Best PlacesStanislaus County, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Stanislaus County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Stanislaus County ranks 1,544th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on civic engagement and air quality. It does better on transit, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in Stanislaus County
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 Stanislaus County
The parts of Stanislaus County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Modesto & Riverbank
More adults hold degrees, local pay stretches further, and incomes run higher.
Oakdale
More residents vote and it is quieter.
Salida
Health care is easier to reach and fewer homes sit empty.
Waterford, Hughson & Empire
Commutes are shorter, though fewer households have young kids.
Turlock
Transit reaches fewer jobs.
Patterson & Newman
Biking is worse and disaster risk is higher.
Ceres
Crime runs higher.
Stanislaus County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 3% of the country and others in the top 6%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Stanislaus County's strengths and weaknesses
Stanislaus County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Transit is the standout, in the top 2% of counties. Cell coverage and few empty homes follow.
The one real hole is civic engagement, near the bottom of the country. Air quality and taxes also cost it ground. The detail is below, and the map is where it turns into a choice of neighborhood rather than just a place.
Where Stanislaus County ranks high
- TransitBetter than 98% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 98% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 96% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 96% of counties
Where Stanislaus County ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 3% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 6% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 6% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 8% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,134 a month, better than only 10% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Stanislaus County
A household needs to earn about $120,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Stanislaus County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $87,283, 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 Stanislaus County's effective rate of 0.71%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Stanislaus County
Stanislaus County runs younger than the country, 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 Stanislaus County.
Who works in Stanislaus County, and how
Work in Stanislaus County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Stanislaus County
Stanislaus County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Stanislaus County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Stanislaus County growing, and who is moving in?
Stanislaus County has grown about 6% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Stockton, CA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Stanislaus County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Stanislaus County, month by month
Stanislaus County sees roughly 149 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 98 degrees. January highs sit near 59, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59° | 49° | 39° |
| April | 77° | 62° | 48° |
| July | 98° | 81° | 63° |
| October | 82° | 65° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Stanislaus County
The nearest airport, Stockton Metro, is about 24 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Norman Y Mineta San Jose International, about 56 miles away.
The best schools in and around Stanislaus County
Schools across Stanislaus County average a C−, better than 23% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Sonoma ElementaryA− · 59% proficient
- Lakewood ElementaryA− · 59% proficient
- Walnut Elementary Education CenterA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- JeffersonA− · 56% proficient
- Hickman MiddleB+ · 50% proficient
- Turlock Junior HighC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- James C. Enochs HighB+ · 54% proficient
- Ripon HighB · 50% proficient
- Oakdale HighB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Stanislaus County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Stanislaus County 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 Stanislaus County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Stanislaus County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 8% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Stanislaus County
Is Stanislaus County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Stanislaus County ranks 1,544th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on transit, cell coverage, and few empty homes, and lowest on civic engagement and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Stanislaus County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $463,202. The overall cost of living runs about 4% above the national average. Set against a $87,283 median income, cost of living beats 52% of counties.
Is Stanislaus County safe?
Stanislaus County is safer than 28% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $452 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Stanislaus County?
July highs average about 98 degrees, and January highs near 59 with lows near 39. That works out to about 149 pleasant days a year, more than 92% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Stanislaus County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Modesto & Riverbank, Oakdale, and Salida. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Stanislaus County good for families?
Schools beat 23% of counties, crime safety beats 28%, and childcare runs $1,134 a month.
Is Stanislaus County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 52% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 67% of counties. About 8% of workers already work from home.
Compare Stanislaus County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Stanislaus County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Stanislaus County 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.
Stanislaus County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Stanislaus County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Stanislaus County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Stanislaus County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Stanislaus County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Stanislaus County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.