Best PlacesYreka, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Yreka, 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.
Yreka ranks 35,217th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Yreka
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.
Yreka's strengths and weaknesses
Where Yreka ranks high
- BikingBetter than 96% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 95% of towns
- Short commute17.3 minutes each way, better than 94% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 93% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 149 pleasant days a year, better than 92% of towns
Where Yreka ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 11% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 12% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 13% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 13% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Yreka
A household needs to earn about $68,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Yreka home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $55,967, 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 Yreka's effective rate of 0.67%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Yreka
Yreka 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 Yreka.
Who works in Yreka, and how
Work in Yreka centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Yreka
Yreka has more restaurants and bars per resident than 88% of towns and more parkland per resident than 94% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Yreka and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Yreka, month by month
Yreka sees roughly 149 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 37° | 26° |
| April | 68° | 50° | 33° |
| July | 97° | 77° | 55° |
| October | 72° | 53° | 35° |
Flying in and out of Yreka
The nearest airport, Rogue Valley International/Medford, is about 46 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 217 miles away.
The best schools in and around Yreka
Schools across Yreka average a C, better than 34% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Fort Jones ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- Grenada ElementaryC · 35% proficient
- Montague ElementaryC · 33% proficient
Top middle schools
- Scott Valley Junior HighB · 45% proficient
- Jackson Street ElementaryD− · 17% proficient
Top high schools
- Yreka HighB+ · 58% proficient
- Etna Union HighC+ · 40% proficient
- Discovery HighD · 21% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Yreka school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Yreka 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 Yreka against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Yreka
Is Yreka a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Yreka ranks 35,217th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on biking, walkability, and short commutes, and lowest on taxes and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Yreka expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $266,419. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $55,967 median income, cost of living beats 13% of towns.
Is Yreka safe?
Yreka is safer than 31% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $404 per resident a year.
Compare Yreka with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Yreka. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Yreka 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.
Yreka detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Yreka: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Yreka: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Yreka: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Yreka: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Yreka 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.