Best PlacesShasta, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Shasta, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Shasta ranks 17,113th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on high incomes by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Shasta
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.
Shasta's strengths and weaknesses
Where Shasta ranks high
- Household income$115,647 median, better than 92% of towns
- QuietBetter than 92% of towns
- TransitBetter than 92% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 89% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 87% of towns
Where Shasta ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 12% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Shasta
A household needs to earn about $130,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Shasta home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $115,647, 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 Shasta's effective rate of 0.63%, 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 Shasta
Shasta runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Shasta.
Who works in Shasta, and how
Work in Shasta centers on health care & social and public administration. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Shasta
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Shasta.
What the weather is like in Shasta, month by month
Shasta sees roughly 131 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 99 degrees. January highs sit near 56, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56° | 45° | 39° |
| April | 71° | 58° | 47° |
| July | 99° | 82° | 66° |
| October | 78° | 62° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Shasta
The nearest airport, Redding Regional, is about 11 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 138 miles away.
The best schools in and around Shasta
Schools across Shasta average a B, better than 72% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Grant ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- French Gulch-whiskeytown ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Shasta ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Shasta HighA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Shasta school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Shasta 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 Shasta against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Shasta
Is Shasta a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Shasta ranks 17,113th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on high incomes, quiet, and transit, and lowest on summer heat and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Shasta expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $508,775. The overall cost of living runs about 4% above the national average. Set against a $115,647 median income, cost of living beats 89% of towns.
Is Shasta safe?
Yes, Shasta is safer than 56% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $325 per resident a year.
Compare Shasta with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Shasta. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Shasta 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.
Shasta detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Shasta: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Shasta: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Shasta: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Shasta: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Shasta 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.