Best PlacesSparks, NV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Sparks, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Sparks ranks 235th of 445 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on low property taxes and state finances. The weaker spots are disaster risk, tree cover, and the schools.
The best neighborhoods in Sparks
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 Sparks
The parts of Sparks, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the city.
Foothill Meadows
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and more residents vote.
Marina Landing & The Legends at Sparks Marina
Streets are more walkable, though more homes sit empty.
East Reno, Northeast & Crestgate Pyramid
Fewer adults hold degrees and crime runs higher.
Trammell Crow Victorian Square & Lincoln Park
Biking is better, though it is noisier.
Sparks shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 7% of the country and others in the top 6%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Sparks' strengths and weaknesses
Sparks lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Low property taxes is the standout, in the top 3% of cities. State finances and state infrastructure follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Disaster risk, tree cover, and the schools hold the score down. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where Sparks ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 97% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 96% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 82% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 164 pleasant days a year, better than 77% of cities
Where Sparks ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 5% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 17% of cities
- School gradeC−, better than only 19% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 21% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 28% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Sparks
A household needs to earn about $122,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sparks home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $96,421, 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 Sparks' effective rate of 0.44%, 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 Sparks
Sparks's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Sparks.
Who works in Sparks, and how
Work in Sparks centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Sparks
Sparks has more restaurants and bars per resident than 75% of cities and more parkland per resident than 89% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Sparks and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Sparks, month by month
Sparks sees roughly 164 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 37° | 25° |
| April | 69° | 53° | 38° |
| July | 97° | 80° | 61° |
| October | 74° | 55° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Sparks
The nearest airport, Reno/Tahoe International, is about 5 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 117 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sparks
Schools across Sparks average a C−, better than 19% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Van Gorder ElementaryA− · 59% proficient
- John Bohach Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Bud Beasley ElementaryB+ · 52% proficient
Top middle schools
- Darrel Swope Middle SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- Kendyl Depoali Middle SchoolB+ · 49% proficient
- Sky Ranch Middle SchoolB+ · 49% proficient
Top high schools
- Reno High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Damonte Ranch High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Virginia City High SchoolC · 34% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sparks school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sparks 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 Sparks against the other 444 cities.
Who Sparks suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 74% of cities and 12% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Sparks
Is Sparks a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sparks ranks 235th of 445 cities. It scores highest on low property taxes, state finances, and state infrastructure, and lowest on disaster risk and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sparks expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $489,990. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $96,421 median income, cost of living beats 74% of cities.
Is Sparks safe?
Sparks is safer than 44% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $514 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Sparks?
July highs average about 97 degrees, and January highs near 51 with lows near 25. That works out to about 164 pleasant days a year, more than 77% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Sparks?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Foothill Meadows, Marina Landing & The Legends at Sparks Marina, and East Reno, Northeast & Crestgate Pyramid. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Sparks good for families?
Schools beat 19% of cities, crime safety beats 44%, and childcare runs $1,118 a month.
Is Sparks good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 74% of cities, though advertised internet speeds beat only 35% of cities. About 12% of workers already work from home.
Compare Sparks with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sparks. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sparks 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.
Sparks detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sparks: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sparks: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sparks: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sparks: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sparks 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.