Best PlacesImperial, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Imperial, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Imperial ranks 34,831st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Imperial
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.
Imperial's strengths and weaknesses
Where Imperial ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 193 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 94% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 92% of towns
- Short commute20.7 minutes each way, better than 85% of towns
- Household income$99,925 median, better than 85% of towns
Where Imperial ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 4% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Imperial
A household needs to earn about $101,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Imperial home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $99,925; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Imperial's effective rate of 0.90%, 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 Imperial
Imperial runs younger than the country, 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 Imperial.
Who works in Imperial, and how
Work in Imperial centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Imperial
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Imperial.
What the weather is like in Imperial, month by month
Imperial sees roughly 193 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 111 degrees. January highs sit near 71, with lows near 41. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 71° | 55° | 41° |
| April | 91° | 73° | 56° |
| July | 111° | 95° | 80° |
| October | 93° | 76° | 60° |
Flying in and out of Imperial
The nearest airport, Imperial County, is about 0 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is San Diego International, about 94 miles away.
The best schools in and around Imperial
Schools across Imperial average a C, better than 38% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mccabe ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
- Ben Hulse ElementaryC · 34% proficient
- T. L. Waggoner ElementaryC · 31% proficient
Top middle schools
- Frank M. Wright MiddleC · 33% proficient
- Barbara Worth Junior HighD+ · 25% proficient
- Holtville MiddleF · 10% proficient
Top high schools
- Southwest HighB− · 44% proficient
- Central Union HighB− · 42% proficient
- Imperial HighC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Imperial school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Imperial 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 Imperial against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Imperial suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 71% of towns and 7% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Imperial
Is Imperial a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Imperial ranks 34,831st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, cell coverage, and population health, and lowest on summer heat and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Imperial expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $382,833. The overall cost of living runs about 1% below the national average. Set against a $99,925 median income, cost of living beats 71% of towns.
Is Imperial safe?
Imperial is safer than 31% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $439 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Imperial?
July highs average about 111 degrees, and January highs near 71 with lows near 41. That works out to about 193 pleasant days a year, more than 99% of towns.
Is Imperial good for families?
Schools beat 38% of towns, crime safety beats 31%, and childcare runs $898 a month.
Compare Imperial with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Imperial. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Imperial 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.
Imperial detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Imperial: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Imperial: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Imperial: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Imperial: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Imperial 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.