Best PlacesOrcutt, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Orcutt, 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.
Orcutt ranks 592nd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Orcutt
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.
Orcutt's strengths and weaknesses
Where Orcutt ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 214 pleasant days a year, better than 92% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 87% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than 78% of cities
- Short commute22.3 minutes each way, better than 75% of cities
Where Orcutt ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 9% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,613 a month, better than only 10% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than only 24% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 26% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Orcutt
A household needs to earn about $165,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Orcutt home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $112,171, 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 Orcutt's effective rate of 0.78%, 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 Orcutt
Orcutt's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Orcutt.
Who works in Orcutt, and how
Work in Orcutt centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Orcutt
Orcutt has more parkland per resident than 89% of cities. The coast is about 22 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Orcutt and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Orcutt, month by month
Orcutt sees roughly 214 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 Orcutt
The nearest airport, Santa Maria Public/Capt G Allan Hancock Field, is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bob Hope, about 127 miles away.
The best schools in and around Orcutt
Schools across Orcutt average a B−, better than 49% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Joe Nightingale ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Orcutt school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Orcutt 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 Orcutt against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Orcutt suits
Retirees
The weather beats 92% of cities and health care access beats 55%.
Common questions about living in Orcutt
Is Orcutt a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Orcutt ranks 592nd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on clean air, the weather, and a strong job market, and lowest on tree cover and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Orcutt expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $631,630. The overall cost of living runs about 12% above the national average. Set against a $112,171 median income, cost of living beats 58% of cities.
Is Orcutt safe?
Orcutt is safer than 50% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $328 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Orcutt?
July highs average about 75 degrees, and January highs near 66 with lows near 40. That works out to about 214 pleasant days a year, more than 92% of cities.
Is Orcutt good for families?
Schools beat 49% of cities, crime safety beats 50%, and childcare runs $1,613 a month.
Compare Orcutt with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Orcutt. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Orcutt 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.
Orcutt detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Orcutt: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Orcutt: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Orcutt: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Orcutt: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Orcutt 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.