Best PlacesThe West Side, Eureka, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around The West Side, Eureka, 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.
The West Side, Eureka ranks 5,372nd of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in The West Side, Eureka
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 West Side, Eureka's strengths and weaknesses
Where The West Side, Eureka ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- Short commute17.7 minutes each way, better than 91% of neighborhoods
- Air qualityBetter than 88% of neighborhoods
- Heat safetyBetter than 79% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than 77% of neighborhoods
Where The West Side, Eureka ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Crime safetyBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
- Local economyBetter than only 11% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in The West Side, Eureka
A household needs to earn about $91,000 a year to comfortably buy the median The West Side, Eureka home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $50,525, 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 The West Side, Eureka's effective rate of 0.38%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in The West Side, Eureka
The West Side, Eureka runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for The West Side, Eureka.
Who works in The West Side, Eureka, and how
Work in The West Side, Eureka centers on health care & social and public administration. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 14%
Life in The West Side, Eureka
The coast is about 6 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across The West Side, Eureka, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in The West Side, Eureka, month by month
The West Side, Eureka sees roughly 129 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 64 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 40. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 49° | 40° |
| April | 58° | 50° | 42° |
| July | 64° | 57° | 52° |
| October | 64° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of The West Side, Eureka
The nearest airport, California Redwood Coast- Humboldt County, is about 13 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 199 miles away.
The best schools in and around The West Side, Eureka
Schools across The West Side, Eureka average a D+, better than 22% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Washington ElementaryC · 33% proficient
- Grant ElementaryD · 18% proficient
- Alice Birney ElementaryD− · 15% proficient
Top middle schools
- Catherine L. Zane MiddleD · 24% proficient
- Winship MiddleD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- Eureka Senior HighC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every The West Side, Eureka school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
The West Side, Eureka 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 The West Side, Eureka against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in The West Side, Eureka
Is The West Side, Eureka a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, The West Side, Eureka ranks 5,372nd of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on low property taxes, short commutes, and clean air, and lowest on distance from a big city and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is The West Side, Eureka expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $367,378. The overall cost of living runs about 1% above the national average. Set against a $50,525 median income, cost of living beats 6% of neighborhoods.
Is The West Side, Eureka safe?
The West Side, Eureka is safer than 10% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $939 per resident a year.
Compare The West Side, Eureka with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to The West Side, Eureka. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in The West Side, Eureka 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.
The West Side, Eureka detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for The West Side, Eureka: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in The West Side, Eureka: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of The West Side, Eureka: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in The West Side, Eureka: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
The West Side, Eureka 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.