Best PlacesSearchlight, NV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Searchlight, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Searchlight ranks 45,671st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Searchlight
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.
Searchlight's strengths and weaknesses
Where Searchlight ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 200 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 98% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 92% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 90% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 86% of towns
Where Searchlight ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 3% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 3% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Searchlight
A household needs to earn about $44,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Searchlight home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $45,830, 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 Searchlight's effective rate of 0.54%, 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 Searchlight
Searchlight runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Searchlight.
Who works in Searchlight, and how
Work in Searchlight centers on admin & support services and arts & entertainment. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 26%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 72%
Life in Searchlight
Searchlight has more restaurants and bars per resident than 98% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Searchlight and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Searchlight, month by month
Searchlight sees roughly 200 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 111 degrees. January highs sit near 64, with lows near 47. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64° | 55° | 47° |
| April | 88° | 75° | 62° |
| July | 111° | 100° | 87° |
| October | 89° | 77° | 65° |
Flying in and out of Searchlight
The nearest airport, Boulder City Municipal, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Harry Reid International, about 43 miles away.
The best schools in and around Searchlight
Schools across Searchlight average a C+, better than 49% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Reid Harry EsB · 50% proficient
- King Martha P EsC · 31% proficient
- Black Mountain Elementary SchoolD− · 12% proficient
Top middle schools
- Webb Del E MsA− · 53% proficient
- Garrett Elton M JhsC+ · 37% proficient
- Bullhead City Middle SchoolD− · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- College Of So Nv Hs SouthA+ · 83% proficient
- Boulder City HsC+ · 40% proficient
- Lee Williams High SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Searchlight school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Searchlight 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 Searchlight against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Searchlight
Is Searchlight a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Searchlight ranks 45,671st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, state infrastructure, and state finances, and lowest on summer heat and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Searchlight expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $174,468. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $45,830 median income, cost of living beats 7% of towns.
Is Searchlight safe?
Searchlight is safer than 9% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $685 per resident a year.
Compare Searchlight with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Searchlight. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Searchlight 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.
Searchlight detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Searchlight: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Searchlight: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Searchlight: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Searchlight: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Searchlight 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.