Best PlacesRedding, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Redding metro, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Photo by Jonmallard, CC BY-SA 4.0, via wiki
Redding ranks 323rd of 387 U.S. metro areas on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on summer heat and taxes. It does better on short commutes, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in the Redding metro
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.
The best areas in Redding
The towns and districts of the Redding metro, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the metro.
Downtown Redding
Fewer homes sit empty and biking is better.
Anderson & Cottonwood
More households have young kids, though it is noisier.
Shingletown
Tree cover is thicker, though commutes are longer.
Burney
Heat risk is lower, though advertised internet is slower.
Scores across Redding run from about the 2nd to the 82nd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Redding's strengths and weaknesses
Redding ranks near the bottom because several of the basics fall short at once. Short commutes, the weather, and quiet carry most of that.
The weak spots are broad rather than narrow: summer heat, taxes, and internet speeds all drag on the score. Those are area averages, and the map below shows which parts run well above them.
Where Redding ranks high
- Short commute19.8 minutes each way, better than 88% of metro areas
- Nice weatherabout 117 pleasant days a year, better than 72% of metro areas
- QuietBetter than 71% of metro areas
- TransitBetter than 68% of metro areas
- Low property taxBetter than 65% of metro areas
Where Redding ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 2% of metro areas
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of metro areas
- Internet speedBetter than only 8% of metro areas
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 10% of metro areas
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 13% of metro areas
What it costs to buy a home in Redding
A household needs to earn about $96,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Redding home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $78,093, 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 Redding's effective rate of 0.70%, 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 Redding
Redding runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Redding.
Who works in Redding, and how
Work in Redding centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Redding
Redding has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most metro areas. That concentrates in some parts of Redding and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Redding growing, and who is moving in?
Redding has grown about 1% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Tehama County, CA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Redding go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Redding, month by month
Redding sees roughly 117 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 103 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 49° | 38° |
| April | 76° | 62° | 47° |
| July | 103° | 86° | 67° |
| October | 83° | 66° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Redding
The nearest airport, Redding Regional, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 136 miles away.
The best schools in and around Redding
Schools across Redding average a C+, better than 43% of metro areas.
Top elementary schools
- Grant ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- French Gulch-whiskeytown ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Manzanita ElementaryB+ · 51% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mountain View MiddleB · 45% proficient
- Sequoia MiddleC · 32% proficient
- Parsons Junior HighC · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- University PreparatoryA− · 62% proficient
- Shasta HighA− · 60% proficient
- Central Valley HighB+ · 53% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Redding school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Redding 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 Redding against the other 386 metro areas.
Who Redding suits
Families
Schools land around the 43rd percentile and crime safety beats 62%.
Retirees
The weather beats 72% of metro areas and it is quieter than 71%.
Common questions about living in Redding
Is Redding a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Redding ranks 323rd of 387 metro areas. It scores highest on short commutes, the weather, and quiet, and lowest on summer heat and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Redding expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $370,499. The overall cost of living runs about 4% above the national average. Set against a $78,093 median income, cost of living beats 10% of metro areas.
Is Redding safe?
Yes, Redding is safer than 62% of metro areas. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $323 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Redding?
July highs average about 103 degrees, and January highs near 61 with lows near 38. That works out to about 117 pleasant days a year, more than 72% of metro areas.
What are the best neighborhoods in Redding?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Downtown Redding, Anderson & Cottonwood, and Shingletown. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Redding good for families?
Schools beat 43% of metro areas, crime safety beats 62%, and childcare runs $1,036 a month.
Is Redding good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 10% of metro areas, though advertised internet speeds beat only 8% of metro areas. About 10% of workers already work from home.
Compare Redding with other metro areas
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Redding. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Redding 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.
Redding detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Redding: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Redding: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Redding: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Redding: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Redding 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.