Best PlacesRawson, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Rawson, 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.
Rawson ranks 45,494th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Rawson
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.
Rawson's strengths and weaknesses
Where Rawson ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Short commute14.9 minutes each way, better than 97% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 126 pleasant days a year, better than 83% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 81% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 72% of towns
Where Rawson ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 5% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 8% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Rawson
A household needs to earn about $73,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rawson home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $63,416, 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 Rawson's effective rate of 0.54%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Rawson
Rawson 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 Rawson.
Who works in Rawson, and how
Work in Rawson centers on education and public administration. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 24%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Rawson
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Rawson.
What the weather is like in Rawson, month by month
Rawson sees roughly 126 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 102 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 48° | 39° |
| April | 77° | 62° | 47° |
| July | 102° | 85° | 66° |
| October | 84° | 66° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Rawson
The nearest airport, Redding Regional, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 104 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rawson
Schools across Rawson average a D+, better than 12% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- William M. Metteer ElementaryD · 18% proficient
Top middle schools
- Vista Preparatory AcademyD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Red Bluff HighC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rawson school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rawson 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 Rawson against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Rawson
Is Rawson a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rawson ranks 45,494th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, short commutes, and the weather, and lowest on summer heat and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rawson expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $287,918. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $63,416 median income, cost of living beats 22% of towns.
Is Rawson safe?
Rawson is safer than 5% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $708 per resident a year.
Compare Rawson with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rawson. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rawson 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.
Rawson detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rawson: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rawson: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rawson: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rawson: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rawson 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.