Best PlacesTurlock, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Turlock, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Turlock ranks 1,549th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. Tree cover pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on cell coverage.
The best neighborhoods in Turlock
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 Turlock
The parts of Turlock, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
Villagio & Summerfield
Olive Grove Manor
Monte Vista Gardens, Ferreira Ranch Estates & Northern Sunrise Estates
Rose Walk, Majestic Estates & Bandera
Countryside West
Linwood Estates & Bothun
Downtown Turlock
Scores across Turlock run from about the 6th to the 88th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Turlock's strengths and weaknesses
Where Turlock ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 82% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 149 pleasant days a year, better than 82% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 80% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than 74% of cities
- BikingBetter than 71% of cities
Where Turlock ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 8% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 10% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 11% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 14% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 14% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Turlock
A household needs to earn about $120,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Turlock home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $88,549, 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 Turlock's effective rate of 0.71%, 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 Turlock
Turlock 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 Turlock.
Who works in Turlock, and how
Work in Turlock centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Turlock
Turlock has more restaurants and bars per resident than 75% of cities and more parkland per resident than 82% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Turlock and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Turlock, month by month
Turlock sees roughly 149 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 98 degrees. January highs sit near 59, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59° | 49° | 39° |
| April | 77° | 62° | 48° |
| July | 98° | 81° | 63° |
| October | 82° | 65° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Turlock
The nearest airport, Merced Yosemite Regional, is about 24 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Norman Y Mineta San Jose International, about 60 miles away.
The best schools in and around Turlock
Schools across Turlock average a C, better than 20% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Walnut Elementary Education CenterA− · 58% proficient
- Gratton ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Sandra Tovar Medeiros ElementaryC · 33% proficient
Top middle schools
- Turlock Junior HighC · 35% proficient
- Marvin A. Dutcher MiddleC · 33% proficient
- Barbara Spratling MiddleD · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- Hilmar HighB− · 43% proficient
- John H. Pitman HighB− · 41% proficient
- Central Valley HighC+ · 36% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Turlock school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Turlock 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 Turlock against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Turlock suits
Common questions about living in Turlock
Is Turlock a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Turlock ranks 1,549th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on cell coverage, the weather, and walkability, and lowest on tree cover and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Turlock expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $465,572. The overall cost of living runs about 4% above the national average. Set against a $88,549 median income, cost of living beats 36% of cities.
Is Turlock safe?
Turlock is safer than 20% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $452 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Turlock?
July highs average about 98 degrees, and January highs near 59 with lows near 39. That works out to about 149 pleasant days a year, more than 82% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Turlock?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Villagio & Summerfield, Olive Grove Manor, and Monte Vista Gardens, Ferreira Ranch Estates & Northern Sunrise Estates. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Turlock with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Turlock. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Turlock 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.
Turlock detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Turlock: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Turlock: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Turlock: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Turlock: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Turlock 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.