Best PlacesSpring Valley, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Spring Valley, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Spring Valley ranks 1,085th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Spring Valley
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.
Spring Valley's strengths and weaknesses
Where Spring Valley ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 97% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 235 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of cities
- TransitBetter than 76% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than 73% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than 70% of cities
Where Spring Valley ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 8% of cities
- School gradeD+, better than only 14% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 14% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 15% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Spring Valley
A household needs to earn about $182,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Spring Valley home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $108,754, 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 Spring Valley's effective rate of 0.79%, 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 Spring Valley
Spring Valley's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Spring Valley.
Who works in Spring Valley, and how
Work in Spring Valley 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 85%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Spring Valley
The coast is about 15 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Spring Valley, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Spring Valley, month by month
Spring Valley sees roughly 235 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 68, with lows near 43. The comfortable stretch runs February through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 68° | 54° | 43° |
| April | 74° | 61° | 52° |
| July | 87° | 74° | 65° |
| October | 82° | 67° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Spring Valley
San Diego International sits about 12 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 12.7 million passengers in 2025, with 121 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Spring Valley
Schools across Spring Valley average a D+, better than 14% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Sparrow AcademyC+ · 38% proficient
- Casa De Oro ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- La Mesa Arts AcademyB+ · 50% proficient
- Oak Grove MiddleD+ · 27% proficient
- Hillsdale MiddleF · 10% proficient
Top high schools
- Valhalla HighB · 48% proficient
- Monte Vista HighC+ · 37% proficient
- Mount Miguel HighC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Spring Valley school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Spring Valley 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 Spring Valley against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Spring Valley suits
Common questions about living in Spring Valley
Is Spring Valley a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Spring Valley ranks 1,085th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on few empty homes, the weather, and transit, and lowest on a weak job market and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Spring Valley expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $696,260. The overall cost of living runs about 28% above the national average. Set against a $108,754 median income, cost of living beats 33% of cities.
Is Spring Valley safe?
Spring Valley is safer than 40% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $359 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Spring Valley?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 68 with lows near 43. That works out to about 235 pleasant days a year, more than 94% of cities.
Is Spring Valley good for families?
Schools beat 14% of cities, crime safety beats 40%, and childcare runs $1,432 a month.
Compare Spring Valley with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Spring Valley. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Spring Valley 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.
Spring Valley detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Spring Valley: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Spring Valley: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Spring Valley: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Spring Valley: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Spring Valley 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.