Best PlacesJohannesburg, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Johannesburg, 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.
Johannesburg ranks 47,798th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Johannesburg
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.
Johannesburg's strengths and weaknesses
Where Johannesburg ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 172 pleasant days a year, better than 97% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 97% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 90% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 84% of towns
- QuietBetter than 82% of towns
Where Johannesburg ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 2% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Johannesburg
A household needs to earn about $14,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Johannesburg home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $51,848, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 Johannesburg's effective rate of 0.63%, 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 2 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Johannesburg
Johannesburg runs younger than the country, 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 Johannesburg.
Who works in Johannesburg, and how
Work in Johannesburg centers on retail trade and other services. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Johannesburg
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Johannesburg.
What the weather is like in Johannesburg, month by month
Johannesburg sees roughly 172 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 108 degrees. January highs sit near 63, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 63° | 46° | 31° |
| April | 83° | 66° | 47° |
| July | 108° | 92° | 72° |
| October | 86° | 67° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Johannesburg
The nearest airport, Meadows Field, is about 80 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bob Hope, about 91 miles away.
The best schools in and around Johannesburg
Schools across Johannesburg average a C−, better than 36% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Las Flores ElementaryC+ · 36% proficient
- Gateway ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
- West Boron ElementaryD− · 13% proficient
Top middle schools
- James Monroe MiddleD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Burroughs HighB · 47% proficient
- Desert Junior-senior HighC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Johannesburg school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Johannesburg 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 Johannesburg against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Johannesburg
Is Johannesburg a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Johannesburg ranks 47,798th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, cell coverage, and big-city access, and lowest on education levels and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Johannesburg expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $53,800. The overall cost of living runs about 1% below the national average. Set against a $51,848 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Johannesburg safe?
Johannesburg is safer than 7% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $667 per resident a year.
Compare Johannesburg with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Johannesburg. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Johannesburg 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.
Johannesburg detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Johannesburg: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Johannesburg: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Johannesburg: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Johannesburg: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Johannesburg 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.