Best PlacesWhite Water, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around White Water, 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.
White Water ranks 49,166th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in White Water
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.
White Water's strengths and weaknesses
Where White Water ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 207 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 94% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 92% of towns
- BikingBetter than 63% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 55% of towns
Where White Water ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in White Water
A household needs to earn about $84,000 a year to comfortably buy the median White Water home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $66,784, 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 White Water's effective rate of 0.88%, 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 White Water
White Water'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 White Water.
Who works in White Water, and how
Work in White Water centers on admin & support services 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 82%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in White Water
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across White Water.
What the weather is like in White Water, month by month
White Water sees roughly 207 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 112 degrees. January highs sit near 72, with lows near 46. The comfortable stretch runs November through March.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 72° | 59° | 46° |
| April | 91° | 76° | 59° |
| July | 112° | 97° | 81° |
| October | 94° | 79° | 64° |
Flying in and out of White Water
The nearest airport, Palm Springs International, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Ontario International, about 53 miles away.
The best schools in and around White Water
Schools across White Water average a C, better than 36% of towns.
Top middle schools
- Raymond Cree MiddleD · 20% proficient
- Painted Hills MiddleD− · 13% proficient
Top high schools
- Palm Springs HighC · 34% proficient
- Desert Hot Springs HighC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every White Water school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
White Water 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 White Water against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in White Water
Is White Water a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, White Water ranks 49,166th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, big-city access, and cell coverage, and lowest on air quality and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is White Water expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $316,340. The overall cost of living runs about 11% above the national average. Set against a $66,784 median income, cost of living beats 11% of towns.
Is White Water safe?
White Water is safer than 35% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $366 per resident a year.
Compare White Water with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to White Water. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in White Water 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.
White Water detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for White Water: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in White Water: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of White Water: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in White Water: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
White Water 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.