Best PlacesLathrop, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lathrop, 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.
Lathrop ranks 1,681st of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. Long commutes pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on cell coverage.
The best neighborhoods in Lathrop
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.
Lathrop's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lathrop ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 90% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 84% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than 80% of cities
- Household income$125,706 median, better than 79% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 135 pleasant days a year, better than 78% of cities
Where Lathrop ranks low
- Short commute43.5 minutes each way, better than only 1% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 1% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 1% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than only 9% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 10% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Lathrop
A household needs to earn about $172,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lathrop home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $125,706, 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 Lathrop's effective rate of 1.02%, 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 Lathrop
Lathrop 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 Lathrop.
Who works in Lathrop, and how
Work in Lathrop centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Lathrop
Lathrop has more parkland per resident than 84% of cities. That concentrates in some parts of Lathrop and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Lathrop, month by month
Lathrop sees roughly 135 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 98 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs March through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 49° | 39° |
| April | 77° | 61° | 46° |
| July | 98° | 78° | 60° |
| October | 83° | 65° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Lathrop
The nearest airport, Stockton Metro, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Norman Y Mineta San Jose International, about 46 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lathrop
Schools across Lathrop average a D+, better than 12% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- River Islands Technology Academy IiA− · 57% proficient
- Nextgeneration Steam AcademyB− · 40% proficient
- Nile Garden ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Earle E. Williams MiddleD · 21% proficient
Top high schools
- Lathrop HighB− · 40% proficient
- Merrill F. West HighC+ · 36% proficient
- Sierra HighC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lathrop school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lathrop 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 Lathrop against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Lathrop suits
Common questions about living in Lathrop
Is Lathrop a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lathrop ranks 1,681st of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on cell coverage, a strong job market, and population health, and lowest on long commutes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lathrop expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $637,543. The overall cost of living runs about 16% above the national average. Set against a $125,706 median income, cost of living beats 62% of cities.
Is Lathrop safe?
Lathrop is safer than 43% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $397 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Lathrop?
July highs average about 98 degrees, and January highs near 61 with lows near 39. That works out to about 135 pleasant days a year, more than 78% of cities.
Is Lathrop good for families?
Schools beat 12% of cities, crime safety beats 43%, and childcare runs $1,299 a month.
Compare Lathrop with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lathrop. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lathrop 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.
Lathrop detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lathrop: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lathrop: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lathrop: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lathrop: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lathrop 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.