Best PlacesFrench Gulch, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around French Gulch, 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.
French Gulch ranks 41,863rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in French Gulch
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.
French Gulch's strengths and weaknesses
Where French Gulch ranks high
- QuietBetter than 93% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 131 pleasant days a year, better than 86% of towns
- Household income$92,790 median, better than 79% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 75% of towns
- School gradeB, better than 71% of towns
Where French Gulch ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 1% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 2% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in French Gulch
A household needs to earn about $85,000 a year to comfortably buy the median French Gulch home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $92,790, 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 French Gulch's effective rate of 0.61%, 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 French Gulch
French Gulch runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for French Gulch.
Who works in French Gulch, and how
Work in French Gulch centers on public administration and manufacturing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in French Gulch
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across French Gulch.
What the weather is like in French Gulch, month by month
French Gulch sees roughly 131 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 99 degrees. January highs sit near 56, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56° | 45° | 39° |
| April | 71° | 58° | 47° |
| July | 99° | 82° | 66° |
| October | 78° | 62° | 51° |
Flying in and out of French Gulch
The nearest airport, Redding Regional, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 150 miles away.
The best schools in and around French Gulch
Schools across French Gulch average a B, better than 71% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Douglas City ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- French Gulch-whiskeytown ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Trinity Center ElementaryB · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Shasta HighA− · 60% proficient
- Central Valley HighB+ · 53% proficient
- Hayfork HighB+ · 52% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every French Gulch school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
French Gulch 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 French Gulch against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in French Gulch
Is French Gulch a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, French Gulch ranks 41,863rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on quiet, the weather, and high incomes, and lowest on summer heat and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is French Gulch expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $333,867. The overall cost of living runs about 2% above the national average. Set against a $92,790 median income, cost of living beats 69% of towns.
Is French Gulch safe?
French Gulch is safer than 14% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $522 per resident a year.
Compare French Gulch with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to French Gulch. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in French Gulch 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.
French Gulch detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for French Gulch: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in French Gulch: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of French Gulch: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in French Gulch: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
French Gulch 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.