Best PlacesGarnet, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Garnet, 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.
Garnet ranks 44,829th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Garnet
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.
Garnet's strengths and weaknesses
Where Garnet ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 216 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 97% of towns
- TransitBetter than 96% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 93% of towns
- BikingBetter than 92% of towns
Where Garnet ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 2% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 4% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 4% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Garnet
A household needs to earn about $73,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Garnet home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $64,806, 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 Garnet's effective rate of 0.85%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Garnet
Garnet 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 Garnet.
Who works in Garnet, and how
Work in Garnet centers on hospitality & food and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Garnet
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Garnet.
What the weather is like in Garnet, month by month
Garnet sees roughly 216 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 112 degrees. January highs sit near 72, with lows near 46. The comfortable stretch runs November through March.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 72° | 59° | 46° |
| April | 91° | 76° | 59° |
| July | 112° | 97° | 81° |
| October | 94° | 79° | 64° |
Flying in and out of Garnet
The nearest airport, Palm Springs International, is about 7 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Ontario International, about 64 miles away.
The best schools in and around Garnet
Schools across Garnet average a D, better than 11% of towns.
Top middle schools
- Painted Hills MiddleD− · 13% proficient
- Desert Springs MiddleF · 10% proficient
Top high schools
- Desert Hot Springs HighC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Garnet school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Garnet 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 Garnet against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Garnet
Is Garnet a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Garnet ranks 44,829th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, cell coverage, and transit, and lowest on air quality and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Garnet expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $278,125. The overall cost of living runs about 8% above the national average. Set against a $64,806 median income, cost of living beats 11% of towns.
Is Garnet safe?
Garnet is safer than 24% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $439 per resident a year.
Compare Garnet with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Garnet. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Garnet 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.
Garnet detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Garnet: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Garnet: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Garnet: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Garnet: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Garnet 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.