Best PlacesUkiah, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ukiah, 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.
Ukiah ranks 1,923rd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Ukiah
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.
Ukiah's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ukiah ranks high
- QuietBetter than 92% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 86% of cities
- Short commute21.1 minutes each way, better than 82% of cities
- BikingBetter than 81% of cities
- TransitBetter than 72% of cities
Where Ukiah ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 3% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than only 5% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 5% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than only 7% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 8% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Ukiah
A household needs to earn about $130,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ukiah home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $74,085, 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 Ukiah's effective rate of 0.73%, 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 Ukiah
Ukiah's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Ukiah.
Who works in Ukiah, and how
Work in Ukiah centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Ukiah
Ukiah has more restaurants and bars per resident than 82% of cities and more parkland per resident than 85% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Ukiah and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Ukiah, month by month
Ukiah sees roughly 124 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 98 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 47° | 38° |
| April | 74° | 57° | 42° |
| July | 98° | 76° | 56° |
| October | 82° | 61° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Ukiah
The nearest airport, Charles M Schulz/Sonoma County, is about 49 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 92 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ukiah
Schools across Ukiah average a D+, better than 12% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Tree Of Life CharterB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Eagle Peak MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
- Pomolita MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Redwood Collegiate AcademyB · 48% proficient
- Ukiah HighD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ukiah school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ukiah 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 Ukiah against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Ukiah suits
Common questions about living in Ukiah
Is Ukiah a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ukiah ranks 1,923rd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on quiet, walkability, and short commutes, and lowest on a weak job market and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ukiah expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $500,318. The overall cost of living runs about 14% above the national average. Set against a $74,085 median income, cost of living beats 8% of cities.
Is Ukiah safe?
Ukiah is safer than 7% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $566 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Ukiah?
July highs average about 98 degrees, and January highs near 60 with lows near 38. That works out to about 124 pleasant days a year, more than 71% of cities.
Is Ukiah good for families?
Schools beat 12% of cities, crime safety beats 7%, and childcare runs $1,043 a month.
Compare Ukiah with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ukiah. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ukiah 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.
Ukiah detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ukiah: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ukiah: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ukiah: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ukiah: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ukiah 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.