Best PlacesLake of the Woods, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lake of the Woods, 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.
Lake of the Woods ranks 47,091st of 50,333 U.S. towns 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 of the Woods
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 of the Woods' strengths and weaknesses
Where Lake of the Woods ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 197 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 94% of towns
- TransitBetter than 88% of towns
- QuietBetter than 87% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 84% of towns
Where Lake of the Woods ranks low
- Short commute53.9 minutes each way, better than only 1% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 6% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Lake of the Woods
A household needs to earn about $99,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lake of the Woods home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $73,256, 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 of the Woods' effective rate of 0.73%, 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 7 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 of the Woods
Lake of the Woods runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Lake of the Woods.
Who works in Lake of the Woods, and how
Work in Lake of the Woods centers on retail trade and professional & technical. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 66%
- Work from home 33%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Lake of the Woods
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Lake of the Woods.
What the weather is like in Lake of the Woods, month by month
Lake of the Woods sees roughly 197 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 54, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54° | 44° | 38° |
| April | 66° | 53° | 43° |
| July | 91° | 78° | 66° |
| October | 76° | 63° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Lake of the Woods
The nearest airport, Meadows Field, is about 42 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bob Hope, about 58 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lake of the Woods
Schools across Lake of the Woods average a C−, better than 24% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- General Shafter ElementaryD+ · 22% proficient
- Maricopa ElementaryF · 10% proficient
Top middle schools
- El Tejon ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
- Maricopa MiddleF · 12% proficient
Top high schools
- Ridgeview HighA+ · 95% proficient
- Frazier Mountain HighC+ · 36% proficient
- Maricopa HighF · 10% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lake of the Woods school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lake of the Woods 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 of the Woods against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Lake of the Woods
Is Lake of the Woods a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lake of the Woods ranks 47,091st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, big-city access, and transit, and lowest on long commutes and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lake of the Woods expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $383,183. The overall cost of living runs about 8% above the national average. Set against a $73,256 median income, cost of living beats 23% of towns.
Is Lake of the Woods safe?
Lake of the Woods is safer than 8% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $625 per resident a year.
Compare Lake of the Woods with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lake of the Woods. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lake of the Woods 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 of the Woods detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lake of the Woods: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lake of the Woods: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lake of the Woods: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lake of the Woods: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lake of the Woods 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.