Best PlacesHemet, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hemet, 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.
Hemet ranks 2,025th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. Air quality pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on the weather.
The best neighborhoods in Hemet
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.
Hemet's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hemet ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 179 pleasant days a year, better than 89% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than 89% of cities
- QuietBetter than 86% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than 75% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than 74% of cities
Where Hemet ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 2% of cities
- Short commute37.6 minutes each way, better than only 2% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 6% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 6% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 7% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Hemet
A household needs to earn about $92,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hemet home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $70,400, 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 Hemet's effective rate of 0.78%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Hemet
Hemet'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 Hemet.
Who works in Hemet, and how
Work in Hemet centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Hemet
Hemet has more parkland per resident than 76% of cities. That concentrates in some parts of Hemet and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Hemet, month by month
Hemet sees roughly 179 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 67, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and September through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 67° | 51° | 36° |
| April | 78° | 60° | 44° |
| July | 97° | 79° | 61° |
| October | 86° | 67° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Hemet
The nearest airport, San Bernardino International, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Ontario International, about 41 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hemet
Schools across Hemet average a D, better than 10% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Bautista Creek ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
- Cawston ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
- Little Lake ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Rancho Viejo MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
- North Mountain MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
- Monte Vista MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Western Center AcademyA · 77% proficient
- HamiltonC · 32% proficient
- San Jacinto HighC− · 26% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hemet school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hemet 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 Hemet against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Hemet suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 13% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Hemet
Is Hemet a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hemet ranks 2,025th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on the weather, fast internet, and quiet, and lowest on air quality and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hemet expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $353,264. The overall cost of living runs about 6% above the national average. Set against a $70,400 median income, cost of living beats 6% of cities.
Is Hemet safe?
Hemet is safer than 21% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $457 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Hemet?
July highs average about 97 degrees, and January highs near 67 with lows near 36. That works out to about 179 pleasant days a year, more than 89% of cities.
Is Hemet good for families?
Schools beat 10% of cities, crime safety beats 21%, and childcare runs $1,337 a month.
Compare Hemet with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hemet. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hemet 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.
Hemet detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hemet: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hemet: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hemet: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hemet: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hemet 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.