Best PlacesSan Bernardino, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around San Bernardino, 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.
San Bernardino ranks 441st of 445 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on air quality and education levels. It does better on cell coverage, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in San Bernardino
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 San Bernardino
The parts of San Bernardino, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the city.
Yerdemont, Kendall & Hudson
Incomes run higher, local pay stretches further, and crime runs lower.
Wildwood Park & Nena
It is quieter, though biking is worse.
Cajon, North Park Riverside & Sandin Hills
More adults hold degrees, though streets are more car-dependent.
Rancho West, Terrace & Alessandro
Prices have run up less, though more homes sit empty.
SBHS, Arrowview & Muscupiabe
Drnag, Pacific-Riverside & NE-Sterling
Fewer households have young kids.
East Valley, International & Riverview
Homes cost less, though health care is harder to reach.
Feldheym, La Plaza & Lytle Creek
Commutes are shorter and transit reaches more jobs.
Muscoy, Delman & Mount Vernon
Schools score higher, though health outcomes score lower.
Scores across San Bernardino run from about the 2nd to the 62nd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
San Bernardino's strengths and weaknesses
San Bernardino ranks near the bottom because several of the basics fall short at once. Cell coverage, the weather, and big-city access carry most of that.
The weak spots are broad rather than narrow: air quality, education levels, and thin health care access all drag on the score. Those are area averages, and the map below shows which parts run well above them.
Where San Bernardino ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 92% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 224 pleasant days a year, better than 90% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than 87% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than 84% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 81% of cities
Where San Bernardino ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in San Bernardino
A household needs to earn about $105,000 a year to comfortably buy the median San Bernardino home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $75,015, 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 San Bernardino's effective rate of 0.69%, 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 San Bernardino
San Bernardino runs younger 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 San Bernardino.
Who works in San Bernardino, and how
Work in San Bernardino centers on transportation & warehousing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in San Bernardino
San Bernardino has more restaurants and bars per resident than 66% of cities and more parkland per resident than 82% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of San Bernardino and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in San Bernardino, month by month
San Bernardino sees roughly 224 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 99 degrees. January highs sit near 67, with lows near 44. The comfortable stretch runs February through June and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 67° | 54° | 44° |
| April | 79° | 64° | 52° |
| July | 99° | 82° | 68° |
| October | 86° | 70° | 57° |
Flying in and out of San Bernardino
The nearest airport, San Bernardino International, is about 5 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Ontario International, about 18 miles away.
The best schools in and around San Bernardino
Schools across San Bernardino average a C−, better than 22% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Savant Preparatory Academy Of BusinessB · 45% proficient
- Hardy Brown College PrepC− · 28% proficient
- Gus Franklin Jr.D+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Terrace Hills MiddleD+ · 26% proficient
- William G. Jehue MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
- Ethel Kucera MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- San Bernardino HighB+ · 52% proficient
- Sultana HighB · 47% proficient
- Grand Terrace High Sch At The Ray Abril Jr. Edal ComplexC+ · 39% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every San Bernardino school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
San Bernardino 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 San Bernardino against the other 444 cities.
Who San Bernardino suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 6% already work from home.
Common questions about living in San Bernardino
Is San Bernardino a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, San Bernardino ranks 441st of 445 cities. It scores highest on cell coverage, the weather, and big-city access, and lowest on air quality and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is San Bernardino expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $409,041. The overall cost of living runs about 15% above the national average. Set against a $75,015 median income, cost of living beats 4% of cities.
Is San Bernardino safe?
San Bernardino is safer than 16% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $581 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in San Bernardino?
July highs average about 99 degrees, and January highs near 67 with lows near 44. That works out to about 224 pleasant days a year, more than 90% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in San Bernardino?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Yerdemont, Kendall & Hudson, Wildwood Park & Nena, and Cajon, North Park Riverside & Sandin Hills. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is San Bernardino good for families?
Schools beat 22% of cities, crime safety beats 16%, and childcare runs $1,252 a month.
Is San Bernardino good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 4% of cities, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 84% of cities. About 6% of workers already work from home.
Compare San Bernardino with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to San Bernardino. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in San Bernardino 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.
San Bernardino detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for San Bernardino: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in San Bernardino: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of San Bernardino: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in San Bernardino: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
San Bernardino 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.