Best PlacesSouth Oroville, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around South Oroville, 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.
South Oroville ranks 41,584th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in South Oroville
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.
South Oroville's strengths and weaknesses
Where South Oroville ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 98% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 97% of towns
- TransitBetter than 95% of towns
- BikingBetter than 93% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 134 pleasant days a year, better than 87% of towns
Where South Oroville ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 5% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 6% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 6% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in South Oroville
A household needs to earn about $61,000 a year to comfortably buy the median South Oroville home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $64,374, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 South Oroville's effective rate of 0.81%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in South Oroville
South Oroville runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for South Oroville.
Who works in South Oroville, and how
Work in South Oroville centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in South Oroville
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across South Oroville.
What the weather is like in South Oroville, month by month
South Oroville sees roughly 134 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 100 degrees. January highs sit near 59, with lows near 41. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59° | 50° | 41° |
| April | 77° | 62° | 48° |
| July | 100° | 83° | 66° |
| October | 82° | 66° | 51° |
Flying in and out of South Oroville
Sacramento International sits about 55 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 6.8 million passengers in 2025, with 85 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around South Oroville
Schools across South Oroville average a C−, better than 22% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Golden Hills ElementaryD− · 15% proficient
Top high schools
- Las Plumas HighC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every South Oroville school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
South Oroville 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 South Oroville against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in South Oroville
Is South Oroville a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, South Oroville ranks 41,584th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cell coverage, walkability, and transit, and lowest on summer heat and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is South Oroville expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $232,144. The overall cost of living runs about 1% above the national average. Set against a $64,374 median income, cost of living beats 15% of towns.
Is South Oroville safe?
South Oroville is safer than 17% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $510 per resident a year.
Compare South Oroville with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to South Oroville. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in South Oroville 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.
South Oroville detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for South Oroville: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in South Oroville: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of South Oroville: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in South Oroville: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
South Oroville 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.