Best PlacesPioneertown, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Pioneertown, 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.
Pioneertown ranks 48,413th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Pioneertown
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.
Pioneertown's strengths and weaknesses
Where Pioneertown ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 188 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of towns
- QuietBetter than 94% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 91% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 78% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 73% of towns
Where Pioneertown ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- Short commute44.4 minutes each way, better than only 2% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Pioneertown
A household needs to earn about $118,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Pioneertown home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $65,512, 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 Pioneertown's effective rate of 0.49%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Pioneertown
Pioneertown 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 Pioneertown.
Who works in Pioneertown, and how
Work in Pioneertown centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 65%
- Work from home 31%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Pioneertown
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Pioneertown.
What the weather is like in Pioneertown, month by month
Pioneertown sees roughly 188 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 79 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 32° | 23° |
| April | 57° | 43° | 31° |
| July | 79° | 64° | 47° |
| October | 63° | 46° | 32° |
Flying in and out of Pioneertown
The nearest airport, Palm Springs International, is about 24 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Ontario International, about 64 miles away.
The best schools in and around Pioneertown
Schools across Pioneertown average a C−, better than 26% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Landers ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Yucca Mesa ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- La Contenta MiddleD · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- Yucca Valley HighC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Pioneertown school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Pioneertown 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 Pioneertown against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Pioneertown
Is Pioneertown a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Pioneertown ranks 48,413th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, quiet, and big-city access, and lowest on air quality and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Pioneertown expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $472,093. The overall cost of living runs about 21% above the national average. Set against a $65,512 median income, cost of living beats 10% of towns.
Is Pioneertown safe?
Pioneertown is safer than 6% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $716 per resident a year.
Compare Pioneertown with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Pioneertown. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Pioneertown 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.
Pioneertown detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Pioneertown: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Pioneertown: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Pioneertown: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Pioneertown: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Pioneertown 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.