Best PlacesMartinez, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Martinez, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Martinez ranks 890th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Martinez
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.
Martinez's strengths and weaknesses
Where Martinez ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 90% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 90% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 177 pleasant days a year, better than 89% of cities
- BikingBetter than 85% of cities
- Household income$130,825 median, better than 82% of cities
Where Martinez ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,942 a month, better than only 3% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 9% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 10% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than only 16% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Martinez
A household needs to earn about $212,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Martinez home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $130,825, 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 Martinez's effective rate of 0.77%, 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 Martinez
Martinez runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Martinez.
Who works in Martinez, and how
Work in Martinez centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 69%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Martinez
Martinez has more restaurants and bars per resident than 67% of cities and more parkland per resident than 86% of cities. The coast is about 32 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Martinez and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Martinez, month by month
Martinez sees roughly 177 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 41. The comfortable stretch runs March through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 51° | 41° |
| April | 75° | 60° | 48° |
| July | 92° | 72° | 58° |
| October | 82° | 65° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Martinez
San Francisco Bay Oakland International sits about 20 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.5 million passengers in 2025, with 64 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Martinez
Schools across Martinez average a B−, better than 51% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Valhalla ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Hidden Valley ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
- Sun Terrace ElementaryD− · 14% proficient
Top middle schools
- Valley View MiddleB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Miramonte HighA+ · 82% proficient
- College Park HighB+ · 58% proficient
- Alhambra Senior HighB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Martinez school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Martinez 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 Martinez against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Martinez suits
Retirees
The weather beats 89% of cities and health care access beats 63%.
Common questions about living in Martinez
Is Martinez a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Martinez ranks 890th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on few empty homes, clean air, and the weather, and lowest on childcare costs and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Martinez expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $813,193. The overall cost of living runs about 27% above the national average. Set against a $130,825 median income, cost of living beats 62% of cities.
Is Martinez safe?
Martinez is safer than 16% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $479 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Martinez?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 61 with lows near 41. That works out to about 177 pleasant days a year, more than 89% of cities.
Is Martinez good for families?
Schools beat 51% of cities, crime safety beats 16%, and childcare runs $1,942 a month.
Compare Martinez with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Martinez. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Martinez 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.
Martinez detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Martinez: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Martinez: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Martinez: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Martinez: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Martinez 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.