Best PlacesFresno County, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Fresno County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Fresno County ranks 1,812th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on air quality and civic engagement. It does better on biking, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in Fresno County
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 Fresno County
The parts of Fresno County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Clovis
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and more adults hold degrees.
Sanger
Crime runs lower and health care is easier to reach.
Old Fig Garden
Biking is better, though it is noisier.
Firebaugh
More residents vote.
Kerman & Mendota
More households have young kids and homes cost less.
Reedley, Selma & Parlier
Transit reaches fewer jobs.
Fresno
Streets are more walkable, though health outcomes score lower.
Coalinga, Huron & Riverdale
Prices have run up less, though disaster risk is higher.
Fresno County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 1% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Fresno County's strengths and weaknesses
Fresno County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Biking, transit, and cell coverage carry most of that.
The one real hole is air quality, near the bottom of the country. Civic engagement and summer heat also cost it ground. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where Fresno County ranks high
- BikingBetter than 96% of counties
- TransitBetter than 96% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 95% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 158 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 93% of counties
Where Fresno County ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 2% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 4% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,396 a month, better than only 4% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 6% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Fresno County
A household needs to earn about $99,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fresno County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $81,061, 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 Fresno County's effective rate of 0.75%, 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 Fresno County
Fresno County 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 Fresno County.
Who works in Fresno County, and how
Work in Fresno County centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Fresno County
Fresno County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Fresno County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Fresno County growing, and who is moving in?
Fresno County has grown about 7% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Los Angeles, CA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Fresno County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Fresno County, month by month
Fresno County sees roughly 158 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 102 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 40. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 50° | 40° |
| April | 79° | 64° | 51° |
| July | 102° | 86° | 70° |
| October | 83° | 68° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Fresno County
The nearest airport, Fresno Yosemite International, is about 3 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Norman Y Mineta San Jose International, about 127 miles away.
The best schools in and around Fresno County
Schools across Fresno County average a C, better than 35% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Clay ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Riverview ElementaryB+ · 51% proficient
- Pine Ridge ElementaryB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Glacier Point MiddleB+ · 50% proficient
- Ronald W. Reagan ElementaryB · 44% proficient
- Sierra Junior HighB− · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- University HighA · 79% proficient
- Reedley Middle College HighA · 69% proficient
- Edison HighB+ · 51% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Fresno County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fresno County 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 Fresno County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Fresno County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 10% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Fresno County
Is Fresno County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fresno County ranks 1,812th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on biking, transit, and cell coverage, and lowest on air quality and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Fresno County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $382,259. The overall cost of living runs about 5% above the national average. Set against a $81,061 median income, cost of living beats 34% of counties.
Is Fresno County safe?
Fresno County is safer than 26% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $475 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Fresno County?
July highs average about 102 degrees, and January highs near 61 with lows near 40. That works out to about 158 pleasant days a year, more than 94% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Fresno County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Clovis, Sanger, and Old Fig Garden. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Fresno County good for families?
Schools beat 35% of counties, crime safety beats 26%, and childcare runs $1,396 a month.
Is Fresno County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 34% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 77% of counties. About 10% of workers already work from home.
Compare Fresno County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fresno County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fresno County 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.
Fresno County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fresno County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fresno County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fresno County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fresno County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fresno County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.