Best PlacesThousand Oaks, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Thousand Oaks, 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.
Thousand Oaks ranks 445th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Thousand Oaks
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' strengths and weaknesses
Where Thousand Oaks ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 242 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of cities
- Household income$140,222 median, better than 88% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than 88% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than 87% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than 87% of cities
Where Thousand Oaks ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,601 a month, better than only 10% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 21% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 22% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 22% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Thousand Oaks
A household needs to earn about $260,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Thousand Oaks home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $140,222, 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' effective rate of 0.65%, 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
Thousand Oaks runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Thousand Oaks.
Who works in Thousand Oaks, and how
Work in Thousand Oaks centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 71%
- Work from home 24%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Thousand Oaks
Thousand Oaks has more restaurants and bars per resident than 80% of cities and more parkland per resident than 86% of cities. The coast is about 19 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Thousand Oaks and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Thousand Oaks, month by month
Thousand Oaks sees roughly 242 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 Thousand Oaks
Bob Hope sits about 28 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 3.1 million passengers in 2025, with 54 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Thousand Oaks
Schools across Thousand Oaks average a B−, better than 58% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Santa Rosa Technology MagnetA · 72% proficient
- Vista ElementaryA · 69% proficient
- Meadows Arts And Technology ElementaryA · 68% proficient
Top middle schools
- Las Colinas MiddleA− · 54% proficient
- Monte Vista MiddleB− · 39% proficient
- Sinaloa MiddleC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Newbury Park HighA · 68% proficient
- Westlake HighA · 67% proficient
- Thousand Oaks HighA− · 65% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Thousand Oaks school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Thousand Oaks 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 against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Thousand Oaks suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 24% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 94% of cities and health care access beats 75%.
Common questions about living in Thousand Oaks
Is Thousand Oaks a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Thousand Oaks ranks 445th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on the weather, high incomes, and fast internet, and lowest on childcare costs and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Thousand Oaks expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,016,974. The overall cost of living runs about 38% above the national average. Set against a $140,222 median income, cost of living beats 60% of cities.
Is Thousand Oaks safe?
Thousand Oaks is safer than 53% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $326 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Thousand Oaks?
July highs average about 80 degrees, and January highs near 69 with lows near 44. That works out to about 242 pleasant days a year, more than 94% of cities.
Is Thousand Oaks good for families?
Schools beat 58% of cities, crime safety beats 53%, and childcare runs $1,601 a month.
Compare Thousand Oaks with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Thousand Oaks. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Thousand Oaks 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 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Thousand Oaks: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Thousand Oaks: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Thousand Oaks: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Thousand Oaks: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Thousand Oaks 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.