Best PlacesLockwood, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lockwood, 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.
Lockwood ranks 37,464th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Lockwood
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.
Lockwood's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lockwood ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 158 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of towns
- Household income$101,421 median, better than 86% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 83% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 78% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 76% of towns
Where Lockwood ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 5% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,371 a month, better than only 7% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Lockwood
A household needs to earn about $159,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lockwood home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $101,421, 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 Lockwood's effective rate of 0.72%, 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 Lockwood
Lockwood's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Lockwood.
Who works in Lockwood, and how
Work in Lockwood centers on agriculture & forestry and education. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 67%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 15%
Life in Lockwood
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Lockwood.
What the weather is like in Lockwood, month by month
Lockwood sees roughly 158 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 63, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 63° | 48° | 36° |
| April | 77° | 57° | 41° |
| July | 97° | 73° | 54° |
| October | 85° | 62° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Lockwood
The nearest airport, San Luis Obispo County Regional, is about 55 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Norman Y Mineta San Jose International, about 108 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lockwood
Schools across Lockwood average a C−, better than 28% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- San Lucas ElementaryD · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- King City HighC · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lockwood school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lockwood 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 Lockwood against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Lockwood
Is Lockwood a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lockwood ranks 37,464th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, high incomes, and clean air, and lowest on civic engagement and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lockwood expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $614,030. The overall cost of living runs about 31% above the national average. Set against a $101,421 median income, cost of living beats 37% of towns.
Is Lockwood safe?
Lockwood is safer than 19% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $480 per resident a year.
Compare Lockwood with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lockwood. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lockwood 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.
Lockwood detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lockwood: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lockwood: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lockwood: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lockwood: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lockwood 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.