Best PlacesRichvale, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Richvale, 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.
Richvale ranks 31,577th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Richvale
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.
Richvale's strengths and weaknesses
Where Richvale ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 90% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 133 pleasant days a year, better than 86% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 84% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 81% of towns
- Household income$90,025 median, better than 77% of towns
Where Richvale ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Richvale
A household needs to earn about $130,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Richvale home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $90,025, 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 Richvale's effective rate of 0.61%, 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 Richvale
Richvale'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 Richvale.
Who works in Richvale, and how
Work in Richvale centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Richvale
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Richvale.
What the weather is like in Richvale, month by month
Richvale sees roughly 133 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 100 degrees. January highs sit near 59, with lows near 41. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59° | 50° | 41° |
| April | 77° | 62° | 48° |
| July | 100° | 83° | 66° |
| October | 82° | 66° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Richvale
Sacramento International sits about 55 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 6.8 million passengers in 2025, with 85 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Richvale
Schools across Richvale average a D+, better than 18% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Durham ElementaryB · 45% proficient
- Wilson ElementaryC+ · 36% proficient
- Princeton ElementaryD+ · 21% proficient
Top middle schools
- Durham IntermediateC− · 31% proficient
- Sycamore MiddleC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Durham HighB · 47% proficient
- Gridley HighB− · 43% proficient
- Biggs HighD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Richvale school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Richvale 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 Richvale against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Richvale
Is Richvale a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Richvale ranks 31,577th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, the weather, and population health, and lowest on tree cover and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Richvale expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $510,677. The overall cost of living runs about 6% above the national average. Set against a $90,025 median income, cost of living beats 51% of towns.
Is Richvale safe?
Richvale is safer than 24% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $454 per resident a year.
Compare Richvale with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Richvale. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Richvale 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.
Richvale detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Richvale: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Richvale: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Richvale: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Richvale: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Richvale 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.