Best PlacesLake County, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Lake 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.
Lake County ranks 2,872nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Lake 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 Lake County
The parts of Lake 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.
Lakeport
Fewer homes sit empty, local pay stretches further, and incomes run higher.
Upper Lake & Nice
More households have young kids, though heat risk is higher.
Kelseyville & Clearlake Oaks
More residents vote.
Clearlake & Hidden Valley Lake
Prices have run up more and commutes are longer.
Lucerne
Scores across Lake County run from about the 1st to the 83rd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Lake County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lake County ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 93% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 91% of counties
- TransitBetter than 85% of counties
- BikingBetter than 83% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 121 pleasant days a year, better than 75% of counties
Where Lake County ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 5% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 6% of counties
- School gradeD, better than only 7% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 8% of counties
- Short commute32.4 minutes each way, better than only 8% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Lake County
A household needs to earn about $88,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lake County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $67,726, 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 Lake County's effective rate of 0.72%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Lake County
Lake County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Lake County.
Who works in Lake County, and how
Work in Lake County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Lake County
Lake County has less parkland per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Lake County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Lake County growing, and who is moving in?
Lake County has grown about 6% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Santa Rosa, CA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Lake County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Lake County, month by month
Lake County sees roughly 121 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 98 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 47° | 38° |
| April | 74° | 57° | 42° |
| July | 98° | 76° | 56° |
| October | 82° | 61° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Lake County
The nearest airport, Charles M Schulz/Sonoma County, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 64 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lake County
Schools across Lake County average a D, better than 7% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Lake County International CharterB− · 40% proficient
- Cobb Mountain ElementaryC · 32% proficient
- Coyote Valley ElementaryC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Middletown MiddleC · 32% proficient
- Highlands AcademyD+ · 25% proficient
- Indian Valley IntermediateD− · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- Clear Lake HighC− · 27% proficient
- Loconoma Valley HighD+ · 25% proficient
- Ed Donaldson Education CenterD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lake County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lake 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 Lake County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Lake County suits
Common questions about living in Lake County
Is Lake County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lake County ranks 2,872nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on clean air, big-city access, and transit, and lowest on summer heat and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lake County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $338,382. The overall cost of living runs about 9% above the national average. Set against a $67,726 median income, cost of living beats 10% of counties.
Is Lake County safe?
Lake County is safer than 13% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $559 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Lake County?
July highs average about 98 degrees, and January highs near 60 with lows near 38. That works out to about 121 pleasant days a year, more than 75% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Lake County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Lakeport, Upper Lake & Nice, and Kelseyville & Clearlake Oaks. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Lake County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lake County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lake 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.
Lake County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lake County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lake County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lake County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lake County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lake 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.