Best PlacesGualala, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Gualala, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Gualala ranks 28,441st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Gualala
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.
Gualala's strengths and weaknesses
Where Gualala ranks high
- Short commute12.2 minutes each way, better than 99% of towns
- Household income$126,969 median, better than 94% of towns
- TransitBetter than 90% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 88% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 123 pleasant days a year, better than 82% of towns
Where Gualala ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Gualala
A household needs to earn about $185,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Gualala home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $126,969, 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 Gualala's effective rate of 0.82%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Gualala
Gualala's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Gualala.
Who works in Gualala, and how
Work in Gualala centers on construction and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 62%
- Work from home 36%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Gualala
Gualala has more restaurants and bars per resident than 90% of towns. The coast is about 3 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Gualala and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Gualala, month by month
Gualala sees roughly 123 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 98 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 47° | 38° |
| April | 74° | 57° | 42° |
| July | 98° | 76° | 56° |
| October | 82° | 61° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Gualala
The nearest airport, Charles M Schulz/Sonoma County, is about 45 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is San Francisco International, about 104 miles away.
Gualala 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 Gualala against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Gualala
Is Gualala a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Gualala ranks 28,441st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, high incomes, and transit, and lowest on summer heat and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Gualala expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $704,150. The overall cost of living runs about 39% above the national average. Set against a $126,969 median income, cost of living beats 65% of towns.
Is Gualala safe?
Gualala is safer than 4% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $707 per resident a year.
Compare Gualala with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Gualala. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Gualala 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.
Gualala detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Gualala: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Gualala: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Gualala: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Gualala: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Gualala 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.