Best PlacesGlenn County, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Glenn 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.
Glenn County ranks 2,304th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Glenn 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 Glenn County
The parts of Glenn 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.
Willows
Local pay stretches further, biking is better, and incomes run higher.
Orland
More households have young kids, though prices have run up more.
Hamilton City
It is quieter, though fewer residents vote.
Scores across Glenn County run from about the 4th to the 56th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Glenn County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Glenn County ranks high
- TransitBetter than 93% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 141 pleasant days a year, better than 89% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 87% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 84% of counties
- BikingBetter than 84% of counties
Where Glenn County ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 3% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 6% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 6% of counties
- School gradeD, better than only 9% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 10% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Glenn County
A household needs to earn about $93,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Glenn County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $73,010, 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 Glenn County's effective rate of 0.64%, 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 Glenn County
Glenn 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 Glenn County.
Who works in Glenn County, and how
Work in Glenn County centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Glenn County
Glenn County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Glenn County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Glenn County growing, and who is moving in?
Glenn County has grown about 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Chico, CA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Glenn County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Glenn County, month by month
Glenn County sees roughly 141 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 40. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 48° | 40° |
| April | 74° | 62° | 50° |
| July | 97° | 83° | 69° |
| October | 79° | 65° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Glenn County
The nearest airport, Redding Regional, is about 59 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 74 miles away.
The best schools in and around Glenn County
Schools across Glenn County average a D, better than 9% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Plaza ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- Lake ElementaryC · 33% proficient
- Capay Joint Union ElementaryD+ · 24% proficient
Top middle schools
- Willows IntermediateD · 21% proficient
- Indian Valley IntermediateD− · 19% proficient
- Price IntermediateD− · 15% proficient
Top high schools
- Success One!B− · 43% proficient
- Hamilton HighC− · 28% proficient
- Orland HighC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Glenn County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Glenn 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 Glenn County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Glenn County suits
Common questions about living in Glenn County
Is Glenn County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Glenn County ranks 2,304th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on transit, the weather, and cell coverage, and lowest on education levels and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Glenn County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $362,663. The overall cost of living runs about 2% above the national average. Set against a $73,010 median income, cost of living beats 23% of counties.
Is Glenn County safe?
Glenn County is safer than 33% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $421 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Glenn County?
July highs average about 97 degrees, and January highs near 57 with lows near 40. That works out to about 141 pleasant days a year, more than 89% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Glenn County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Willows, Orland, and Hamilton City. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Glenn County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Glenn County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Glenn 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.
Glenn County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Glenn County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Glenn County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Glenn County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Glenn County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Glenn 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.