Best PlacesYosemite Junction, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Yosemite Junction, 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.
Yosemite Junction ranks 47,644th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Yosemite Junction
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.
Yosemite Junction's strengths and weaknesses
Where Yosemite Junction ranks high
- QuietBetter than 93% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 151 pleasant days a year, better than 93% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 92% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 91% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 85% of towns
Where Yosemite Junction ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 1% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 2% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Yosemite Junction
A household needs to earn about $184,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Yosemite Junction home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $69,344, 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 Yosemite Junction's effective rate of 0.34%, 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 Yosemite Junction
Yosemite Junction runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Yosemite Junction.
Who works in Yosemite Junction, and how
Work in Yosemite Junction centers on public administration and hospitality & food. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 71%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 21%
Life in Yosemite Junction
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Yosemite Junction.
What the weather is like in Yosemite Junction, month by month
Yosemite Junction sees roughly 151 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 78 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 37° | 32° |
| April | 53° | 44° | 38° |
| July | 78° | 69° | 63° |
| October | 62° | 53° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Yosemite Junction
The nearest airport, Mammoth Yosemite, is about 40 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Norman Y Mineta San Jose International, about 131 miles away.
The best schools in and around Yosemite Junction
Schools across Yosemite Junction average a C, better than 43% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Yosemite National Park Valley ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Yosemite National Park El PortalC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Yosemite Junction school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Yosemite Junction 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 Yosemite Junction against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Yosemite Junction
Is Yosemite Junction a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Yosemite Junction ranks 47,644th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on quiet, the weather, and low property taxes, and lowest on internet speeds and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Yosemite Junction expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $750,000. The overall cost of living runs about 31% above the national average. Set against a $69,344 median income, cost of living beats 10% of towns.
Is Yosemite Junction safe?
Yosemite Junction is safer than 2% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $995 per resident a year.
Compare Yosemite Junction with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Yosemite Junction. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Yosemite Junction 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.
Yosemite Junction detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Yosemite Junction: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Yosemite Junction: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Yosemite Junction: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Yosemite Junction: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Yosemite Junction 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.