Best PlacesLitchfield, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Litchfield, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Litchfield ranks 26,131st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Litchfield
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.
Litchfield's strengths and weaknesses
Where Litchfield ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 162 pleasant days a year, better than 95% of towns
- Short commute17.5 minutes each way, better than 94% of towns
- QuietBetter than 94% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 89% of towns
- TransitBetter than 88% of towns
Where Litchfield ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 6% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Litchfield
A household needs to earn about $93,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Litchfield home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $87,112; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Litchfield's effective rate of 0.87%, 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 Litchfield
Litchfield runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Litchfield.
Who works in Litchfield, and how
Work in Litchfield centers on public administration and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Litchfield
Litchfield has more restaurants and bars per resident than 99% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Litchfield and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Litchfield, month by month
Litchfield sees roughly 162 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 35° | 27° |
| April | 65° | 50° | 36° |
| July | 93° | 75° | 54° |
| October | 68° | 48° | 34° |
Flying in and out of Litchfield
The nearest airport, Reno/Tahoe International, is about 71 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 134 miles away.
The best schools in and around Litchfield
Schools across Litchfield average a D+, better than 12% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Meadow ViewC− · 28% proficient
- Shaffer ElementaryD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Diamond View MiddleD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- Lassen HighC− · 28% proficient
- Modoc HighD− · 17% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Litchfield school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Litchfield 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 Litchfield against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Litchfield
Is Litchfield a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Litchfield ranks 26,131st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, short commutes, and quiet, and lowest on thin health care access and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Litchfield expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $351,932. The overall cost of living runs about 18% above the national average. Set against a $87,112 median income, cost of living beats 26% of towns.
Is Litchfield safe?
Yes, Litchfield is safer than 84% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $259 per resident a year.
Compare Litchfield with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Litchfield. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Litchfield 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.
Litchfield detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Litchfield: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Litchfield: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Litchfield: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Litchfield: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Litchfield 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.