Best PlacesImperial County, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Imperial County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Imperial County ranks 3,013th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on civic engagement and summer heat. It does better on the weather, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in Imperial 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 Imperial County
The parts of Imperial 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.
Seeley
Holtville
Prices have run up less and fewer homes sit empty.
Brawley & Imperial
More households have young kids.
El Centro
It is noisier.
Calexico
Disaster risk is lower, though schools score lower.
Calipatria
Crime runs higher and incomes run lower.
Salton City
Local pay stretches less far and streets are more car-dependent.
Scores across Imperial County run from about the 1st to the 64th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Imperial County's strengths and weaknesses
Imperial County ranks near the bottom because several of the basics fall short at once. The weather is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Walkability and cell coverage follow.
The weak spots are broad rather than narrow: civic engagement, summer heat, and a weak job market all drag on the score. Those are area averages, and the map below shows which parts run well above them.
Where Imperial County ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 192 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 95% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 95% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 84% of counties
- BikingBetter than 80% of counties
Where Imperial County ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Imperial County
A household needs to earn about $79,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Imperial County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $68,524, 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 Imperial County'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 9 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 County
Imperial County 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 County.
Who works in Imperial County, and how
Work in Imperial County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Imperial County
Imperial County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 96% of counties and more parkland per resident than 83% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Imperial County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Imperial County growing, and who is moving in?
Imperial County has grown about 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Riverside, CA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Imperial County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Imperial County, month by month
Imperial County sees roughly 192 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 County
The nearest airport, Imperial County, is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is San Diego International, about 96 miles away.
The best schools in and around Imperial County
Schools across Imperial County average a D+, better than 17% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Mccabe ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
- Mulberry ElementaryC+ · 38% proficient
- Magnolia Union ElementaryC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Frank M. Wright MiddleC · 33% proficient
- Heber ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
- Barbara Worth Junior HighD+ · 25% 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 County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Imperial 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 Imperial County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Imperial County suits
Common questions about living in Imperial County
Is Imperial County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Imperial County ranks 3,013th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on the weather, walkability, and cell coverage, and lowest on civic engagement and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Imperial County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $300,900. The overall cost of living runs about 3% below the national average. Set against a $68,524 median income, cost of living beats 17% of counties.
Is Imperial County safe?
Imperial County is safer than 13% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $571 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Imperial County?
July highs average about 111 degrees, and January highs near 71 with lows near 41. That works out to about 192 pleasant days a year, more than 99% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Imperial County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Seeley, Holtville, and Brawley & Imperial. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Imperial County good for families?
Schools beat 17% of counties, crime safety beats 13%, and childcare runs $898 a month.
Is Imperial County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 17% of counties, though advertised internet speeds beat only 37% of counties. About 8% of workers already work from home.
Compare Imperial County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Imperial County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Imperial 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.
Imperial County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Imperial County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Imperial County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Imperial County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Imperial County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Imperial 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.