Best PlacesNeedles, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Needles, 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.
Needles ranks 48,204th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Needles
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.
Needles' strengths and weaknesses
Where Needles ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 196 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 96% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 94% of towns
- TransitBetter than 91% of towns
- BikingBetter than 89% of towns
Where Needles ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$40,492 median, better than only 3% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 4% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Needles
A household needs to earn about $46,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Needles home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $40,492, 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 Needles' effective rate of 0.72%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Needles
Needles 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 Needles.
Who works in Needles, and how
Work in Needles centers on transportation & warehousing and public administration. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Needles
Needles has more restaurants and bars per resident than 99% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Needles and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Needles, month by month
Needles sees roughly 196 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 113 degrees. January highs sit near 67, with lows near 43. The comfortable stretch runs November through March.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 67° | 55° | 43° |
| April | 91° | 76° | 60° |
| July | 113° | 101° | 86° |
| October | 91° | 77° | 63° |
Flying in and out of Needles
The nearest airport, Boulder City Municipal, is about 81 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Harry Reid International, about 94 miles away.
The best schools in and around Needles
Schools across Needles average a D, better than 4% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Topock Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Smoketree Elementary SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Oro Grande Classical AcademyC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Thunderbolt Middle SchoolC− · 31% proficient
- Bullhead City Middle SchoolD− · 19% proficient
- Baker Junior HighD− · 16% proficient
Top high schools
- Baker HighB · 50% proficient
- Lake Havasu High SchoolC · 31% proficient
- Educational Training CenterD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Needles school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Needles 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 Needles against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Needles
Is Needles a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Needles ranks 48,204th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, cell coverage, and clean air, and lowest on summer heat and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Needles expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $178,582. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $40,492 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Needles safe?
Needles is safer than 11% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $592 per resident a year.
Compare Needles with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Needles. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Needles 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.
Needles detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Needles: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Needles: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Needles: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Needles: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Needles 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.