Best PlacesGrass Valley, OR 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 38,632nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
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
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 97% of towns
- QuietBetter than 86% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 122 pleasant days a year, better than 81% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 78% of towns
Where Grass Valley ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 9% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 10% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 11% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 14% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Grass Valley
A household needs to earn about $55,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Grass Valley home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,333, 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 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, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Grass Valley
Grass Valley's age mix sits close to the national median.
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 public administration and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Grass Valley
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Grass Valley.
What the weather is like in Grass Valley, month by month
Grass Valley sees roughly 122 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 36° | 30° |
| April | 68° | 54° | 40° |
| July | 93° | 77° | 61° |
| October | 69° | 54° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Grass Valley
The nearest airport, Roberts Field, is about 78 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Portland International, about 90 miles away.
The best schools in and around Grass Valley
Schools across Grass Valley average a C, better than 36% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Dry Hollow Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Condon Elementary SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Maupin Elementary SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- South Wasco County High SchoolC− · 29% 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 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Grass Valley
Is Grass Valley a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Grass Valley ranks 38,632nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on clean air, state infrastructure, and quiet, and lowest on disaster risk and tree cover. 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 $212,500. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $63,333 median income, cost of living beats 26% of towns.
Is Grass Valley safe?
Grass Valley is safer than 11% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $665 per resident a year.
Compare Grass Valley with other towns
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.