Best PlacesPatterson, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Patterson, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Patterson ranks 1,602nd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Patterson
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.
Patterson's strengths and weaknesses
Where Patterson ranks high
- QuietBetter than 96% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 85% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than 83% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 149 pleasant days a year, better than 82% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than 67% of cities
Where Patterson ranks low
- Short commute40.9 minutes each way, better than only 1% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 3% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 3% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 6% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 8% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Patterson
A household needs to earn about $134,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Patterson home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $96,536, 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 Patterson's effective rate of 1.11%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Patterson
Patterson 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 Patterson.
Who works in Patterson, and how
Work in Patterson centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Patterson
Patterson has more restaurants and bars per resident than 70% of cities and more parkland per resident than 80% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Patterson and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Patterson, month by month
Patterson sees roughly 149 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 98 degrees. January highs sit near 59, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59° | 49° | 39° |
| April | 77° | 62° | 48° |
| July | 98° | 81° | 63° |
| October | 82° | 65° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Patterson
The nearest airport, Stockton Metro, is about 29 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Norman Y Mineta San Jose International, about 44 miles away.
The best schools in and around Patterson
Schools across Patterson average a C−, better than 27% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Chatom ElementaryC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mountain View MiddleD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- Patterson HighB− · 45% proficient
- Modesto HighC+ · 39% proficient
- Central Valley HighC+ · 36% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Patterson school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Patterson 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 Patterson against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Patterson suits
Common questions about living in Patterson
Is Patterson a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Patterson ranks 1,602nd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on quiet, a strong job market, and cell coverage, and lowest on long commutes and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Patterson expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $493,671. The overall cost of living runs about 1% below the national average. Set against a $96,536 median income, cost of living beats 47% of cities.
Is Patterson safe?
Patterson is safer than 28% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $421 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Patterson?
July highs average about 98 degrees, and January highs near 59 with lows near 39. That works out to about 149 pleasant days a year, more than 82% of cities.
Is Patterson good for families?
Schools beat 27% of cities, crime safety beats 28%, and childcare runs $1,134 a month.
Compare Patterson with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Patterson. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Patterson 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.
Patterson detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Patterson: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Patterson: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Patterson: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Patterson: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Patterson 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.