Best PlacesSiskiyou County, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Siskiyou County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Siskiyou County ranks 2,529th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Taxes pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on the weather.
The best neighborhoods in Siskiyou 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 Siskiyou County
The parts of Siskiyou 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.
Yreka & Montague
Fewer homes sit empty.
Mount Shasta & Weed
Tree cover is thicker, though it is noisier.
Dunsmuir
Prices have run up more and fewer households have young kids.
Scores across Siskiyou County run from about the 2nd to the 47th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Siskiyou County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Siskiyou County ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 133 pleasant days a year, better than 84% of counties
- TransitBetter than 82% of counties
- BikingBetter than 76% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 73% of counties
- Short commute21.3 minutes each way, better than 70% of counties
Where Siskiyou County ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 6% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 10% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,110 a month, better than only 10% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 12% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 16% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Siskiyou County
A household needs to earn about $77,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Siskiyou County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $61,463, 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 Siskiyou County's effective rate of 0.61%, 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 Siskiyou County
Siskiyou 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 Siskiyou County.
Who works in Siskiyou County, and how
Work in Siskiyou County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Siskiyou County
Siskiyou County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 66% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Siskiyou County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Siskiyou County growing, and who is moving in?
Siskiyou County has lost about 2% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Sacramento, CA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Siskiyou County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Siskiyou County, month by month
Siskiyou County sees roughly 133 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 37° | 26° |
| April | 68° | 50° | 33° |
| July | 97° | 77° | 55° |
| October | 72° | 53° | 35° |
Flying in and out of Siskiyou County
The nearest airport, Rogue Valley International/Medford, is about 59 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 204 miles away.
The best schools in and around Siskiyou County
Schools across Siskiyou County average a C, better than 40% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Fort Jones ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- Butteville ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
- Grenada ElementaryC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- SissonB · 46% proficient
- Scott Valley Junior HighB · 45% proficient
- Jackson Street ElementaryD− · 17% proficient
Top high schools
- Yreka HighB+ · 58% proficient
- Happy Camp HighB · 50% proficient
- Scott River HighB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Siskiyou County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Siskiyou 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 Siskiyou County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Siskiyou County suits
Common questions about living in Siskiyou County
Is Siskiyou County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Siskiyou County ranks 2,529th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on the weather, transit, and biking, and lowest on taxes 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 Siskiyou County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $300,874. The overall cost of living runs about 1% above the national average. Set against a $61,463 median income, cost of living beats 10% of counties.
Is Siskiyou County safe?
Siskiyou County is safer than 27% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $462 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Siskiyou County?
July highs average about 97 degrees, and January highs near 49 with lows near 26. That works out to about 133 pleasant days a year, more than 84% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Siskiyou County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Yreka & Montague, Mount Shasta & Weed, and Dunsmuir. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Siskiyou County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Siskiyou County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Siskiyou 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.
Siskiyou County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Siskiyou County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Siskiyou County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Siskiyou County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Siskiyou County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Siskiyou 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.