Best PlacesTehachapi, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Tehachapi, 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.
Tehachapi ranks 31,677th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Tehachapi
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.
Tehachapi's strengths and weaknesses
Where Tehachapi ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 174 pleasant days a year, better than 97% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 92% of towns
- BikingBetter than 92% of towns
- TransitBetter than 91% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 88% of towns
Where Tehachapi ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 5% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 14% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,172 a month, better than only 14% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Tehachapi
A household needs to earn about $99,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Tehachapi home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $84,269, 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 Tehachapi's effective rate of 0.82%, 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 Tehachapi
Tehachapi's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Tehachapi.
Who works in Tehachapi, and how
Work in Tehachapi centers on public administration and education. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Tehachapi
Tehachapi has more restaurants and bars per resident than 81% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Tehachapi and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Tehachapi, month by month
Tehachapi sees roughly 174 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 41° | 33° |
| April | 64° | 51° | 40° |
| July | 89° | 76° | 60° |
| October | 72° | 56° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Tehachapi
The nearest airport, Meadows Field, is about 38 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bob Hope, about 64 miles away.
The best schools in and around Tehachapi
Schools across Tehachapi average a C, better than 38% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cummings Valley ElementaryC+ · 37% proficient
- Tompkins ElementaryC− · 26% proficient
- Golden Hills ElementaryD+ · 22% proficient
Top middle schools
- Jacobsen MiddleC− · 29% proficient
- Tropico MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Kern Valley HighA · 75% proficient
- Tehachapi HighC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Tehachapi school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Tehachapi 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 Tehachapi against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Tehachapi
Is Tehachapi a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Tehachapi ranks 31,677th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, big-city access, and biking, and lowest on air quality and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Tehachapi expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $376,001. The overall cost of living runs about 6% above the national average. Set against a $84,269 median income, cost of living beats 39% of towns.
Is Tehachapi safe?
Tehachapi is safer than 24% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $480 per resident a year.
Compare Tehachapi with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Tehachapi. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Tehachapi 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.
Tehachapi detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Tehachapi: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Tehachapi: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Tehachapi: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Tehachapi: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Tehachapi 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.