Best PlacesRancho Calaveras, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Rancho Calaveras, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Rancho Calaveras ranks 36,783rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Rancho Calaveras
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.
Rancho Calaveras' strengths and weaknesses
Where Rancho Calaveras ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 147 pleasant days a year, better than 91% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 91% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 79% of towns
- Household income$80,631 median, better than 65% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 64% of towns
Where Rancho Calaveras ranks low
- Short commute51.3 minutes each way, better than only 1% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 16% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Rancho Calaveras
A household needs to earn about $115,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rancho Calaveras home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $80,631, 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 Rancho Calaveras' effective rate of 0.78%, 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 Rancho Calaveras
Rancho Calaveras'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 Rancho Calaveras.
Who works in Rancho Calaveras, and how
Work in Rancho Calaveras centers on construction and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Rancho Calaveras
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Rancho Calaveras.
What the weather is like in Rancho Calaveras, month by month
Rancho Calaveras sees roughly 147 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58° | 46° | 37° |
| April | 71° | 57° | 43° |
| July | 97° | 80° | 61° |
| October | 79° | 63° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Rancho Calaveras
The nearest airport, Stockton Metro, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 56 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rancho Calaveras
Schools across Rancho Calaveras average a D+, better than 16% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Valley Springs ElementaryD · 18% proficient
- Jenny Lind ElementaryD− · 13% proficient
Top middle schools
- Toyon MiddleD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Calaveras HighC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rancho Calaveras school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rancho Calaveras 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 Rancho Calaveras against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Rancho Calaveras
Is Rancho Calaveras a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rancho Calaveras ranks 36,783rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, big-city access, and low crime, and lowest on long commutes and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rancho Calaveras expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $440,696. The overall cost of living runs about 6% above the national average. Set against a $80,631 median income, cost of living beats 36% of towns.
Is Rancho Calaveras safe?
Yes, Rancho Calaveras is safer than 79% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $231 per resident a year.
Compare Rancho Calaveras with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rancho Calaveras. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rancho Calaveras 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.
Rancho Calaveras detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rancho Calaveras: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rancho Calaveras: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rancho Calaveras: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rancho Calaveras: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rancho Calaveras 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.