Best PlacesGrass Valley, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Grass Valley, 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.
Grass Valley ranks 1,362nd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Grass Valley
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.
Grass Valley's strengths and weaknesses
Where Grass Valley ranks high
- QuietBetter than 98% of cities
- Short commute21.4 minutes each way, better than 80% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 143 pleasant days a year, better than 80% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 78% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 74% of cities
Where Grass Valley ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 2% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 6% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 11% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 16% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Grass Valley
A household needs to earn about $138,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Grass Valley home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $81,835, 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 Grass Valley's effective rate of 0.71%, 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 Grass Valley
Grass Valley runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Grass Valley.
Who works in Grass Valley, and how
Work in Grass Valley centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Grass Valley
Grass Valley has more restaurants and bars per resident than 77% of cities and more parkland per resident than 97% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Grass Valley and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Grass Valley, month by month
Grass Valley sees roughly 143 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 45° | 39° |
| April | 64° | 54° | 47° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 72° | 63° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Grass Valley
Sacramento International sits about 44 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 Grass Valley
Schools across Grass Valley average a C+, better than 40% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Chicago Park Community CharterB+ · 52% proficient
- Deer Creek ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Bell Hill AcademyB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Union Hill MiddleB · 47% proficient
- Seven Hills IntermediateB · 45% proficient
- Magnolia IntermediateC · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- Bear River HighA− · 65% proficient
- William & Marian Ghidotti HighB+ · 56% proficient
- Colfax HighB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Grass Valley school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Grass Valley 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 Grass Valley against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Grass Valley suits
Retirees
The weather beats 80% of cities, health care access beats 73%, and it is quieter than 98%.
Common questions about living in Grass Valley
Is Grass Valley a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Grass Valley ranks 1,362nd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on quiet, short commutes, and the weather, and lowest on cell coverage and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Grass Valley expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $533,679. The overall cost of living runs about 15% above the national average. Set against a $81,835 median income, cost of living beats 16% of cities.
Is Grass Valley safe?
Grass Valley is safer than 47% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $342 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Grass Valley?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 52 with lows near 39. That works out to about 143 pleasant days a year, more than 80% of cities.
Is Grass Valley good for families?
Schools beat 40% of cities, crime safety beats 47%, and childcare runs $1,174 a month.
Compare Grass Valley with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Grass Valley. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Grass Valley 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.
Grass Valley detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Grass Valley: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Grass Valley: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Grass Valley: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Grass Valley: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Grass Valley 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.