Best PlacesPalm Springs, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Palm Springs, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Palm Springs ranks 1,810th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and empty homes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Palm Springs
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 Palm Springs
The parts of Palm Springs, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
Taquitz River Estates
Old las Palmas
Baristo
Sunrise Park
Desert Highland Gateway Estates
Scores across Palm Springs run from about the 8th to the 69th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Palm Springs' strengths and weaknesses
Where Palm Springs ranks high
- BikingBetter than 93% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 214 pleasant days a year, better than 92% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than 82% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 77% of cities
- Short commute22.1 minutes each way, better than 76% of cities
Where Palm Springs ranks low
- Low vacancyBetter than only 1% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than only 2% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 4% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Palm Springs
A household needs to earn about $170,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Palm Springs home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $78,360, 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 Springs' effective rate of 0.72%, 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 Palm Springs
Palm Springs 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 Palm Springs.
Who works in Palm Springs, and how
Work in Palm Springs centers on health care & social and hospitality & food. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 68%
- Work from home 26%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Palm Springs
Palm Springs has more restaurants and bars per resident than 93% of cities and more parkland per resident than 82% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Palm Springs and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Palm Springs, month by month
Palm Springs sees roughly 214 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 112 degrees. January highs sit near 72, with lows near 46. The comfortable stretch runs November through March.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 72° | 59° | 46° |
| April | 91° | 76° | 59° |
| July | 112° | 97° | 81° |
| October | 94° | 79° | 64° |
Flying in and out of Palm Springs
The nearest airport, Palm Springs International, is about 1 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Ontario International, about 63 miles away.
The best schools in and around Palm Springs
Schools across Palm Springs average a D+, better than 13% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Cielo Vista CharterC · 35% proficient
- Cathedral City ElementaryD · 17% proficient
- Vista Del Monte ElementaryD− · 15% proficient
Top middle schools
- Raymond Cree MiddleD · 20% proficient
- Painted Hills MiddleD− · 13% proficient
- James Workman MiddleF · 7% proficient
Top high schools
- Cathedral City HighB− · 43% proficient
- Palm Springs HighC · 34% proficient
- Desert Hot Springs HighC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Palm Springs school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Palm Springs 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 Springs against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Palm Springs suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 26% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 92% of cities, health care access beats 77%, and it is quieter than 71%.
Common questions about living in Palm Springs
Is Palm Springs a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Palm Springs ranks 1,810th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on biking, the weather, and cell coverage, and lowest on empty homes and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Palm Springs expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $656,555. The overall cost of living runs about 25% above the national average. Set against a $78,360 median income, cost of living beats 13% of cities.
Is Palm Springs safe?
Palm Springs is safer than 13% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $502 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Palm Springs?
July highs average about 112 degrees, and January highs near 72 with lows near 46. That works out to about 214 pleasant days a year, more than 92% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Palm Springs?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Taquitz River Estates, Old las Palmas, and Baristo. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Palm Springs with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Palm Springs. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Palm Springs 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 Springs detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Palm Springs: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Palm Springs: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Palm Springs: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Palm Springs: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Palm Springs 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.