Best PlacesParkfield, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Parkfield, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Parkfield ranks 39,509th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Parkfield
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.
Parkfield's strengths and weaknesses
Where Parkfield ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 151 pleasant days a year, better than 93% of towns
- Household income$101,404 median, better than 86% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 78% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 75% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 73% of towns
Where Parkfield ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 7% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,376 a month, better than only 7% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Parkfield
A household needs to earn about $161,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Parkfield home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $101,404, 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 Parkfield's effective rate of 0.71%, 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 Parkfield
Parkfield 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 Parkfield.
Who works in Parkfield, and how
Work in Parkfield centers on agriculture & forestry and education. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Parkfield
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Parkfield.
What the weather is like in Parkfield, month by month
Parkfield sees roughly 151 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 63, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 63° | 48° | 36° |
| April | 77° | 57° | 41° |
| July | 97° | 73° | 54° |
| October | 85° | 62° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Parkfield
The nearest airport, San Luis Obispo County Regional, is about 48 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Norman Y Mineta San Jose International, about 128 miles away.
The best schools in and around Parkfield
Schools across Parkfield average a C−, better than 23% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Pleasant Valley ElementaryB− · 42% proficient
- Bradley ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
- Avenal ElementaryF · 8% proficient
Top middle schools
- Reef Sunset MiddleF · 7% proficient
Top high schools
- Paso Robles HighB · 46% proficient
- King City HighC · 30% proficient
- Coalinga HighC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Parkfield school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Parkfield 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 Parkfield against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Parkfield
Is Parkfield a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Parkfield ranks 39,509th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, high incomes, and big-city access, and lowest on civic engagement and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Parkfield expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $624,367. The overall cost of living runs about 18% above the national average. Set against a $101,404 median income, cost of living beats 51% of towns.
Is Parkfield safe?
Parkfield is safer than 24% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $432 per resident a year.
Compare Parkfield with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Parkfield. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Parkfield 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.
Parkfield detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Parkfield: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Parkfield: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Parkfield: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Parkfield: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Parkfield 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.