Best PlacesSmith, NV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Smith, 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.
Smith ranks 38,320th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Smith
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.
Smith's strengths and weaknesses
Where Smith ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 98% of towns
- QuietBetter than 93% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 92% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 90% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 81% of towns
Where Smith ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 58 pleasant days a year, better than only 6% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 9% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 10% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 10% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Smith
A household needs to earn about $128,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Smith home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $69,540, 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 Smith's effective rate of 0.48%, 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 Smith
Smith 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 Smith.
Who works in Smith, and how
Work in Smith centers on public administration and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Smith
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Smith.
What the weather is like in Smith, month by month
Smith sees roughly 58 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 32° | 21° |
| April | 65° | 48° | 30° |
| July | 92° | 72° | 49° |
| October | 70° | 49° | 30° |
Flying in and out of Smith
The nearest airport, Reno/Tahoe International, is about 56 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 124 miles away.
The best schools in and around Smith
Schools across Smith average a D+, better than 12% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Minden Elementary SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Antelope ElementaryB · 45% proficient
- G. L. Scarselli Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pau Wa Lu Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Hawthorne Junior HighD− · 14% proficient
Top high schools
- Coleville HighB− · 42% proficient
- Douglas High SchoolC · 31% proficient
- Mineral County High SchoolD− · 16% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Smith school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Smith 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 Smith against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Smith
Is Smith a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Smith ranks 38,320th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, quiet, and state finances, and lowest on the weather and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Smith expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $512,511. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $69,540 median income, cost of living beats 40% of towns.
Is Smith safe?
Smith is safer than 16% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $569 per resident a year.
Compare Smith with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Smith. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Smith 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.
Smith detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Smith: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Smith: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Smith: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Smith: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Smith 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.