Best PlacesMariposa, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mariposa, 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.
Mariposa ranks 33,722nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Mariposa
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.
Mariposa's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mariposa ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 203 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of towns
- TransitBetter than 91% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 83% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 82% of towns
- QuietBetter than 79% of towns
Where Mariposa ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 2% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 12% of towns
- Short commute34.0 minutes each way, better than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Mariposa
A household needs to earn about $106,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mariposa home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $71,584, 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 Mariposa's effective rate of 0.68%, 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 Mariposa
Mariposa runs older than the country, 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 Mariposa.
Who works in Mariposa, and how
Work in Mariposa centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Mariposa
Mariposa has more restaurants and bars per resident than 88% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Mariposa and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Mariposa, month by month
Mariposa sees roughly 203 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 78 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 37° | 32° |
| April | 53° | 44° | 38° |
| July | 78° | 69° | 63° |
| October | 62° | 53° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Mariposa
The nearest airport, Merced Yosemite Regional, is about 35 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Norman Y Mineta San Jose International, about 111 miles away.
The best schools in and around Mariposa
Schools across Mariposa average a C+, better than 47% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Woodland ElementaryC · 31% proficient
- Wasuma ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
- Mariposa ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Yosemite HighA− · 63% proficient
- Mariposa County HighB · 50% proficient
- Don Pedro HighD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mariposa school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mariposa 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 Mariposa against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Mariposa
Is Mariposa a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mariposa ranks 33,722nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, transit, and an educated workforce, and lowest on air quality and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Mariposa expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $412,888. The overall cost of living runs about 4% above the national average. Set against a $71,584 median income, cost of living beats 27% of towns.
Is Mariposa safe?
Mariposa is safer than 30% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $441 per resident a year.
Compare Mariposa with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mariposa. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mariposa 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.
Mariposa detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mariposa: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mariposa: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mariposa: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mariposa: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mariposa 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.