Best PlacesFolsom, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Folsom, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Folsom ranks 347th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on high incomes by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Folsom
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.
Folsom's strengths and weaknesses
Where Folsom ranks high
- Household income$157,893 median, better than 93% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than 93% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than 92% of cities
- BikingBetter than 91% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 86% of cities
Where Folsom ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than only 17% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than only 24% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 25% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 27% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Folsom
A household needs to earn about $202,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Folsom home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $157,893, 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 Folsom'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 Folsom
Folsom's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Folsom.
Who works in Folsom, and how
Work in Folsom centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 65%
- Work from home 30%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Folsom
Folsom has more restaurants and bars per resident than 83% of cities and more parkland per resident than 92% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Folsom and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Folsom, month by month
Folsom sees roughly 150 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 40. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58° | 48° | 40° |
| April | 74° | 60° | 47° |
| July | 96° | 77° | 60° |
| October | 80° | 64° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Folsom
Sacramento International sits about 24 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 Folsom
Schools across Folsom average a B, better than 58% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Natoma Station ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Andrew Carnegie MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- El Camino Fundamental HighB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Folsom school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Folsom 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 Folsom against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Folsom suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 86% of cities and 30% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 83% of cities, health care access beats 59%, and it is quieter than 67%.
Common questions about living in Folsom
Is Folsom a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Folsom ranks 347th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on high incomes, few empty homes, and population health, and lowest on taxes and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Folsom expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $767,461. The overall cost of living runs about 19% above the national average. Set against a $157,893 median income, cost of living beats 86% of cities.
Is Folsom safe?
Folsom is safer than 17% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $466 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Folsom?
July highs average about 96 degrees, and January highs near 58 with lows near 40. That works out to about 150 pleasant days a year, more than 83% of cities.
Is Folsom good for families?
Schools beat 58% of cities, crime safety beats 17%, and childcare runs $1,332 a month.
Compare Folsom with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Folsom. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Folsom 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.
Folsom detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Folsom: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Folsom: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Folsom: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Folsom: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Folsom 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.