Best PlacesNipomo, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Nipomo, 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.
Nipomo ranks 6,697th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Nipomo
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.
Nipomo's strengths and weaknesses
Where Nipomo ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 216 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 94% of towns
- Household income$117,624 median, better than 92% of towns
- TransitBetter than 92% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 92% of towns
Where Nipomo ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,391 a month, better than only 6% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 13% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 17% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Nipomo
A household needs to earn about $211,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Nipomo home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $117,624, 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 Nipomo's effective rate of 0.62%, 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 Nipomo
Nipomo runs older than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Nipomo.
Who works in Nipomo, and how
Work in Nipomo centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Nipomo
Nipomo has more parkland per resident than 88% of towns. The coast is about 15 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Nipomo and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Nipomo, month by month
Nipomo sees roughly 216 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 75 degrees. January highs sit near 66, with lows near 40. The comfortable stretch runs April through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 66° | 52° | 40° |
| April | 70° | 56° | 45° |
| July | 75° | 62° | 54° |
| October | 79° | 61° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Nipomo
The nearest airport, Santa Maria Public/Capt G Allan Hancock Field, is about 9 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bob Hope, about 134 miles away.
The best schools in and around Nipomo
Schools across Nipomo average a C+, better than 45% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Dana ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mesa MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Nipomo school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Nipomo 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 Nipomo against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Nipomo suits
Families
Schools land around the 45th percentile and crime safety beats 68%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 11% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Nipomo
Is Nipomo a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Nipomo ranks 6,697th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, clean air, and high incomes, and lowest on childcare costs and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Nipomo expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $826,815. The overall cost of living runs about 22% above the national average. Set against a $117,624 median income, cost of living beats 70% of towns.
Is Nipomo safe?
Yes, Nipomo is safer than 68% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $260 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Nipomo?
July highs average about 75 degrees, and January highs near 66 with lows near 40. That works out to about 216 pleasant days a year, more than 100% of towns.
Is Nipomo good for families?
Schools beat 45% of towns, crime safety beats 68%, and childcare runs $1,391 a month.
Compare Nipomo with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Nipomo. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Nipomo 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.
Nipomo detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Nipomo: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Nipomo: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Nipomo: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Nipomo: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Nipomo 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.