Best PlacesWillows, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Willows, 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.
Willows ranks 33,019th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Willows
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.
Willows' strengths and weaknesses
Where Willows ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 98% of towns
- TransitBetter than 97% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 96% of towns
- BikingBetter than 96% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 141 pleasant days a year, better than 90% of towns
Where Willows ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 6% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 7% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 10% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Willows
A household needs to earn about $83,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Willows home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $78,117; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Willows' effective rate of 0.68%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Willows
Willows'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 Willows.
Who works in Willows, and how
Work in Willows centers on health care & social and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Willows
Willows has more restaurants and bars per resident than 74% of towns and more parkland per resident than 89% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Willows and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Willows, month by month
Willows sees roughly 141 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 40. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 48° | 40° |
| April | 74° | 62° | 50° |
| July | 97° | 83° | 69° |
| October | 79° | 65° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Willows
Sacramento International sits about 66 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 Willows
Schools across Willows average a D, better than 10% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Walden AcademyD+ · 24% proficient
- Murdock ElementaryD · 20% proficient
- Elk Creek ElementaryD · 19% proficient
Top middle schools
- Willows IntermediateD · 21% proficient
- Indian Valley IntermediateD− · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- Willows Community HighD+ · 25% proficient
- Willows HighD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Willows school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Willows 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 Willows against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Willows
Is Willows a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Willows ranks 33,019th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cell coverage, transit, and walkability, and lowest on civic engagement and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Willows expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $324,312. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $78,117 median income, cost of living beats 40% of towns.
Is Willows safe?
Willows is safer than 14% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $542 per resident a year.
Compare Willows with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Willows. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Willows 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.
Willows detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Willows: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Willows: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Willows: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Willows: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Willows 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.