Best PlacesPotter Valley, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Potter Valley, 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.
Potter Valley ranks 40,893rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Summer heat pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on quiet.
The best neighborhoods in Potter Valley
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.
Potter Valley's strengths and weaknesses
Where Potter Valley ranks high
- QuietBetter than 90% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 127 pleasant days a year, better than 84% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 76% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 74% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 72% of towns
Where Potter Valley ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Potter Valley
A household needs to earn about $147,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Potter Valley home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $82,519, 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 Potter Valley's effective rate of 0.56%, 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 Potter Valley
Potter Valley 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 Potter Valley.
Who works in Potter Valley, and how
Work in Potter Valley centers on agriculture & forestry and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Potter Valley
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Potter Valley.
What the weather is like in Potter Valley, month by month
Potter Valley sees roughly 127 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 98 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 47° | 38° |
| April | 74° | 57° | 42° |
| July | 98° | 76° | 56° |
| October | 82° | 61° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Potter Valley
The nearest airport, Charles M Schulz/Sonoma County, is about 59 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 93 miles away.
The best schools in and around Potter Valley
Schools across Potter Valley average a C−, better than 27% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Blosser Lane ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
- Upper Lake ElementaryD+ · 23% proficient
- Lakeport ElementaryD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Indian Valley IntermediateD− · 19% proficient
- Upper Lake MiddleD− · 17% proficient
- Terrace MiddleD− · 16% proficient
Top high schools
- Willits HighC+ · 35% proficient
- Clear Lake HighC− · 27% proficient
- Round Valley HighD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Potter Valley school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Potter Valley 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 Potter Valley against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Potter Valley
Is Potter Valley a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Potter Valley ranks 40,893rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on quiet, the weather, and an educated workforce, 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 Potter Valley expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $580,807. The overall cost of living runs about 20% above the national average. Set against a $82,519 median income, cost of living beats 26% of towns.
Is Potter Valley safe?
Potter Valley is safer than 12% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $561 per resident a year.
Compare Potter Valley with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Potter Valley. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Potter Valley 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.
Potter Valley detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Potter Valley: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Potter Valley: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Potter Valley: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Potter Valley: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Potter Valley 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.