% proficient
- Stone Lake ElementaryA · 64% proficient
Top middle schools
- Toby Johnson MiddleA · 62% proficient
- Elizabeth Pinkerton MiddleA · 62% proficient
- Katherine L. Albiani MiddleA · 61% proficient
Top high schools
- Cosumnes Oaks HighA− · 66% proficient
- Pleasant Grove HighA− · 66% proficient
- Franklin HighA− · 64% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Elk Grove school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Elk Grove 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 Elk Grove against the other 444 cities.
Who Elk Grove suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 80% of cities and 20% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Elk Grove
Is Elk Grove a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Elk Grove ranks 81st of 445 cities. It scores highest on few empty homes, high incomes, and population health, and lowest on tree cover and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Elk Grove expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $623,384. The overall cost of living runs about 14% above the national average. Set against a $125,564 median income, cost of living beats 80% of cities.
Is Elk Grove safe?
Yes, Elk Grove is safer than 59% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $378 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Elk Grove?
July highs average about 96 degrees, and January highs near 59 with lows near 39. That works out to about 157 pleasant days a year, more than 75% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Elk Grove?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Western Elk Grove, Laguna Center, and Valley High-North Laguna. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Elk Grove good for families?
Schools beat 82% of cities, crime safety beats 59%, and childcare runs $1,332 a month.
Is Elk Grove good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 80% of cities, though advertised internet speeds beat only 43% of cities. About 20% of workers already work from home.
Compare Elk Grove with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Elk Grove. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Elk Grove 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.
Elk Grove detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Elk Grove: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Elk Grove: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Elk Grove: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Elk Grove: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Elk Grove 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.