Best PlacesShasta County, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Shasta County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Shasta County ranks 1,991st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on transit and biking. The weaker spots are summer heat, taxes, and disaster risk.
The best neighborhoods in Shasta County
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 Shasta County
The parts of Shasta County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Redding
Fewer homes sit empty and biking is better.
Anderson & Cottonwood
More households have young kids, though it is noisier.
Shingletown
Tree cover is thicker, though commutes are longer.
Burney
Heat risk is lower, though advertised internet is slower.
Scores across Shasta County run from about the 2nd to the 82nd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Shasta County's strengths and weaknesses
Shasta County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Transit, biking, and short commutes carry most of that.
The one real hole is summer heat, near the bottom of the country. Taxes and disaster risk also cost it ground. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where Shasta County ranks high
- TransitBetter than 92% of counties
- BikingBetter than 89% of counties
- Short commute19.8 minutes each way, better than 80% of counties
- Household income$78,093 median, better than 72% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 117 pleasant days a year, better than 72% of counties
Where Shasta County ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 6% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 9% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,036 a month, better than only 15% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 18% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Shasta County
A household needs to earn about $96,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Shasta County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $78,093, 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 County's effective rate of 0.70%, 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 Shasta County
Shasta County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Shasta County.
Who works in Shasta County, and how
Work in Shasta County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Shasta County
Shasta County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Shasta County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Shasta County growing, and who is moving in?
Shasta County has grown about 1% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Tehama County, CA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Shasta County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Shasta County, month by month
Shasta County sees roughly 117 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 103 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 49° | 38° |
| April | 76° | 62° | 47° |
| July | 103° | 86° | 67° |
| October | 83° | 66° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Shasta County
The nearest airport, Redding Regional, is about 5 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 136 miles away.
The best schools in and around Shasta County
Schools across Shasta County average a C+, better than 52% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Grant ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- French Gulch-whiskeytown ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Millville ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mountain View MiddleB · 45% proficient
- West Cottonwood Junior HighB− · 40% proficient
- Sequoia MiddleC · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- University PreparatoryA− · 62% proficient
- Shasta HighA− · 60% proficient
- Central Valley HighB+ · 53% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Shasta County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Shasta County 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 County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Shasta County suits
Families
Schools land around the 52nd percentile and crime safety beats 64%.
Common questions about living in Shasta County
Is Shasta County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Shasta County ranks 1,991st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on transit, biking, and short commutes, and lowest on summer heat and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Shasta County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $370,499. The overall cost of living runs about 4% above the national average. Set against a $78,093 median income, cost of living beats 36% of counties.
Is Shasta County safe?
Yes, Shasta County is safer than 64% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $323 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Shasta County?
July highs average about 103 degrees, and January highs near 61 with lows near 38. That works out to about 117 pleasant days a year, more than 72% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Shasta County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Redding, Anderson & Cottonwood, and Shingletown. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Shasta County good for families?
Schools beat 52% of counties, crime safety beats 64%, and childcare runs $1,036 a month.
Is Shasta County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 36% of counties, though advertised internet speeds beat only 41% of counties. About 10% of workers already work from home.
Compare Shasta County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Shasta County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Shasta County 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 County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Shasta County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Shasta County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Shasta County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Shasta County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Shasta County 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.