Best PlacesMonolith, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Monolith, 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.
Monolith ranks 41,144th 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 Monolith
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.
Monolith's strengths and weaknesses
Where Monolith ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 184 pleasant days a year, better than 98% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 95% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 92% of towns
- Household income$78,867 median, better than 62% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 56% of towns
Where Monolith ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 8% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Monolith
A household needs to earn about $78,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Monolith home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $78,867, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 Monolith's effective rate of 0.76%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Monolith
Monolith 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 Monolith.
Who works in Monolith, and how
Work in Monolith centers on public administration and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Monolith
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Monolith.
What the weather is like in Monolith, month by month
Monolith sees roughly 184 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 41° | 33° |
| April | 64° | 51° | 40° |
| July | 89° | 76° | 60° |
| October | 72° | 56° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Monolith
The nearest airport, Meadows Field, is about 45 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bob Hope, about 64 miles away.
The best schools in and around Monolith
Schools across Monolith average a C, better than 36% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Tompkins ElementaryC− · 26% proficient
Top middle schools
- Jacobsen MiddleC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Tehachapi HighC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Monolith school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Monolith 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 Monolith against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Monolith
Is Monolith a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Monolith ranks 41,144th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, a strong job market, and big-city access, 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 Monolith expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $301,830. The overall cost of living runs about 6% above the national average. Set against a $78,867 median income, cost of living beats 44% of towns.
Is Monolith safe?
Monolith is safer than 17% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $503 per resident a year.
Compare Monolith with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Monolith. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Monolith 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.
Monolith detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Monolith: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Monolith: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Monolith: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Monolith: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Monolith 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.