Best PlacesPaynes Creek, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Paynes Creek, 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.
Paynes Creek ranks 48,471st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Paynes Creek
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.
Paynes Creek's strengths and weaknesses
Where Paynes Creek ranks high
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 134 pleasant days a year, better than 87% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 56% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 46% of towns
- School gradeC+, better than 46% of towns
Where Paynes Creek ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 1% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Paynes Creek
A household needs to earn about $94,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Paynes Creek home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $54,219, 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 Paynes Creek's effective rate of 0.68%, 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 Paynes Creek
Paynes Creek 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 Paynes Creek.
Who works in Paynes Creek, and how
Work in Paynes Creek centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Paynes Creek
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Paynes Creek.
What the weather is like in Paynes Creek, month by month
Paynes Creek sees roughly 134 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 102 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 48° | 39° |
| April | 77° | 62° | 47° |
| July | 102° | 85° | 66° |
| October | 84° | 66° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Paynes Creek
The nearest airport, Redding Regional, is about 27 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 114 miles away.
The best schools in and around Paynes Creek
Schools across Paynes Creek average a C+, better than 46% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Plum Valley ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Lassen View ElementaryB · 44% proficient
Top middle schools
- Berrendos MiddleC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Red Bluff HighC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Paynes Creek school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Paynes Creek 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 Paynes Creek against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Paynes Creek
Is Paynes Creek a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Paynes Creek ranks 48,471st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on quiet, the weather, and low property taxes, and lowest on summer heat and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Paynes Creek expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $364,100. The overall cost of living runs about 23% above the national average. Set against a $54,219 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Paynes Creek safe?
Paynes Creek is safer than 24% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $436 per resident a year.
Compare Paynes Creek with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Paynes Creek. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Paynes Creek 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.
Paynes Creek detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Paynes Creek: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Paynes Creek: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Paynes Creek: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Paynes Creek: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Paynes Creek 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.