Best PlacesZenia, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Zenia, 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.
Zenia ranks 50,003rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Zenia
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.
Zenia's strengths and weaknesses
Where Zenia ranks high
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 84% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 76% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 71% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 63% of towns
Where Zenia ranks low
- Short commute53.4 minutes each way, better than only 1% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 2% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 2% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Zenia
A household needs to earn about $65,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Zenia home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,632, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 Zenia's effective rate of 0.51%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Zenia
Zenia 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 Zenia.
Who works in Zenia, and how
Work in Zenia centers on agriculture & forestry and utilities. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Zenia
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Zenia.
What the weather is like in Zenia, month by month
Zenia sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 65 degrees. January highs sit near 55, with lows near 42. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55° | 47° | 42° |
| April | 58° | 50° | 44° |
| July | 65° | 57° | 52° |
| October | 65° | 54° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Zenia
The nearest airport, Redding Regional, is about 63 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 142 miles away.
The best schools in and around Zenia
Schools across Zenia average a C, better than 37% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Van Duzen ElementaryC− · 29% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Zenia school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Zenia 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 Zenia against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Zenia
Is Zenia a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Zenia ranks 50,003rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on quiet, clean air, and low property taxes, and lowest on long commutes and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Zenia expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $259,624. The overall cost of living runs about 1% below the national average. Set against a $65,632 median income, cost of living beats 22% of towns.
Is Zenia safe?
Zenia is safer than 3% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $830 per resident a year.
Compare Zenia with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Zenia. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Zenia 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.
Zenia detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Zenia: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Zenia: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Zenia: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Zenia: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Zenia 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.