Best PlacesTopaz, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Topaz, 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.
Topaz ranks 48,002nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Internet speeds pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on transit.
The best neighborhoods in Topaz
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.
Topaz's strengths and weaknesses
Where Topaz ranks high
- TransitBetter than 88% of towns
- QuietBetter than 84% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 81% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 79% of towns
- Short commute22.9 minutes each way, better than 75% of towns
Where Topaz ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 3% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 4% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 5% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Topaz
A household needs to earn about $156,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Topaz home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $45,903, 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 Topaz's effective rate of 0.89%, 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 Topaz
Topaz runs younger than the country, 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 Topaz.
Who works in Topaz, and how
Work in Topaz centers on agriculture & forestry and education. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 61%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 24%
Life in Topaz
Topaz has more restaurants and bars per resident than 99% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Topaz and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Topaz, month by month
Topaz sees roughly 58 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 29° | 16° |
| April | 60° | 43° | 26° |
| July | 88° | 67° | 44° |
| October | 67° | 45° | 26° |
Flying in and out of Topaz
The nearest airport, Reno/Tahoe International, is about 64 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 112 miles away.
The best schools in and around Topaz
Schools across Topaz average a B−, better than 61% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lee Vining ElementaryB · 47% proficient
- Antelope ElementaryB · 45% proficient
- Diamond Valley ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Coleville HighB− · 42% proficient
- Lee Vining HighC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Topaz school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Topaz 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 Topaz against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Topaz
Is Topaz a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Topaz ranks 48,002nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on transit, quiet, and population health, and lowest on internet speeds and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Topaz expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $590,200. The overall cost of living runs about 14% above the national average. Set against a $45,903 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Topaz safe?
Topaz is safer than 11% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $552 per resident a year.
Compare Topaz with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Topaz. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Topaz 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.
Topaz detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Topaz: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Topaz: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Topaz: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Topaz: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Topaz 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.