Best PlacesSacramento County, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Sacramento County, 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.
Sacramento County ranks 702nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on noise and childcare costs. It does better on biking, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in Sacramento County
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 Sacramento County
The parts of Sacramento County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Galt, Vineyard & Wilton
Incomes run higher, local pay stretches further, and crime runs lower.
Citrus Heights, Folsom & Fair Oaks
More adults hold degrees, though fewer households have young kids.
Sacramento
Streets are more walkable and biking is better.
Rancho Cordova
Scores close to Sacramento, except that it is quieter here.
Elk Grove & Florin
Health care is harder to reach and fewer residents vote.
Parkway
Arden-Arcade
Transit reaches more jobs, though more homes sit empty.
North Highlands & Antelope
Health outcomes score lower.
Sacramento County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 3% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Sacramento County's strengths and weaknesses
Sacramento County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Biking is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Transit and few empty homes follow.
The one real hole is noise, near the bottom of the country. Childcare costs and taxes also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Sacramento County ranks high
- BikingBetter than 99% of counties
- TransitBetter than 99% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 97% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 96% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of counties
Where Sacramento County ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 4% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,332 a month, better than only 5% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 6% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 8% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 9% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Sacramento County
A household needs to earn about $140,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sacramento County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $100,324, 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 Sacramento County's effective rate of 0.74%, 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 Sacramento County
Sacramento County'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 Sacramento County.
Who works in Sacramento County, and how
Work in Sacramento County centers on health care & social and public administration. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Sacramento County
Sacramento County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Sacramento County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Sacramento County growing, and who is moving in?
Sacramento County has grown about 9% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Sacramento, CA metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Sacramento County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Sacramento County, month by month
Sacramento County sees roughly 152 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 59, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59° | 49° | 39° |
| April | 76° | 60° | 46° |
| July | 96° | 75° | 59° |
| October | 82° | 64° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Sacramento County
Sacramento International sits about 14 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 Sacramento County
Schools across Sacramento County average a C+, better than 56% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Arnold Adreani ElementaryA+ · 74% proficient
- Sunrise ElementaryA · 66% proficient
- Robert J. Mcgarvey ElementaryA · 66% proficient
Top middle schools
- Toby Johnson MiddleA · 62% proficient
- Elizabeth Pinkerton MiddleA · 62% proficient
- Katherine L. Albiani MiddleA · 61% proficient
Top high schools
- Mira Loma HighA+ · 80% proficient
- Natomas Pacific Pathways PrepA · 70% proficient
- Cosumnes Oaks HighA− · 66% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sacramento County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sacramento County 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 Sacramento County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Sacramento County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 19% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Sacramento County
Is Sacramento County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sacramento County ranks 702nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on biking, transit, and few empty homes, and lowest on noise and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sacramento County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $541,102. The overall cost of living runs about 14% above the national average. Set against a $100,324 median income, cost of living beats 65% of counties.
Is Sacramento County safe?
Sacramento County is safer than 17% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $507 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Sacramento County?
July highs average about 96 degrees, and January highs near 59 with lows near 39. That works out to about 152 pleasant days a year, more than 92% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Sacramento County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Galt, Vineyard & Wilton, Citrus Heights, Folsom & Fair Oaks, and Sacramento. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Sacramento County good for families?
Schools beat 56% of counties, crime safety beats 17%, and childcare runs $1,332 a month.
Is Sacramento County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 65% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 80% of counties. About 19% of workers already work from home.
Compare Sacramento County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sacramento County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sacramento County 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.
Sacramento County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sacramento County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sacramento County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sacramento County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sacramento County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sacramento County 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.