Best PlacesThousand Oaks, Berkeley, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Thousand Oaks, Berkeley, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Thousand Oaks, Berkeley ranks 296th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Thousand Oaks, Berkeley
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.
Thousand Oaks, Berkeley's strengths and weaknesses
Where Thousand Oaks, Berkeley ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- Household income$200,374 median, better than 98% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
Where Thousand Oaks, Berkeley ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,082 a month, better than only 5% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 12% of neighborhoods
- Crime safetyBetter than only 18% of neighborhoods
- Short commute30.0 minutes each way, better than only 19% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Thousand Oaks, Berkeley
A household needs to earn about $445,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Thousand Oaks, Berkeley home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $200,374, 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 Thousand Oaks, Berkeley's effective rate of 0.79%, 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 Thousand Oaks, Berkeley
Thousand Oaks, Berkeley 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 Thousand Oaks, Berkeley.
Who works in Thousand Oaks, Berkeley, and how
Work in Thousand Oaks, Berkeley centers on education and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 36%
- Work from home 46%
- Transit, walk, or bike 18%
Life in Thousand Oaks, Berkeley
Thousand Oaks, Berkeley has more restaurants and bars per resident than 75% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 18 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Thousand Oaks, Berkeley and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Thousand Oaks, Berkeley, month by month
Thousand Oaks, Berkeley sees roughly 216 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 74 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 43. The comfortable stretch runs March through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 52° | 43° |
| April | 68° | 57° | 49° |
| July | 74° | 63° | 56° |
| October | 76° | 63° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Thousand Oaks, Berkeley
San Francisco Bay Oakland International sits about 12 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.5 million passengers in 2025, with 64 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Thousand Oaks, Berkeley
Schools across Thousand Oaks, Berkeley average a B+, better than 86% of neighborhoods.
Top high schools
- Berkeley HighA+ · 84% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Thousand Oaks, Berkeley school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Thousand Oaks, Berkeley 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 Thousand Oaks, Berkeley against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Thousand Oaks, Berkeley
Is Thousand Oaks, Berkeley a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Thousand Oaks, Berkeley ranks 296th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on health care access, an educated workforce, and high incomes, and lowest on childcare costs and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Thousand Oaks, Berkeley expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,702,298. The overall cost of living runs about 47% above the national average. Set against a $200,374 median income, cost of living beats 96% of neighborhoods.
Is Thousand Oaks, Berkeley safe?
Thousand Oaks, Berkeley is safer than 18% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $759 per resident a year.
Compare Thousand Oaks, Berkeley with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Thousand Oaks, Berkeley. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Thousand Oaks, Berkeley 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.
Thousand Oaks, Berkeley detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Thousand Oaks, Berkeley: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Thousand Oaks, Berkeley: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Thousand Oaks, Berkeley: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Thousand Oaks, Berkeley: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Thousand Oaks, Berkeley 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.