Best PlacesLake Elsinore, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lake Elsinore, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Lake Elsinore ranks 1,473rd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Lake Elsinore
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.
Lake Elsinore's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lake Elsinore ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 207 pleasant days a year, better than 92% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than 91% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than 85% of cities
- QuietBetter than 84% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 73% of cities
Where Lake Elsinore ranks low
- Short commute42.8 minutes each way, better than only 1% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 2% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 7% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 8% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 11% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Lake Elsinore
A household needs to earn about $145,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lake Elsinore home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $108,422, 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 Elsinore's effective rate of 0.92%, 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 Lake Elsinore
Lake Elsinore 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 Lake Elsinore.
Who works in Lake Elsinore, and how
Work in Lake Elsinore centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Lake Elsinore
Lake Elsinore has more restaurants and bars per resident than 66% of cities and more parkland per resident than 85% of cities. The coast is about 45 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Lake Elsinore and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Lake Elsinore, month by month
Lake Elsinore sees roughly 207 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 67, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and September through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 67° | 51° | 36° |
| April | 78° | 60° | 44° |
| July | 97° | 79° | 61° |
| October | 86° | 67° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Lake Elsinore
The nearest airport, San Bernardino International, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Ontario International, about 31 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lake Elsinore
Schools across Lake Elsinore average a B−, better than 49% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Alberhill ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Tuscany Hills ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Cottonwood Canyon ElementaryB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Canyon Lake MiddleB+ · 50% proficient
- David A. Brown MiddleC · 35% proficient
- Elsinore MiddleC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Lakeside HighA · 70% proficient
- Temescal Canyon HighA− · 65% proficient
- Mission Viejo HighA− · 62% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lake Elsinore school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lake Elsinore 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 Elsinore against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Lake Elsinore suits
Families
Schools land around the 49th percentile and crime safety beats 62%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 14% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Lake Elsinore
Is Lake Elsinore a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lake Elsinore ranks 1,473rd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on the weather, fast internet, and big-city access, and lowest on long commutes and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lake Elsinore expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $545,903. The overall cost of living runs about 12% above the national average. Set against a $108,422 median income, cost of living beats 48% of cities.
Is Lake Elsinore safe?
Yes, Lake Elsinore is safer than 62% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $313 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Lake Elsinore?
July highs average about 97 degrees, and January highs near 67 with lows near 36. That works out to about 207 pleasant days a year, more than 92% of cities.
Is Lake Elsinore good for families?
Schools beat 49% of cities, crime safety beats 62%, and childcare runs $1,337 a month.
Compare Lake Elsinore with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lake Elsinore. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lake Elsinore 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 Elsinore detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lake Elsinore: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lake Elsinore: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lake Elsinore: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lake Elsinore: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lake Elsinore 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.