Best PlacesSutter County, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Sutter 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.
Sutter County ranks 1,289th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Sutter 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 Sutter County
The parts of Sutter 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.
Sutter
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and more adults hold degrees.
Yuba City
Biking is better.
Live Oak
Fewer homes sit empty, though fewer households have young kids.
Scores across Sutter County run from about the 8th to the 81st percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Sutter County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Sutter County ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 97% of counties
- BikingBetter than 95% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 92% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 91% of counties
Where Sutter County ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 5% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 5% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 6% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,181 a month, better than only 9% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 12% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Sutter County
A household needs to earn about $114,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sutter County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $88,030, 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 Sutter County's effective rate of 0.78%, 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 Sutter County
Sutter County'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 Sutter County.
Who works in Sutter County, and how
Work in Sutter County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Sutter County
Sutter 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 Sutter County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Sutter County growing, and who is moving in?
Sutter County has grown about 4% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Yuba City, CA metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Sutter County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Sutter County, month by month
Sutter County sees roughly 131 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 99 degrees. January highs sit near 59, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59° | 49° | 39° |
| April | 76° | 61° | 46° |
| July | 99° | 80° | 61° |
| October | 83° | 64° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Sutter County
Sacramento International sits about 31 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 6.8 million passengers in 2025, with 85 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Sutter County
Schools across Sutter County average a C, better than 37% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Franklin ElementaryB+ · 52% proficient
- King Avenue ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Twin Rivers CharterB− · 44% proficient
Top middle schools
- Anna Mckenney IntermediateD− · 18% proficient
- Riverview MiddleF · 10% proficient
Top high schools
- Woodland Senior HighC+ · 40% proficient
- Aerostem AcademyC+ · 40% proficient
- River Valley HighC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sutter County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sutter 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 Sutter County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Sutter County suits
Families
Schools land around the 37th percentile and crime safety beats 61%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 8% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Sutter County
Is Sutter County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sutter County ranks 1,289th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on few empty homes, biking, and walkability, and lowest on civic engagement and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sutter County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $435,451. The overall cost of living runs about 2% above the national average. Set against a $88,030 median income, cost of living beats 59% of counties.
Is Sutter County safe?
Yes, Sutter County is safer than 61% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $340 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Sutter County?
July highs average about 99 degrees, and January highs near 59 with lows near 39. That works out to about 131 pleasant days a year, more than 83% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Sutter County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Sutter, Yuba City, and Live Oak. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Sutter County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sutter County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sutter 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.
Sutter County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sutter County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sutter County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sutter County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sutter County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sutter 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.