Best PlacesZephyr Cove, NV Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Zephyr Cove, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Zephyr Cove ranks 7,359th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Zephyr Cove
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.
Zephyr Cove's strengths and weaknesses
Where Zephyr Cove ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 98% of towns
- Household income$154,146 median, better than 98% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 96% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 94% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 92% of towns
Where Zephyr Cove ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 5% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 6% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 13% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 14% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Zephyr Cove
A household needs to earn about $359,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Zephyr Cove home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $154,146, 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 Zephyr Cove's effective rate of 0.35%, 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 Zephyr Cove
Zephyr Cove 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 Zephyr Cove.
Who works in Zephyr Cove, and how
Work in Zephyr Cove centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 64%
- Work from home 32%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Zephyr Cove
Zephyr Cove has more restaurants and bars per resident than 94% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Zephyr Cove and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Zephyr Cove, month by month
Zephyr Cove sees roughly 102 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 30° | 18° |
| April | 57° | 41° | 27° |
| July | 83° | 64° | 43° |
| October | 65° | 45° | 28° |
Flying in and out of Zephyr Cove
The nearest airport, Reno/Tahoe International, is about 36 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 92 miles away.
The best schools in and around Zephyr Cove
Schools across Zephyr Cove average a B−, better than 57% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Jacks Valley Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Zephyr Cove Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Carson Valley Middle SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- George Whittell High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Douglas High SchoolC · 31% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Zephyr Cove school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Zephyr Cove 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 Zephyr Cove against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Zephyr Cove
Is Zephyr Cove a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Zephyr Cove ranks 7,359th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, high incomes, and an educated workforce, and lowest on an overheated housing market and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Zephyr Cove expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,465,240. The overall cost of living runs about 42% above the national average. Set against a $154,146 median income, cost of living beats 94% of towns.
Is Zephyr Cove safe?
Zephyr Cove is safer than 13% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $624 per resident a year.
Compare Zephyr Cove with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Zephyr Cove. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Zephyr Cove 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.
Zephyr Cove detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Zephyr Cove: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Zephyr Cove: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Zephyr Cove: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Zephyr Cove: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Zephyr Cove 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.