Best PlacesLakeside, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lakeside, 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.
Lakeside ranks 1,044th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Lakeside
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.
Lakeside's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lakeside ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 216 pleasant days a year, better than 93% of cities
- QuietBetter than 77% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than 73% of cities
- Household income$115,728 median, better than 72% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than 70% of cities
Where Lakeside ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 15% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 15% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 20% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,432 a month, better than only 21% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Lakeside
A household needs to earn about $177,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lakeside home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $115,728, 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 Lakeside's effective rate of 0.71%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Lakeside
Lakeside's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Lakeside.
Who works in Lakeside, and how
Work in Lakeside centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Lakeside
Lakeside has more parkland per resident than 82% of cities. The coast is about 23 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Lakeside and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Lakeside, month by month
Lakeside sees roughly 216 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 68, with lows near 43. The comfortable stretch runs February through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 68° | 54° | 43° |
| April | 74° | 61° | 52° |
| July | 87° | 74° | 65° |
| October | 82° | 67° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Lakeside
San Diego International sits about 18 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 12.7 million passengers in 2025, with 121 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Lakeside
Schools across Lakeside average a C, better than 23% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Lemon Crest ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Tierra Del Sol MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Santana HighB− · 43% proficient
- El Capitan HighC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lakeside school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lakeside 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 Lakeside against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Lakeside suits
Families
Schools land around the 23rd percentile and crime safety beats 55%.
Common questions about living in Lakeside
Is Lakeside a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lakeside ranks 1,044th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on the weather, quiet, and big-city access, and lowest on taxes and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lakeside expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $684,394. The overall cost of living runs about 28% above the national average. Set against a $115,728 median income, cost of living beats 41% of cities.
Is Lakeside safe?
Yes, Lakeside is safer than 55% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $305 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Lakeside?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 68 with lows near 43. That works out to about 216 pleasant days a year, more than 93% of cities.
Is Lakeside good for families?
Schools beat 23% of cities, crime safety beats 55%, and childcare runs $1,432 a month.
Compare Lakeside with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lakeside. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lakeside 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.
Lakeside detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lakeside: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lakeside: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lakeside: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lakeside: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lakeside 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.