Best PlacesHumboldt County, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Humboldt County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Distance to the water drives a lot of the difference between one part and the next. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Humboldt County ranks 2,452nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. The coast is about 15 minutes away. Its strengths are transit and biking. The cost shows up in disaster risk, taxes, and crime.
The best neighborhoods in Humboldt County
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.
The best areas in Humboldt County
The parts of Humboldt County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Arcata & Mckinleyville
More adults hold degrees, biking is better, and health outcomes score higher.
Eureka
Tree cover is thinner and it is noisier.
Fortuna & Ferndale
Commutes are longer and schools score lower.
Rio Dell
Streets are more car-dependent and prices have run up more.
Hoopa
More homes sit empty and transit reaches fewer jobs.
Scores across Humboldt County run from about the 1st to the 81st percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Humboldt County's strengths and weaknesses
Humboldt County ranks near the bottom because several of the basics fall short at once. Transit, biking, and walkability carry most of that.
The weak spots are broad rather than narrow: disaster risk, taxes, and crime all drag on the score. Those are area averages, and the map below shows which parts run well above them.
Where Humboldt County ranks high
- TransitBetter than 96% of counties
- BikingBetter than 94% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 86% of counties
- Short commute19.0 minutes each way, better than 84% of counties
Where Humboldt County ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 3% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 6% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 7% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,269 a month, better than only 8% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 12% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Humboldt County
A household needs to earn about $115,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Humboldt County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $66,416, 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 Humboldt County's effective rate of 0.60%, 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 Humboldt County
Humboldt County's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Humboldt County.
Who works in Humboldt County, and how
Work in Humboldt County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Humboldt County
The coast is about 15 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Humboldt County, which the map shows.
Is Humboldt County growing, and who is moving in?
Humboldt County has lost about 2% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from San Francisco, CA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Humboldt County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Humboldt County, month by month
Humboldt County sees roughly 129 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 64 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 40. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 49° | 40° |
| April | 58° | 50° | 42° |
| July | 64° | 57° | 52° |
| October | 64° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Humboldt County
The nearest airport, California Redwood Coast- Humboldt County, is about 15 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 195 miles away.
The best schools in and around Humboldt County
Schools across Humboldt County average a C−, better than 28% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Union Street CharterA+ · 88% proficient
- Green Point ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Trillium CharterA+ · 75% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sunny Brae MiddleB− · 42% proficient
- Freshwater Charter MiddleC− · 30% proficient
- Catherine L. Zane MiddleD · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- Northcoast Preparatory And Performing Arts AcademyA · 68% proficient
- Arcata HighB+ · 58% proficient
- Academy Of The RedwoodsB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Humboldt County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Humboldt County 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 Humboldt County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Humboldt County suits
Common questions about living in Humboldt County
Is Humboldt County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Humboldt County ranks 2,452nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on transit, biking, and walkability, and lowest on disaster risk and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Humboldt County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $452,097. The overall cost of living runs about 5% above the national average. Set against a $66,416 median income, cost of living beats 12% of counties.
Is Humboldt County safe?
Humboldt County is safer than 7% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $669 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Humboldt County?
July highs average about 64 degrees, and January highs near 57 with lows near 40. That works out to about 129 pleasant days a year, more than 82% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Humboldt County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Arcata & Mckinleyville, Eureka, and Fortuna & Ferndale. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Humboldt County good for families?
Schools beat 28% of counties, crime safety beats 7%, and childcare runs $1,269 a month.
Is Humboldt County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 12% of counties, though advertised internet speeds beat only 36% of counties. About 13% of workers already work from home.
Compare Humboldt County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Humboldt County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Humboldt County 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.
Humboldt County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Humboldt County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Humboldt County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Humboldt County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Humboldt County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Humboldt County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.