Best PlacesSpanish Flat, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Spanish Flat, 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.
Spanish Flat ranks 35,001st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Spanish Flat
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.
Spanish Flat's strengths and weaknesses
Where Spanish Flat ranks high
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 93% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 151 pleasant days a year, better than 93% of towns
- Household income$102,628 median, better than 86% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 84% of towns
Where Spanish Flat ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,414 a month, better than only 5% of towns
- Short commute39.3 minutes each way, better than only 6% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 7% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Spanish Flat
A household needs to earn about $116,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Spanish Flat home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $102,628, 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 Spanish Flat's effective rate of 0.63%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Spanish Flat
Spanish Flat runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Spanish Flat.
Who works in Spanish Flat, and how
Work in Spanish Flat centers on manufacturing and admin & support services. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Spanish Flat
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Spanish Flat.
What the weather is like in Spanish Flat, month by month
Spanish Flat sees roughly 151 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 98 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs March through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 49° | 38° |
| April | 77° | 61° | 45° |
| July | 98° | 78° | 59° |
| October | 83° | 65° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Spanish Flat
The nearest airport, Charles M Schulz/Sonoma County, is about 33 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 36 miles away.
The best schools in and around Spanish Flat
Schools across Spanish Flat average a B, better than 63% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Pope Valley ElementaryD · 19% proficient
Top middle schools
- Winters MiddleD− · 15% proficient
Top high schools
- Saint Helena HighB+ · 55% proficient
- Winters HighD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Spanish Flat school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Spanish Flat 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 Spanish Flat against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Spanish Flat
Is Spanish Flat a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Spanish Flat ranks 35,001st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on quiet, big-city access, and the weather, and lowest on childcare costs and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Spanish Flat expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $452,710. The overall cost of living runs about 34% above the national average. Set against a $102,628 median income, cost of living beats 40% of towns.
Is Spanish Flat safe?
Spanish Flat is safer than 12% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $543 per resident a year.
Compare Spanish Flat with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Spanish Flat. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Spanish Flat 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.
Spanish Flat detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Spanish Flat: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Spanish Flat: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Spanish Flat: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Spanish Flat: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Spanish Flat 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.