Best PlacesMonterey, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Monterey, 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.
Monterey ranks 588th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Monterey
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.
Monterey's strengths and weaknesses
Where Monterey ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 97% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 218 pleasant days a year, better than 93% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 90% of cities
- Short commute19.5 minutes each way, better than 89% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than 86% of cities
Where Monterey ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 5% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 16% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than only 18% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 19% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Monterey
A household needs to earn about $279,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Monterey home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $119,684, 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 Monterey's effective rate of 0.59%, 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 Monterey
Monterey 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 Monterey.
Who works in Monterey, and how
Work in Monterey centers on education and professional & technical. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 68%
- Work from home 23%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Monterey
Monterey has more restaurants and bars per resident than 94% of cities and more parkland per resident than 96% of cities. The coast is about 2 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Monterey and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Monterey, month by month
Monterey sees roughly 218 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 69 degrees. January highs sit near 63, with lows near 43. The comfortable stretch runs April through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 63° | 52° | 43° |
| April | 65° | 56° | 48° |
| July | 69° | 60° | 54° |
| October | 72° | 60° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Monterey
The nearest airport, Monterey Regional, is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Norman Y Mineta San Jose International, about 53 miles away.
The best schools in and around Monterey
Schools across Monterey average a B−, better than 47% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Bay View AcademyC+ · 39% proficient
Top middle schools
- Carmel MiddleA · 66% proficient
- Seaside MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Carmel HighA · 70% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Monterey school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Monterey 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 Monterey against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Monterey suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 23% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 93% of cities and health care access beats 70%.
Common questions about living in Monterey
Is Monterey a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Monterey ranks 588th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on clean air, the weather, and walkability, and lowest on a weak job market and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Monterey expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,097,582. The overall cost of living runs about 44% above the national average. Set against a $119,684 median income, cost of living beats 40% of cities.
Is Monterey safe?
Monterey is safer than 31% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $423 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Monterey?
July highs average about 69 degrees, and January highs near 63 with lows near 43. That works out to about 218 pleasant days a year, more than 93% of cities.
Is Monterey good for families?
Schools beat 47% of cities, crime safety beats 31%, and childcare runs $1,371 a month.
Compare Monterey with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Monterey. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Monterey 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.
Monterey detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Monterey: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Monterey: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Monterey: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Monterey: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Monterey 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.