Best PlacesRuby Valley, NV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ruby Valley, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Ruby Valley ranks 43,054th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Ruby Valley
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.
Ruby Valley's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ruby Valley ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 98% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 92% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 90% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 87% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 132 pleasant days a year, better than 86% of towns
Where Ruby Valley ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 3% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 3% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 5% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Ruby Valley
A household needs to earn about $65,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ruby Valley home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $101,226, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 Ruby Valley's effective rate of 0.47%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Ruby Valley
Ruby Valley runs older than the country, 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 Ruby Valley.
Who works in Ruby Valley, and how
Work in Ruby Valley centers on health care & social and other services. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 1%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Ruby Valley
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Ruby Valley.
What the weather is like in Ruby Valley, month by month
Ruby Valley sees roughly 132 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 28° | 18° |
| April | 64° | 47° | 30° |
| July | 96° | 76° | 53° |
| October | 69° | 48° | 29° |
Flying in and out of Ruby Valley
The nearest airport, Elko Regional, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Salt Lake City International, about 187 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ruby Valley
Schools across Ruby Valley average a C−, better than 23% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Ruby Valley Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Northside Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Wells Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Spring Creek Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Adobe Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Wells Jr High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Spring Creek High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Wells High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Elko High SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ruby Valley school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ruby Valley 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 Ruby Valley against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Ruby Valley
Is Ruby Valley a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ruby Valley ranks 43,054th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, state finances, and low taxes, and lowest on disaster risk and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ruby Valley expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $260,961. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $101,226 median income, cost of living beats 87% of towns.
Is Ruby Valley safe?
Ruby Valley is safer than 2% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,073 per resident a year.
Compare Ruby Valley with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ruby Valley. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ruby Valley 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.
Ruby Valley detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ruby Valley: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ruby Valley: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ruby Valley: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ruby Valley: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ruby Valley 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.