Best PlacesStonyford, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Stonyford, 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.
Stonyford ranks 50,140th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Stonyford
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.
Stonyford's strengths and weaknesses
Where Stonyford ranks high
- QuietBetter than 93% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 127 pleasant days a year, better than 84% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 82% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 80% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 78% of towns
Where Stonyford ranks low
- Short commute54.7 minutes each way, better than only 1% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$25,665 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 3% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Stonyford
A household needs to earn about $48,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Stonyford home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $25,665, 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 Stonyford's effective rate of 0.49%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Stonyford
Stonyford runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Stonyford.
Who works in Stonyford, and how
Work in Stonyford centers on manufacturing and transportation & warehousing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 1%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Stonyford
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Stonyford.
What the weather is like in Stonyford, month by month
Stonyford sees roughly 127 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 98 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 47° | 38° |
| April | 74° | 57° | 42° |
| July | 98° | 76° | 56° |
| October | 82° | 61° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Stonyford
The nearest airport, Charles M Schulz/Sonoma County, is about 59 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 67 miles away.
The best schools in and around Stonyford
Schools across Stonyford average a D+, better than 18% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Upper Lake ElementaryD+ · 23% proficient
- Lucerne ElementaryD · 20% proficient
- Elk Creek ElementaryD · 19% proficient
Top middle schools
- Indian Valley IntermediateD− · 19% proficient
- Upper Lake MiddleD− · 17% proficient
Top high schools
- Williams Junior/senior HighA · 75% proficient
- Upper Lake HighD · 22% proficient
- Lower Lake HighD− · 16% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Stonyford school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Stonyford 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 Stonyford against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Stonyford
Is Stonyford a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Stonyford ranks 50,140th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on quiet, the weather, and clean air, and lowest on long commutes and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Stonyford expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $190,449. The overall cost of living runs about 2% above the national average. Set against a $25,665 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Stonyford safe?
Stonyford is safer than 4% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $793 per resident a year.
Compare Stonyford with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Stonyford. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Stonyford 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.
Stonyford detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Stonyford: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Stonyford: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Stonyford: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Stonyford: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Stonyford 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.