Best PlacesMeloland, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Meloland, 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.
Meloland ranks 39,638th 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 Meloland
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.
Meloland's strengths and weaknesses
Where Meloland ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 192 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 96% of towns
- Short commute19.1 minutes each way, better than 90% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 90% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 79% of towns
Where Meloland ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 3% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Meloland
A household needs to earn about $110,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Meloland home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $85,194, 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 Meloland's effective rate of 0.85%, 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 Meloland
Meloland runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Meloland.
Who works in Meloland, and how
Work in Meloland centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Meloland
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Meloland.
What the weather is like in Meloland, month by month
Meloland sees roughly 192 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 111 degrees. January highs sit near 71, with lows near 41. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 71° | 55° | 41° |
| April | 91° | 73° | 56° |
| July | 111° | 95° | 80° |
| October | 93° | 76° | 60° |
Flying in and out of Meloland
The nearest airport, Imperial County, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is San Diego International, about 94 miles away.
The best schools in and around Meloland
Schools across Meloland average a C+, better than 40% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mccabe ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
- Seeley ElementaryD− · 15% proficient
Top middle schools
- Heber ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Southwest HighB− · 44% proficient
- Central Union HighB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Meloland school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Meloland 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 Meloland against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Meloland
Is Meloland a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Meloland ranks 39,638th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, cell coverage, and short commutes, and lowest on civic engagement and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Meloland expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $416,892. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $85,194 median income, cost of living beats 51% of towns.
Is Meloland safe?
Meloland is safer than 32% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $390 per resident a year.
Compare Meloland with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Meloland. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Meloland 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.
Meloland detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Meloland: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Meloland: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Meloland: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Meloland: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Meloland 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.