Best PlacesSierra County, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Sierra County, 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.
Sierra County ranks 2,790th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Sierra 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.
Sierra County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Sierra County ranks high
- QuietBetter than 96% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 147 pleasant days a year, better than 91% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 91% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 78% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 76% of counties
Where Sierra County ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 3% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 4% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 5% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 6% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Sierra County
A household needs to earn about $102,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sierra County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $57,487, 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 Sierra County's effective rate of 0.62%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Sierra County
Sierra County 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 Sierra County.
Who works in Sierra County, and how
Work in Sierra County centers on hospitality & food and manufacturing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Sierra County
Sierra County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 99% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Sierra County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Sierra County growing, and who is moving in?
Sierra County has grown about 5% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Plumas County, CA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Sierra County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Sierra County, month by month
Sierra County sees roughly 147 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 33° | 23° |
| April | 62° | 47° | 33° |
| July | 90° | 74° | 54° |
| October | 67° | 50° | 34° |
Flying in and out of Sierra County
The nearest airport, Reno/Tahoe International, is about 36 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 89 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sierra County
Schools across Sierra County average a C, better than 33% of counties.
Top middle schools
- Ione Junior HighD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- Loyalton HighC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sierra County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sierra 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 Sierra County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Sierra County
Is Sierra County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sierra County ranks 2,790th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on quiet, the weather, and fast internet, and lowest on disaster risk and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sierra County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $398,812. The overall cost of living runs about 8% above the national average. Set against a $57,487 median income, cost of living beats 4% of counties.
Is Sierra County safe?
Sierra County is safer than 20% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $508 per resident a year.
Compare Sierra County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sierra County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sierra 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.
Sierra County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sierra County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sierra County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sierra County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sierra County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sierra 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.