Best PlacesKettleman City, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kettleman City, 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.
Kettleman City ranks 49,838th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Kettleman City
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.
Kettleman City's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kettleman City ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 99% of towns
- TransitBetter than 96% of towns
- Short commute17.9 minutes each way, better than 93% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 141 pleasant days a year, better than 90% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 89% of towns
Where Kettleman City ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Kettleman City
A household needs to earn about $36,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kettleman City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $48,480, 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 Kettleman City's effective rate of 0.45%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Kettleman City
Kettleman City runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Kettleman City.
Who works in Kettleman City, and how
Work in Kettleman City centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Kettleman City
Kettleman City has more restaurants and bars per resident than 94% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Kettleman City and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Kettleman City, month by month
Kettleman City sees roughly 141 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 103 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 48° | 36° |
| April | 81° | 63° | 45° |
| July | 103° | 84° | 63° |
| October | 85° | 66° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Kettleman City
The nearest airport, Fresno Yosemite International, is about 55 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Norman Y Mineta San Jose International, about 143 miles away.
The best schools in and around Kettleman City
Schools across Kettleman City average a D−, better than 3% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lost Hills ElementaryD · 20% proficient
- Mark Twain ElementaryD− · 13% proficient
- Kettleman City ElementaryF · 10% proficient
Top middle schools
- A. M. Thomas MiddleD− · 18% proficient
- Reef Sunset MiddleF · 7% proficient
Top high schools
- Corcoran HighC+ · 40% proficient
- Wasco HighC− · 30% proficient
- Avenal HighD+ · 24% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kettleman City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kettleman City 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 Kettleman City against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Kettleman City
Is Kettleman City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kettleman City ranks 49,838th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cell coverage, transit, and short commutes, and lowest on civic engagement and thin health care access. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Kettleman City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $144,572. The overall cost of living runs about 7% above the national average. Set against a $48,480 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Kettleman City safe?
Kettleman City is safer than 1% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,077 per resident a year.
Compare Kettleman City with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kettleman City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kettleman City 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.
Kettleman City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kettleman City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kettleman City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kettleman City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kettleman City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kettleman City 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.