Best PlacesLyon County, NV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Lyon County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Lyon County ranks 1,303rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Lyon County
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.
The best areas in Lyon County
The parts of Lyon County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Dayton
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and more residents vote.
Fernley
More households have young kids, though it is noisier.
Yerington
More homes sit empty and crime runs higher.
Scores across Lyon County run from about the 5th to the 85th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Lyon County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lyon County ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 98% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 161 pleasant days a year, better than 95% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 89% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 88% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 87% of counties
Where Lyon County ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 6% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 12% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 14% of counties
- School gradeD+, better than only 15% of counties
- Short commute29.4 minutes each way, better than only 18% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Lyon County
A household needs to earn about $94,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lyon County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $83,925, 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 Lyon County's effective rate of 0.50%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Lyon County
Lyon County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Lyon County.
Who works in Lyon County, and how
Work in Lyon County centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Lyon County
Lyon County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 72% of counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Lyon County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Lyon County growing, and who is moving in?
Lyon County has grown about 24% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Sacramento, CA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Lyon County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Lyon County, month by month
Lyon County sees roughly 161 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 35° | 25° |
| April | 65° | 51° | 37° |
| July | 92° | 76° | 58° |
| October | 70° | 52° | 36° |
Flying in and out of Lyon County
The nearest airport, Reno/Tahoe International, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 130 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lyon County
Schools across Lyon County average a D+, better than 15% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Antelope ElementaryB · 45% proficient
- G. L. Scarselli Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Bridgeport ElementaryB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Virginia City Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Dayton Intermediate SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Eagle Valley Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Coleville HighB− · 42% proficient
- Virginia City High SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Carson High SchoolC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lyon County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lyon County 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 Lyon County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Lyon County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 74% of counties and 9% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Lyon County
Is Lyon County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lyon County ranks 1,303rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state infrastructure, the weather, and state finances, and lowest on tree cover and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lyon County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $373,181. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $83,925 median income, cost of living beats 74% of counties.
Is Lyon County safe?
Lyon County is safer than 33% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $473 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Lyon County?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 47 with lows near 25. That works out to about 161 pleasant days a year, more than 95% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Lyon County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Dayton, Fernley, and Yerington. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Lyon County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lyon County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lyon County 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.
Lyon County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lyon County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lyon County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lyon County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lyon County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lyon County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.