Best PlacesPalm City, San Diego, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Palm City, San Diego, 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.
Palm City, San Diego ranks 3,980th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Palm City, San Diego
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.
Palm City, San Diego's strengths and weaknesses
Where Palm City, San Diego ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 295 pleasant days a year, better than 97% of neighborhoods
- Low property taxBetter than 85% of neighborhoods
- Heat safetyBetter than 80% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than 78% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than 74% of neighborhoods
Where Palm City, San Diego ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 2% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 12% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than only 14% of neighborhoods
- School gradeD+, better than only 17% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Palm City, San Diego
A household needs to earn about $130,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Palm City, San Diego home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $85,644, 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 Palm City, San Diego's effective rate of 0.59%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Palm City, San Diego
Palm City, San Diego'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 Palm City, San Diego.
Who works in Palm City, San Diego, and how
Work in Palm City, San Diego centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Palm City, San Diego
The coast is about 5 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Palm City, San Diego, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Palm City, San Diego, month by month
Palm City, San Diego sees roughly 295 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 75 degrees. January highs sit near 65, with lows near 46. The comfortable stretch runs February through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 65° | 54° | 46° |
| April | 68° | 58° | 50° |
| July | 75° | 70° | 64° |
| October | 75° | 67° | 57° |
Flying in and out of Palm City, San Diego
San Diego International sits about 12 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 12.7 million passengers in 2025, with 121 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Palm City, San Diego
Schools across Palm City, San Diego average a D+, better than 17% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Teofilo MendozaF · 10% proficient
- Sunnyslope ElementaryF · 10% proficient
Top middle schools
- Montgomery MiddleC− · 27% proficient
- Castle Park MiddleD · 22% proficient
- Mar Vista AcademyD · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- Southwest Senior HighC · 31% proficient
- Castle Park Senior HighC · 31% proficient
- Montgomery Senior HighC− · 29% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Palm City, San Diego school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Palm City, San Diego 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 Palm City, San Diego against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Palm City, San Diego
Is Palm City, San Diego a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Palm City, San Diego ranks 3,980th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on the weather, low property taxes, and heat safety, and lowest on air quality and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Palm City, San Diego expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $510,786. The overall cost of living runs about 21% above the national average. Set against a $85,644 median income, cost of living beats 32% of neighborhoods.
Is Palm City, San Diego safe?
Palm City, San Diego is safer than 46% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $510 per resident a year.
Compare Palm City, San Diego with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Palm City, San Diego. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Palm City, San Diego 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.
Palm City, San Diego detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Palm City, San Diego: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Palm City, San Diego: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Palm City, San Diego: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Palm City, San Diego: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Palm City, San Diego 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.