Best PlacesSugar Pine, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Sugar Pine, 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.
Sugar Pine ranks 32,940th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Sugar Pine
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.
Sugar Pine's strengths and weaknesses
Where Sugar Pine ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 155 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of towns
- BikingBetter than 87% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 87% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 81% of towns
- Household income$91,763 median, better than 78% of towns
Where Sugar Pine ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 5% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 6% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Sugar Pine
A household needs to earn about $105,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sugar Pine home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $91,763, 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 Sugar Pine'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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Sugar Pine
Sugar Pine 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 Sugar Pine.
Who works in Sugar Pine, and how
Work in Sugar Pine centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 26%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Sugar Pine
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Sugar Pine.
What the weather is like in Sugar Pine, month by month
Sugar Pine sees roughly 155 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 78 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 37° | 32° |
| April | 53° | 44° | 38° |
| July | 78° | 69° | 63° |
| October | 62° | 53° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Sugar Pine
The nearest airport, Merced Yosemite Regional, is about 46 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 114 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sugar Pine
Schools across Sugar Pine average a C, better than 38% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Twain HarteC · 33% proficient
- Summerville ElementaryC · 31% proficient
- Wasuma ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Oak Creek IntermediateC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Yosemite HighA− · 63% proficient
- Sonora HighC+ · 40% proficient
- Don Pedro HighD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sugar Pine school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sugar Pine 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 Sugar Pine against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Sugar Pine
Is Sugar Pine a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sugar Pine ranks 32,940th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, biking, and an educated workforce, and lowest on disaster risk and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sugar Pine expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $409,512. The overall cost of living runs about 9% above the national average. Set against a $91,763 median income, cost of living beats 55% of towns.
Is Sugar Pine safe?
Sugar Pine is safer than 30% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $398 per resident a year.
Compare Sugar Pine with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sugar Pine. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sugar Pine 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.
Sugar Pine detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sugar Pine: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sugar Pine: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sugar Pine: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sugar Pine: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sugar Pine 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.