Best PlacesVentura County, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Ventura County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Distance to the water drives a lot of the difference between one part and the next. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Ventura County ranks 310th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. The coast is about 14 minutes away. Its strengths are the weather and big-city access. The cost shows up in childcare costs, taxes, and disaster risk.
The best neighborhoods in Ventura 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 Ventura County
The parts of Ventura 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.
Simi Valley
More adults hold degrees, more residents vote, and local pay stretches further.
Thousand Oaks, Oak Park & Westlake Village
Health care is easier to reach, though fewer households have young kids.
Camarillo
Schools score higher.
Moorpark & Fillmore
Incomes run higher, though disaster risk is higher.
Ventura
Biking is better, though it is noisier.
Newbury Park
Homes cost less and heat risk is lower.
Ojai, Oak View & Mira Monte
Crime runs higher and more homes sit empty.
Oxnard & Port Hueneme
Streets are more walkable.
Santa Paula
Scores close to Oxnard & Port Hueneme, except that prices have run up less here.
Ventura County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 4% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Ventura County's strengths and weaknesses
Ventura County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. The weather is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Big-city access and biking follow.
The one real hole is childcare costs, near the bottom of the country. Taxes and disaster risk also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Ventura County ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 265 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 98% of counties
- BikingBetter than 98% of counties
- Household income$118,457 median, better than 97% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 96% of counties
Where Ventura County ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,601 a month, better than only 2% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 6% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 7% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 10% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 11% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Ventura County
A household needs to earn about $213,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ventura County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $118,457, 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 Ventura County's effective rate of 0.69%, 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 Ventura County
Ventura County's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Ventura County.
Who works in Ventura County, and how
Work in Ventura County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Ventura County
Ventura County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. The coast is about 14 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Ventura County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Ventura County growing, and who is moving in?
Ventura County has lost about 1% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Los Angeles, CA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Ventura County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Ventura County, month by month
Ventura County sees roughly 265 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 73 degrees. January highs sit near 67, with lows near 46. Every month averages in that range.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 67° | 56° | 46° |
| April | 68° | 58° | 50° |
| July | 73° | 66° | 60° |
| October | 76° | 65° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Ventura County
Bob Hope sits about 38 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 Ventura County
Schools across Ventura County average a C+, better than 58% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Round Meadow ElementaryA+ · 74% proficient
- Red Oak ElementaryA+ · 73% proficient
- Santa Rosa Technology MagnetA · 72% proficient
Top middle schools
- Medea Creek MiddleA+ · 74% proficient
- Alice C. Stelle MiddleA− · 54% proficient
- Las Colinas MiddleA− · 54% proficient
Top high schools
- Foothill Technology HighA · 70% proficient
- Newbury Park HighA · 68% proficient
- Westlake HighA · 67% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ventura County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ventura 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 Ventura County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Ventura County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 16% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Ventura County
Is Ventura County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ventura County ranks 310th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on the weather, big-city access, and biking, 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 Ventura County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $827,070. The overall cost of living runs about 32% above the national average. Set against a $118,457 median income, cost of living beats 69% of counties.
Is Ventura County safe?
Ventura County is safer than 46% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $378 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Ventura County?
July highs average about 73 degrees, and January highs near 67 with lows near 46. That works out to about 265 pleasant days a year, more than 100% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Ventura County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, Oak Park & Westlake Village, and Camarillo. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Ventura County good for families?
Schools beat 58% of counties, crime safety beats 46%, and childcare runs $1,601 a month.
Is Ventura County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 69% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 89% of counties. About 16% of workers already work from home.
Compare Ventura County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ventura County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ventura 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.
Ventura County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ventura County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ventura County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ventura County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ventura County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ventura 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.