Best PlacesPhoenix Lake, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Phoenix Lake, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Phoenix Lake ranks 14,502nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on high incomes by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
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The best neighborhoods in Phoenix Lake
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.
Phoenix Lake's strengths and weaknesses
Where Phoenix Lake ranks high
- Household income$110,228 median, better than 90% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 134 pleasant days a year, better than 87% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 76% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 80% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 75% of towns
Where Phoenix Lake ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 15% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- School gradeC, better than only 36% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 31% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 13% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Phoenix Lake
A household needs to earn about $132,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Phoenix Lake home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $110,228, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.7% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-08-20 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 Phoenix Lake'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 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 Phoenix Lake
Phoenix Lake 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 Phoenix Lake.
Who works in Phoenix Lake, and how
Work in Phoenix Lake centers on health care & social and hospitality & food. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Phoenix Lake
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Phoenix Lake.
What the weather is like in Phoenix Lake, month by month
Phoenix Lake sees roughly 134 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 45° | 36° |
| April | 70° | 56° | 43° |
| July | 97° | 79° | 61° |
| October | 79° | 61° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Phoenix Lake
The nearest airport, Merced Yosemite Regional, is about 51 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 84 miles away.
The best schools in and around Phoenix Lake
Schools across Phoenix Lake average a C, better than 36% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Sonora ElementaryC+ · 36% proficient
- Curtis Creek ElementaryC− · 29% proficient
- Soulsbyville ElementaryC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Sonora HighC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Phoenix Lake school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Phoenix Lake 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 Phoenix Lake against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Phoenix Lake
Is Phoenix Lake a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Phoenix Lake ranks 14,502nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on high incomes, the weather, and what local pay buys, 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 Phoenix Lake expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $509,041. The overall cost of living runs about 12% above the national average. Set against a $110,228 median income, cost of living beats 76% of towns.
Is Phoenix Lake safe?
Yes, Phoenix Lake is safer than 58% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $300 per resident a year.
Compare Phoenix Lake with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Phoenix Lake. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Phoenix Lake 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.
Phoenix Lake detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Phoenix Lake: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Phoenix Lake: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Phoenix Lake: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Phoenix Lake: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Phoenix Lake 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.