Best PlacesSulphur Springs, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Sulphur Springs, 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.
Sulphur Springs ranks 18,149th 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 Sulphur Springs
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.
Sulphur Springs' strengths and weaknesses
Where Sulphur Springs ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 228 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 96% of towns
- Household income$123,613 median, better than 94% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 92% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 85% of towns
Where Sulphur Springs ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,601 a month, better than only 2% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 2% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Sulphur Springs
A household needs to earn about $311,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sulphur Springs home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $123,613, 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 Sulphur Springs' effective rate of 0.66%, 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 Sulphur Springs
Sulphur Springs runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Sulphur Springs.
Who works in Sulphur Springs, and how
Work in Sulphur Springs centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 69%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 16%
Life in Sulphur Springs
The coast is about 24 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Sulphur Springs, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Sulphur Springs, month by month
Sulphur Springs sees roughly 228 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 80 degrees. January highs sit near 69, with lows near 44. Every month averages in that range.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 69° | 56° | 44° |
| April | 73° | 60° | 49° |
| July | 80° | 69° | 61° |
| October | 80° | 66° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Sulphur Springs
The nearest airport, Santa Barbara Municipal, is about 41 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bob Hope, about 46 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sulphur Springs
Schools across Sulphur Springs average a C+, better than 50% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mupu ElementaryC+ · 38% proficient
- San Antonio ElementaryC− · 29% proficient
- Academy Of Technology & Leadership At SaticoyC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Balboa MiddleC · 34% proficient
- Matilija MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
- Briggs ElementaryD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Buena HighB · 47% proficient
- Ventura HighC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sulphur Springs school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sulphur Springs 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 Sulphur Springs against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Sulphur Springs
Is Sulphur Springs a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sulphur Springs ranks 18,149th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, big-city access, and high incomes, and lowest on disaster risk and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sulphur Springs expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,212,096. The overall cost of living runs about 48% above the national average. Set against a $123,613 median income, cost of living beats 61% of towns.
Is Sulphur Springs safe?
Sulphur Springs is safer than 21% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $447 per resident a year.
Compare Sulphur Springs with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sulphur Springs. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sulphur Springs 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.
Sulphur Springs detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sulphur Springs: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sulphur Springs: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sulphur Springs: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sulphur Springs: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sulphur Springs 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.