Best PlacesWest Sacramento, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Sacramento, 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.
West Sacramento ranks 1,272nd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in West Sacramento
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 West Sacramento
The parts of West Sacramento, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
Northwest Village & SouthWest Village
Northeast Village
Old West Sacramento
Broderick
Bryte
West Sacramento shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 5% of the country and others in the top 6%. Pick the area first, then the home.
West Sacramento's strengths and weaknesses
Where West Sacramento ranks high
- BikingBetter than 93% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 156 pleasant days a year, better than 84% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 75% of cities
- TransitBetter than 73% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 72% of cities
Where West Sacramento ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 11% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,550 a month, better than only 12% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than only 12% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 12% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in West Sacramento
A household needs to earn about $132,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Sacramento home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $100,539, 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 West Sacramento's effective rate of 0.81%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in West Sacramento
West Sacramento 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 West Sacramento.
Who works in West Sacramento, and how
Work in West Sacramento centers on public administration and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in West Sacramento
West Sacramento has more restaurants and bars per resident than 73% of cities and more parkland per resident than 87% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of West Sacramento and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in West Sacramento, month by month
West Sacramento sees roughly 156 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 59, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59° | 49° | 39° |
| April | 76° | 60° | 46° |
| July | 96° | 75° | 59° |
| October | 82° | 64° | 49° |
Flying in and out of West Sacramento
Sacramento International sits about 9 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 6.8 million passengers in 2025, with 85 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around West Sacramento
Schools across West Sacramento average a C, better than 34% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Sacramento Valley CharterB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Davis Senior HighA+ · 89% proficient
- Inderkum HighB+ · 53% proficient
- River City HighB · 46% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Sacramento school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Sacramento 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 West Sacramento against the other 2,097 cities.
Who West Sacramento suits
Common questions about living in West Sacramento
Is West Sacramento a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Sacramento ranks 1,272nd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on biking, the weather, and walkability, and lowest on tree cover and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is West Sacramento expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $504,802. The overall cost of living runs about 15% above the national average. Set against a $100,539 median income, cost of living beats 38% of cities.
Is West Sacramento safe?
West Sacramento is safer than 12% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $518 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in West Sacramento?
July highs average about 96 degrees, and January highs near 59 with lows near 39. That works out to about 156 pleasant days a year, more than 84% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in West Sacramento?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Northwest Village & SouthWest Village, Northeast Village, and Old West Sacramento. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare West Sacramento with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Sacramento. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Sacramento 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.
West Sacramento detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Sacramento: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Sacramento: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Sacramento: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Sacramento: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Sacramento 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.