Best PlacesRio Linda, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Rio Linda, 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.
Rio Linda ranks 18,989th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Rio Linda
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.
Rio Linda's strengths and weaknesses
Where Rio Linda ranks high
- BikingBetter than 96% of towns
- TransitBetter than 96% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 95% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 93% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 150 pleasant days a year, better than 93% of towns
Where Rio Linda ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,332 a month, better than only 8% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 10% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 12% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 14% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Rio Linda
A household needs to earn about $126,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rio Linda home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $95,220, 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 Rio Linda's effective rate of 0.65%, 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 Rio Linda
Rio Linda'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 Rio Linda.
Who works in Rio Linda, and how
Work in Rio Linda centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Rio Linda
Rio Linda has more parkland per resident than 97% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Rio Linda and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Rio Linda, month by month
Rio Linda sees roughly 150 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 41. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58° | 48° | 41° |
| April | 75° | 60° | 49° |
| July | 97° | 78° | 63° |
| October | 80° | 65° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Rio Linda
Sacramento International sits about 8 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 Rio Linda
Schools across Rio Linda average a C, better than 44% of towns.
Top high schools
- Center HighB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rio Linda school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rio Linda 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 Rio Linda against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Rio Linda
Is Rio Linda a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rio Linda ranks 18,989th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on biking, transit, and few empty homes, and lowest on taxes and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rio Linda expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $490,397. The overall cost of living runs about 20% above the national average. Set against a $95,220 median income, cost of living beats 41% of towns.
Is Rio Linda safe?
Rio Linda is safer than 20% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $467 per resident a year.
Compare Rio Linda with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rio Linda. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rio Linda 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.
Rio Linda detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rio Linda: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rio Linda: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rio Linda: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rio Linda: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rio Linda 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.