Best PlacesSamoa, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Samoa, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Samoa ranks 44,251st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Samoa
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.
Samoa's strengths and weaknesses
Where Samoa ranks high
- BikingBetter than 93% of towns
- Short commute18.9 minutes each way, better than 91% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 89% of towns
- TransitBetter than 89% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 87% of towns
Where Samoa ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 5% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 7% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 8% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Samoa
A household needs to earn about $107,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Samoa home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $59,154, 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 Samoa's effective rate of 0.57%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Samoa
Samoa's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Samoa.
Who works in Samoa, and how
Work in Samoa centers on health care & social and transportation & warehousing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Samoa
The coast is about 1 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Samoa, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Samoa, month by month
Samoa sees roughly 131 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 64 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 40. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 49° | 40° |
| April | 58° | 50° | 42° |
| July | 64° | 57° | 52° |
| October | 64° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Samoa
The nearest airport, California Redwood Coast- Humboldt County, is about 13 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 201 miles away.
The best schools in and around Samoa
Schools across Samoa average a C+, better than 57% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Pine Hill ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
- Alice Birney ElementaryD− · 15% proficient
- Lafayette ElementaryD− · 13% proficient
Top middle schools
- Catherine L. Zane MiddleD · 24% proficient
- Winship MiddleD · 23% proficient
- South Bay ElementaryD− · 17% proficient
Top high schools
- Arcata HighB+ · 58% proficient
- Eureka Senior HighC+ · 35% proficient
- Mckinleyville HighD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Samoa school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Samoa 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 Samoa against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Samoa
Is Samoa a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Samoa ranks 44,251st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on biking, short commutes, and population health, 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 Samoa expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $424,200. The overall cost of living runs about 12% above the national average. Set against a $59,154 median income, cost of living beats 7% of towns.
Is Samoa safe?
Samoa is safer than 3% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $826 per resident a year.
Compare Samoa with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Samoa. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Samoa 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.
Samoa detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Samoa: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Samoa: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Samoa: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Samoa: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Samoa 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.