Best PlacesSan Luis Obispo, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the San Luis Obispo metro, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Distance to the water drives a lot of the difference between one part and the next. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
San Luis Obispo ranks 113th of 387 U.S. metro areas on the BestNeighborhood index. The coast is about 16 minutes away. Its strengths are the weather and clean air. The cost shows up in taxes, an overheated housing market, and childcare costs.
The best neighborhoods in the San Luis Obispo metro
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 Luis Obispo
The towns and districts of the San Luis Obispo metro, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the metro.
Pismo Beach
More adults hold degrees, biking is better, and incomes run higher.
Los Osos & Morro Bay
Fewer households have young kids and more homes sit empty.
Arroyo Grande & Nipomo
Heat risk is lower.
El Paso de Robles
Schools score lower and commutes are longer.
Downtown San Luis Obispo
Health care is harder to reach and local pay stretches less far.
Templeton, Paso Robles & Cambria
Streets are more car-dependent.
San Luis Obispo shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 6% of the country and others in the top 2%. Pick the area first, then the home.
San Luis Obispo's strengths and weaknesses
San Luis Obispo lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. The weather, clean air, and high incomes carry most of that.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Taxes, an overheated housing market, and childcare costs hold the score down. Cost swings more from one part of San Luis Obispo to another than it does between San Luis Obispo and its neighbors, which the map below shows.
Where San Luis Obispo ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 192 pleasant days a year, better than 97% of metro areas
- Air qualityBetter than 93% of metro areas
- Household income$101,230 median, better than 88% of metro areas
- BikingBetter than 85% of metro areas
- Health outlookBetter than 82% of metro areas
Where San Luis Obispo ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of metro areas
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 9% of metro areas
- Cheap childcare$1,391 a month, better than only 10% of metro areas
- Tree shadeBetter than only 16% of metro areas
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 17% of metro areas
What it costs to buy a home in San Luis Obispo
A household needs to earn about $215,000 a year to comfortably buy the median San Luis Obispo home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $101,230, 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 Luis Obispo'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 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 San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for San Luis Obispo.
Who works in San Luis Obispo, and how
Work in San Luis Obispo centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo has more restaurants and bars per resident than 84% of metro areas. The coast is about 16 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of San Luis Obispo and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is San Luis Obispo growing, and who is moving in?
San Luis Obispo has grown about 1% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Los Angeles, CA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving San Luis Obispo go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in San Luis Obispo, month by month
San Luis Obispo sees roughly 192 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 68, with lows near 42. The comfortable stretch runs March through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 68° | 54° | 42° |
| April | 72° | 57° | 47° |
| July | 81° | 64° | 54° |
| October | 82° | 63° | 51° |
Flying in and out of San Luis Obispo
The nearest airport, San Luis Obispo County Regional, is about 3 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bob Hope, about 151 miles away.
The best schools in and around San Luis Obispo
Schools across San Luis Obispo average a B−, better than 66% of metro areas.
Top elementary schools
- Bellevue-santa Fe CharterA+ · 75% proficient
- Sinsheimer ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- Bishop's Peak ElementaryA− · 56% proficient
Top middle schools
- Teach ElementaryA+ · 80% proficient
- Laguna MiddleA− · 58% proficient
Top high schools
- San Luis Obispo HighB+ · 52% proficient
- Morro Bay HighB · 48% proficient
- San Luis Obispo County CommunityD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every San Luis Obispo school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
San Luis Obispo 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 Luis Obispo against the other 386 metro areas.
Who San Luis Obispo suits
Retirees
The weather beats 97% of metro areas and it is quieter than 59%.
Common questions about living in San Luis Obispo
Is San Luis Obispo a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, San Luis Obispo ranks 113th of 387 metro areas. It scores highest on the weather, clean air, and high incomes, and lowest on taxes and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is San Luis Obispo expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $839,497. The overall cost of living runs about 25% above the national average. Set against a $101,230 median income, cost of living beats 28% of metro areas.
Is San Luis Obispo safe?
Yes, San Luis Obispo is safer than 60% of metro areas. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $336 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in San Luis Obispo?
July highs average about 81 degrees, and January highs near 68 with lows near 42. That works out to about 192 pleasant days a year, more than 97% of metro areas.
What are the best neighborhoods in San Luis Obispo?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Pismo Beach, Los Osos & Morro Bay, and Arroyo Grande & Nipomo. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is San Luis Obispo good for families?
Schools beat 66% of metro areas, crime safety beats 60%, and childcare runs $1,391 a month.
Is San Luis Obispo good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 28% of metro areas, though advertised internet speeds beat only 44% of metro areas. About 16% of workers already work from home.
Compare San Luis Obispo with other metro areas
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to San Luis Obispo. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in San Luis Obispo 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 Luis Obispo detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for San Luis Obispo: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in San Luis Obispo: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of San Luis Obispo: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in San Luis Obispo: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
San Luis Obispo 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.