Best PlacesWoodland, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Woodland, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Woodland ranks 1,102nd 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 Woodland
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.
Woodland's strengths and weaknesses
Where Woodland ranks high
- BikingBetter than 97% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 155 pleasant days a year, better than 84% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 81% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 72% of cities
- TransitBetter than 70% of cities
Where Woodland ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 11% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,550 a month, better than only 12% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than only 17% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 19% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Woodland
A household needs to earn about $141,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Woodland home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $98,236, 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 Woodland's effective rate of 0.72%, 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 Woodland
Woodland 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 Woodland.
Who works in Woodland, and how
Work in Woodland centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Woodland
Woodland has more restaurants and bars per resident than 70% of cities and more parkland per resident than 81% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Woodland and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Woodland, month by month
Woodland sees roughly 155 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 42. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58° | 49° | 42° |
| April | 74° | 60° | 48° |
| July | 95° | 75° | 58° |
| October | 80° | 64° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Woodland
Sacramento International sits about 10 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 Woodland
Schools across Woodland average a C, better than 36% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Freeman ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Zamora ElementaryD− · 16% proficient
- Esparto ElementaryD− · 15% proficient
Top middle schools
- Esparto MiddleD− · 14% proficient
Top high schools
- Pioneer HighB+ · 51% proficient
- Woodland Senior HighC+ · 40% proficient
- Esparto HighD− · 16% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Woodland school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Woodland 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 Woodland against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Woodland suits
Common questions about living in Woodland
Is Woodland a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Woodland ranks 1,102nd 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 Woodland expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $546,181. The overall cost of living runs about 15% above the national average. Set against a $98,236 median income, cost of living beats 34% of cities.
Is Woodland safe?
Woodland is safer than 36% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $385 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Woodland?
July highs average about 95 degrees, and January highs near 58 with lows near 42. That works out to about 155 pleasant days a year, more than 84% of cities.
Is Woodland good for families?
Schools beat 36% of cities, crime safety beats 36%, and childcare runs $1,550 a month.
Compare Woodland with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Woodland. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Woodland 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.
Woodland detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Woodland: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Woodland: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Woodland: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Woodland: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Woodland 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.