Best PlacesTuolumne County, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Tuolumne County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Tuolumne County ranks 2,205th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Tuolumne County
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 best areas in Tuolumne County
The parts of Tuolumne County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Phoenix Lake & Tuolumne
More households have young kids, crime runs lower, and fewer homes sit empty.
Twain Harte
Tree cover is thicker and local pay stretches further.
Sonora
Commutes are shorter, though prices have run up more.
Keystone & Jamestown
Disaster risk is higher and incomes run lower.
Scores across Tuolumne County run from about the 3rd to the 72nd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Tuolumne County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Tuolumne County ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 91% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 136 pleasant days a year, better than 86% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 83% of counties
- Household income$81,877 median, better than 78% of counties
- TransitBetter than 72% of counties
Where Tuolumne County ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 6% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 8% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 13% of counties
- Short commute30.0 minutes each way, better than only 16% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,027 a month, better than only 16% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Tuolumne County
A household needs to earn about $114,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Tuolumne County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $81,877, 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 Tuolumne County's effective rate of 0.63%, 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 Tuolumne County
Tuolumne County 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 Tuolumne County.
Who works in Tuolumne County, and how
Work in Tuolumne County centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Tuolumne County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Tuolumne County.
Is Tuolumne County growing, and who is moving in?
Tuolumne County has held roughly flat in population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Los Angeles, CA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Tuolumne County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Tuolumne County, month by month
Tuolumne County sees roughly 136 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 45° | 36° |
| April | 70° | 56° | 43° |
| July | 97° | 79° | 61° |
| October | 79° | 61° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Tuolumne County
The nearest airport, Merced Yosemite Regional, is about 49 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 85 miles away.
The best schools in and around Tuolumne County
Schools across Tuolumne County average a C, better than 29% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Sonora ElementaryC+ · 36% proficient
- Chinese Camp ElementaryC · 35% proficient
- Twain HarteC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Connections Visual And Performing Arts AcademyB+ · 55% proficient
- Sonora HighC+ · 40% proficient
- Summerville HighC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Tuolumne County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Tuolumne County 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 Tuolumne County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Tuolumne County suits
Retirees
The weather beats 86% of counties, health care access beats 72%, and it is quieter than 72%.
Common questions about living in Tuolumne County
Is Tuolumne County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Tuolumne County ranks 2,205th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on big-city access, the weather, and civic engagement, and lowest on taxes and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Tuolumne County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $445,271. The overall cost of living runs about 12% above the national average. Set against a $81,877 median income, cost of living beats 32% of counties.
Is Tuolumne County safe?
Tuolumne County is safer than 34% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $459 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Tuolumne County?
July highs average about 97 degrees, and January highs near 57 with lows near 36. That works out to about 136 pleasant days a year, more than 86% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Tuolumne County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Phoenix Lake & Tuolumne, Twain Harte, and Sonora. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Tuolumne County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Tuolumne County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Tuolumne County 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.
Tuolumne County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Tuolumne County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Tuolumne County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Tuolumne County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Tuolumne County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Tuolumne County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.