Best PlacesPotrero, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Potrero, 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.
Potrero ranks 48,776th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Potrero
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.
Potrero's strengths and weaknesses
Where Potrero ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 214 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 99% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 92% of towns
- TransitBetter than 91% of towns
- Short commute20.7 minutes each way, better than 85% of towns
Where Potrero ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$21,143 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 3% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Potrero
A household needs to earn about $63,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Potrero home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $21,143, 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 Potrero's effective rate of 0.67%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Potrero
Potrero 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 Potrero.
Who works in Potrero, and how
Work in Potrero centers on construction and admin & support services. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Potrero
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Potrero.
What the weather is like in Potrero, month by month
Potrero sees roughly 214 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 69, with lows near 43. Every month averages in that range.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 69° | 55° | 43° |
| April | 74° | 60° | 50° |
| July | 81° | 70° | 62° |
| October | 81° | 67° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Potrero
San Diego International sits about 35 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 12.7 million passengers in 2025, with 121 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Potrero
Schools across Potrero average a D, better than 5% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Potrero ElementaryF · 10% proficient
Top middle schools
- Oak Grove MiddleD+ · 27% proficient
- Pine Valley MiddleD · 20% proficient
- Camp Lockett MiddleF · 11% proficient
Top high schools
- Valhalla HighB · 48% proficient
- Mountain Empire HighD · 22% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Potrero school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Potrero 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 Potrero against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Potrero
Is Potrero a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Potrero ranks 48,776th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, a strong job market, and big-city access, and lowest on disaster risk and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Potrero expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $246,000. The overall cost of living runs about 24% above the national average. Set against a $21,143 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Potrero safe?
Potrero is safer than 8% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $613 per resident a year.
Compare Potrero with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Potrero. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Potrero 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.
Potrero detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Potrero: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Potrero: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Potrero: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Potrero: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Potrero 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.