Best PlacesVernalis, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Vernalis, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Vernalis ranks 33,979th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Vernalis
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.
Vernalis' strengths and weaknesses
Where Vernalis ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 95% of towns
- Household income$119,149 median, better than 93% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 145 pleasant days a year, better than 91% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 89% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 85% of towns
Where Vernalis ranks low
- Short commute48.9 minutes each way, better than only 1% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 13% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Vernalis
A household needs to earn about $188,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Vernalis home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $119,149, 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 Vernalis' effective rate of 0.96%, 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 Vernalis
Vernalis 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 Vernalis.
Who works in Vernalis, and how
Work in Vernalis centers on manufacturing and construction. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Vernalis
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Vernalis.
What the weather is like in Vernalis, month by month
Vernalis sees roughly 145 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 98 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs March through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 49° | 39° |
| April | 77° | 61° | 46° |
| July | 98° | 78° | 60° |
| October | 83° | 65° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Vernalis
The nearest airport, Stockton Metro, is about 19 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Norman Y Mineta San Jose International, about 39 miles away.
The best schools in and around Vernalis
Schools across Vernalis average a C+, better than 45% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Monticello ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- Nile Garden ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- JeffersonA− · 56% proficient
Top high schools
- John C. Kimball HighB · 46% proficient
- Patterson HighB− · 45% proficient
- Tracy HighC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Vernalis school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Vernalis 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 Vernalis against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Vernalis
Is Vernalis a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Vernalis ranks 33,979th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on big-city access, high incomes, and the weather, and lowest on long commutes and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Vernalis expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $702,207. The overall cost of living runs about 14% above the national average. Set against a $119,149 median income, cost of living beats 76% of towns.
Is Vernalis safe?
Vernalis is safer than 10% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $764 per resident a year.
Compare Vernalis with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Vernalis. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Vernalis 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.
Vernalis detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Vernalis: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Vernalis: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Vernalis: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Vernalis: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Vernalis 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.