Best PlacesPetaluma, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Petaluma, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Petaluma ranks 690th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Petaluma
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.
Petaluma's strengths and weaknesses
Where Petaluma ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 95% of cities
- BikingBetter than 89% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 168 pleasant days a year, better than 87% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than 85% of cities
- TransitBetter than 83% of cities
Where Petaluma ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 11% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 15% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 20% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than only 24% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Petaluma
A household needs to earn about $237,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Petaluma home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $122,401, 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 Petaluma's effective rate of 0.60%, 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 Petaluma
Petaluma runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Petaluma.
Who works in Petaluma, and how
Work in Petaluma centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Petaluma
Petaluma has more restaurants and bars per resident than 83% of cities and more parkland per resident than 89% of cities. The coast is about 31 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Petaluma and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Petaluma, month by month
Petaluma sees roughly 168 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 41. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58° | 48° | 41° |
| April | 67° | 54° | 44° |
| July | 81° | 63° | 52° |
| October | 76° | 59° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Petaluma
The nearest airport, Charles M Schulz/Sonoma County, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is San Francisco Bay Oakland International, about 43 miles away.
The best schools in and around Petaluma
Schools across Petaluma average a B−, better than 57% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Live Oak CharterA− · 58% proficient
- Meadow ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Corona Creek ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Petaluma Accelerated CharterA+ · 94% proficient
- Sinaloa MiddleB+ · 51% proficient
- Kenilworth Junior HighB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Tamalpais HighA− · 64% proficient
- Casa Grande HighB+ · 58% proficient
- Petaluma HighB+ · 57% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Petaluma school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Petaluma 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 Petaluma against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Petaluma suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 21% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 87% of cities, health care access beats 72%, and it is quieter than 65%.
Common questions about living in Petaluma
Is Petaluma a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Petaluma ranks 690th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on clean air, biking, and the weather, and lowest on disaster risk and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Petaluma expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $932,019. The overall cost of living runs about 34% above the national average. Set against a $122,401 median income, cost of living beats 48% of cities.
Is Petaluma safe?
Petaluma is safer than 43% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $371 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Petaluma?
July highs average about 81 degrees, and January highs near 58 with lows near 41. That works out to about 168 pleasant days a year, more than 87% of cities.
Is Petaluma good for families?
Schools beat 57% of cities, crime safety beats 43%, and childcare runs $1,044 a month.
Compare Petaluma with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Petaluma. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Petaluma 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.
Petaluma detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Petaluma: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Petaluma: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Petaluma: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Petaluma: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Petaluma 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.