Best PlacesNorth Richmond, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around North Richmond, 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.
North Richmond ranks 27,732nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in North Richmond
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.
North Richmond's strengths and weaknesses
Where North Richmond ranks high
- BikingBetter than 99% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of towns
- TransitBetter than 99% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 99% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 98% of towns
Where North Richmond ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,942 a month, better than only 1% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 2% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 3% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in North Richmond
A household needs to earn about $152,000 a year to comfortably buy the median North Richmond home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $92,029, 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 North Richmond'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 North Richmond
North Richmond runs younger 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 North Richmond.
Who works in North Richmond, and how
Work in North Richmond centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in North Richmond
The coast is about 18 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across North Richmond, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in North Richmond, month by month
North Richmond sees roughly 172 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 42. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 50° | 42° |
| April | 71° | 57° | 46° |
| July | 87° | 66° | 52° |
| October | 79° | 61° | 47° |
Flying in and out of North Richmond
San Francisco Bay Oakland International sits about 18 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.5 million passengers in 2025, with 64 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around North Richmond
Schools across North Richmond average a C, better than 54% of towns.
Top high schools
- Middle College HighA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every North Richmond school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
North Richmond 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 North Richmond against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in North Richmond
Is North Richmond a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, North Richmond ranks 27,732nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on biking, walkability, and transit, and lowest on childcare costs and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is North Richmond expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $594,037. The overall cost of living runs about 21% above the national average. Set against a $92,029 median income, cost of living beats 30% of towns.
Is North Richmond safe?
North Richmond is safer than 13% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $535 per resident a year.
Compare North Richmond with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to North Richmond. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in North Richmond 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.
North Richmond detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for North Richmond: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in North Richmond: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of North Richmond: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in North Richmond: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
North Richmond 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.