Best PlacesPoway, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Poway, 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.
Poway ranks 352nd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Poway
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.
Poway's strengths and weaknesses
Where Poway ranks high
- QuietBetter than 93% of cities
- Household income$154,639 median, better than 92% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 195 pleasant days a year, better than 91% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than 87% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than 87% of cities
Where Poway ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 15% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 19% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,432 a month, better than only 21% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 22% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Poway
A household needs to earn about $277,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Poway home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $154,639, 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 Poway's effective rate of 0.62%, 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 Poway
Poway's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Poway.
Who works in Poway, and how
Work in Poway centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 24%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Poway
Poway has more restaurants and bars per resident than 72% of cities and more parkland per resident than 82% of cities. The coast is about 19 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Poway and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Poway, month by month
Poway sees roughly 195 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 68, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs April through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 68° | 51° | 35° |
| April | 76° | 58° | 42° |
| July | 93° | 74° | 56° |
| October | 85° | 64° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Poway
The nearest airport, McClellan-Palomar, is about 17 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is San Diego International, about 19 miles away.
The best schools in and around Poway
Schools across Poway average a B, better than 60% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- San Pasqual Union ElementaryB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Ramona HighB+ · 52% proficient
- San Pasqual HighB− · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Poway school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Poway 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 Poway against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Poway suits
Retirees
The weather beats 91% of cities, health care access beats 70%, and it is quieter than 93%.
Common questions about living in Poway
Is Poway a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Poway ranks 352nd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on quiet, high incomes, and the weather, and lowest on taxes and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Poway expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,087,058. The overall cost of living runs about 40% above the national average. Set against a $154,639 median income, cost of living beats 68% of cities.
Is Poway safe?
Yes, Poway is safer than 62% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $305 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Poway?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 68 with lows near 35. That works out to about 195 pleasant days a year, more than 91% of cities.
Is Poway good for families?
Schools beat 60% of cities, crime safety beats 62%, and childcare runs $1,432 a month.
Compare Poway with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Poway. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Poway 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.
Poway detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Poway: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Poway: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Poway: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Poway: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Poway 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.