Best PlacesNevada County, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Nevada County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Nevada County ranks 848th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on an educated workforce and high incomes. The weaker spots are air quality, taxes, and childcare costs.
The best neighborhoods in Nevada 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 Nevada County
The parts of Nevada 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.
Penn Valley & Rough And Ready
Fewer homes sit empty, it is quieter, and disaster risk is lower.
Truckee
Incomes run higher and more households have young kids.
Grass Valley, Auburn & Alta Sierra
Prices have run up less, though tree cover is thinner.
Nevada City
Biking is better, though local pay stretches less far.
Scores across Nevada County run from about the 8th to the 88th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Nevada County's strengths and weaknesses
Nevada County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. An educated workforce, high incomes, and civic engagement carry most of that.
The one real hole is air quality, near the bottom of the country. Taxes and childcare costs also cost it ground. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where Nevada County ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 92% of counties
- Household income$99,410 median, better than 92% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 90% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 143 pleasant days a year, better than 90% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 89% of counties
Where Nevada County ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 4% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 6% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,174 a month, better than only 9% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 18% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 18% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Nevada County
A household needs to earn about $166,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Nevada County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $99,410, 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 Nevada County's effective rate of 0.73%, 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 Nevada County
Nevada County 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 Nevada County.
Who works in Nevada County, and how
Work in Nevada County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 69%
- Work from home 25%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Nevada County
Nevada County has more parkland per resident than 85% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Nevada County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Nevada County growing, and who is moving in?
Nevada County has grown about 4% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Sacramento, CA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Nevada County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Nevada County, month by month
Nevada County sees roughly 143 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 45° | 39° |
| April | 64° | 54° | 47° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 72° | 63° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Nevada County
Sacramento International sits about 51 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 6.8 million passengers in 2025, with 85 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Nevada County
Schools across Nevada County average a B−, better than 60% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Donner Trail ElementaryA+ · 83% proficient
- Glenshire ElementaryA− · 61% proficient
- Sierra Expeditionary LearningA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Union Hill MiddleB · 47% proficient
- Seven Hills IntermediateB · 45% proficient
- Alder Creek MiddleB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Bear River HighA− · 65% proficient
- Tahoe Truckee HighA− · 60% proficient
- William & Marian Ghidotti HighB+ · 56% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Nevada County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Nevada 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 Nevada County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Nevada County suits
Retirees
The weather beats 90% of counties, health care access beats 89%, and it is quieter than 63%.
Common questions about living in Nevada County
Is Nevada County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Nevada County ranks 848th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on an educated workforce, high incomes, and civic engagement, and lowest on air quality and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Nevada County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $639,420. The overall cost of living runs about 20% above the national average. Set against a $99,410 median income, cost of living beats 62% of counties.
Is Nevada County safe?
Yes, Nevada County is safer than 59% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $337 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Nevada County?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 52 with lows near 39. That works out to about 143 pleasant days a year, more than 90% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Nevada County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Penn Valley & Rough And Ready, Truckee, and Grass Valley, Auburn & Alta Sierra. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Nevada County good for families?
Schools beat 60% of counties, crime safety beats 59%, and childcare runs $1,174 a month.
Is Nevada County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 62% of counties, though advertised internet speeds beat only 55% of counties. About 25% of workers already work from home.
Compare Nevada County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Nevada County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Nevada 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.
Nevada County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Nevada County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Nevada County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Nevada County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Nevada County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Nevada 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.