Best PlacesMadeline, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Madeline, 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.
Madeline ranks 50,135th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Madeline
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.
Madeline's strengths and weaknesses
Where Madeline ranks high
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- TransitBetter than 92% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 119 pleasant days a year, better than 80% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 68% of towns
Where Madeline ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 1% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$32,500 median, better than only 3% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Madeline
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Madeline home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $32,500, 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 Madeline's effective rate of 0.58%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Madeline
Madeline's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Madeline.
Who works in Madeline, and how
Work in Madeline centers on other services and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Madeline
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Madeline.
What the weather is like in Madeline, month by month
Madeline sees roughly 119 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 32° | 21° |
| April | 63° | 46° | 29° |
| July | 93° | 72° | 47° |
| October | 68° | 47° | 28° |
Flying in and out of Madeline
The nearest airport, Redding Regional, is about 100 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 170 miles away.
The best schools in and around Madeline
Schools across Madeline average a D+, better than 16% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Juniper Ridge ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
- Big Valley ElementaryD− · 15% proficient
Top middle schools
- Modoc MiddleD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Lassen HighC− · 28% proficient
- Modoc HighD− · 17% proficient
- Big Valley Jr. Sr. HighF · 9% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Madeline school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Madeline 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 Madeline against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Madeline
Is Madeline a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Madeline ranks 50,135th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on quiet, a stable housing market, and transit, and lowest on crime and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Madeline expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $186,200. The overall cost of living runs about 7% above the national average. Set against a $32,500 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Madeline safe?
Madeline is safer than 0% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,301 per resident a year.
Compare Madeline with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Madeline. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Madeline 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.
Madeline detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Madeline: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Madeline: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Madeline: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Madeline: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Madeline 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.