Best PlacesNapa County, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Napa County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Napa County ranks 609th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $119,042, wages outrun the cost of living, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are childcare costs, disaster risk, and taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Napa County
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.
The best areas in Napa County
The parts of Napa County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
American Canyon
More households have young kids, fewer homes sit empty, and prices have run up less.
Napa
Streets are more walkable, though it is noisier.
St. Helena, Calistoga & Angwin
Crime runs higher and biking is worse.
Napa County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 10% of the country and others in the top 6%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Napa County's strengths and weaknesses
Napa County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Biking is the standout, in the top 2% of counties. Walkability and big-city access follow.
The one real hole is childcare costs, near the bottom of the country. Disaster risk and taxes also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Napa County ranks high
- BikingBetter than 98% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 97% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 97% of counties
- Household income$119,042 median, better than 97% of counties
- TransitBetter than 95% of counties
Where Napa County ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,414 a month, better than only 4% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 6% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 15% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 18% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Napa County
A household needs to earn about $231,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Napa County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $119,042, 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 Napa County's effective rate of 0.64%, 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 Napa County
Napa County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Napa County.
Who works in Napa County, and how
Work in Napa County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Napa County
Napa County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 91% of counties and more parkland per resident than 72% of counties. The coast is about 49 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Napa County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Napa County growing, and who is moving in?
Napa County has lost about 6% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from San Francisco, CA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Napa County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Napa County, month by month
Napa County sees roughly 160 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 49° | 38° |
| April | 71° | 56° | 42° |
| July | 81° | 65° | 53° |
| October | 79° | 61° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Napa County
The nearest airport, Charles M Schulz/Sonoma County, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is San Francisco Bay Oakland International, about 42 miles away.
The best schools in and around Napa County
Schools across Napa County average a B−, better than 68% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Howell Mountain ElementaryB · 47% proficient
- Pope Valley ElementaryD · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- Saint Helena HighB+ · 55% proficient
- Angelo Rodriguez HighB+ · 51% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Napa County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Napa County 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 Napa County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Napa County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 72% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 15% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Napa County
Is Napa County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Napa County ranks 609th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on biking, walkability, and big-city access, and lowest on childcare costs and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Napa County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $902,030. The overall cost of living runs about 35% above the national average. Set against a $119,042 median income, cost of living beats 72% of counties.
Is Napa County safe?
Napa County is safer than 21% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $485 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Napa County?
July highs average about 81 degrees, and January highs near 61 with lows near 38. That works out to about 160 pleasant days a year, more than 95% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Napa County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are American Canyon, Napa, and St. Helena, Calistoga & Angwin. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Napa County good for families?
Schools beat 68% of counties, crime safety beats 21%, and childcare runs $1,414 a month.
Is Napa County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 72% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 74% of counties. About 15% of workers already work from home.
Compare Napa County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Napa County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Napa County 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.
Napa County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Napa County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Napa County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Napa County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Napa County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Napa County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.