Best PlacesHidden Valley Lake, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hidden Valley Lake, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Hidden Valley Lake ranks 30,357th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Hidden Valley Lake
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.
Hidden Valley Lake's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hidden Valley Lake ranks high
- TransitBetter than 90% of towns
- BikingBetter than 90% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 89% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 88% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 86% of towns
Where Hidden Valley Lake ranks low
- Short commute40.8 minutes each way, better than only 4% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Hidden Valley Lake
A household needs to earn about $108,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hidden Valley Lake home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $85,590, 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 Hidden Valley Lake'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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Hidden Valley Lake
Hidden Valley Lake runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Hidden Valley Lake.
Who works in Hidden Valley Lake, and how
Work in Hidden Valley Lake centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Hidden Valley Lake
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Hidden Valley Lake.
What the weather is like in Hidden Valley Lake, month by month
Hidden Valley Lake sees roughly 120 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 48° | 38° |
| April | 72° | 56° | 42° |
| July | 86° | 65° | 51° |
| October | 81° | 60° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Hidden Valley Lake
The nearest airport, Charles M Schulz/Sonoma County, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 53 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hidden Valley Lake
Schools across Hidden Valley Lake average a C−, better than 18% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Coyote Valley ElementaryC− · 28% proficient
- Lower Lake ElementaryD · 17% proficient
Top middle schools
- Middletown MiddleC · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- Middletown HighD · 20% proficient
- Lower Lake HighD− · 16% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hidden Valley Lake school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hidden Valley Lake 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 Hidden Valley Lake against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Hidden Valley Lake
Is Hidden Valley Lake a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hidden Valley Lake ranks 30,357th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on transit, biking, and big-city access, and lowest on long commutes and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hidden Valley Lake expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $409,961. The overall cost of living runs about 9% above the national average. Set against a $85,590 median income, cost of living beats 43% of towns.
Is Hidden Valley Lake safe?
Hidden Valley Lake is safer than 45% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $335 per resident a year.
Compare Hidden Valley Lake with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hidden Valley Lake. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hidden Valley Lake 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.
Hidden Valley Lake detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hidden Valley Lake: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hidden Valley Lake: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hidden Valley Lake: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hidden Valley Lake: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hidden Valley Lake 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.