Best PlacesParkwood, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Parkwood, 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.
Parkwood ranks 42,805th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Parkwood
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.
Parkwood's strengths and weaknesses
Where Parkwood ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 144 pleasant days a year, better than 91% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 90% of towns
- TransitBetter than 88% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 86% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 84% of towns
Where Parkwood ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 6% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Parkwood
A household needs to earn about $166,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Parkwood home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $92,870, 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 Parkwood's effective rate of 0.70%, 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 Parkwood
Parkwood 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 Parkwood.
Who works in Parkwood, and how
Work in Parkwood centers on retail trade and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 95%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Parkwood
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Parkwood.
What the weather is like in Parkwood, month by month
Parkwood sees roughly 144 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 101 degrees. January highs sit near 62, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 62° | 49° | 38° |
| April | 78° | 61° | 45° |
| July | 101° | 81° | 62° |
| October | 84° | 65° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Parkwood
The nearest airport, Fresno Yosemite International, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Norman Y Mineta San Jose International, about 111 miles away.
The best schools in and around Parkwood
Schools across Parkwood average a C+, better than 55% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Webster ElementaryB− · 44% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ranchos MiddleC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Liberty HighC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Parkwood school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Parkwood 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 Parkwood against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Parkwood
Is Parkwood a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Parkwood ranks 42,805th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, cell coverage, and transit, and lowest on education levels and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Parkwood expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $642,406. The overall cost of living runs about 7% above the national average. Set against a $92,870 median income, cost of living beats 45% of towns.
Is Parkwood safe?
Parkwood is safer than 9% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $611 per resident a year.
Compare Parkwood with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Parkwood. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Parkwood 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.
Parkwood detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Parkwood: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Parkwood: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Parkwood: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Parkwood: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Parkwood 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.