Ridgecrest, CA Rankings


7 Reviews



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Ridgecrest, CA is a small city located in the Mojave Desert of Kern County in California. It has a population of 28,693 and is known for its desert-like atmosphere and mountain ranges that surround it. According to the BestPlaces rankings, Ridgecrest scores highly in many areas such as cost of living, crime rate, education, employment and housing. The overall ranking for Ridgecrest is 57 out of 100, making it a great place to live. The cost of living index is 70 out of 100 with the average home price being $122k which makes it an affordable city to live in. Additionally, Ridgecrest has a crime rate index of 79 out of 100 which makes it one of the safer cities in California. Education wise there are 7 public schools within the district with an average graduation rate of 84%. Employment wise the unemployment rate is 6%, slightly lower than the national average at 6.7%. Lastly, when it comes to housing, 48% of residents own their homes with an average household size being 2.4 people per household. All in all, Ridgecrest ranks relatively high on all aspects providing potential buyers and renters a safe and affordable place to live with good educational opportunities.

Best Places ranks thousands of places to live based on analysis, data and key statistics from the U.S. Census and our Best Places To Live Expert Insights.

Ridgecrest Ranked
#13 Best Cities for Teleworking - Small Metro Areas
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Ridgecrest Ranked
#26 Drought-Riskiest Cities
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Ridgecrest Ranked
#34 America's Most (and Least) Stressful Cities (100 Largest Metro Areas)
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Ridgecrest Ranked
#36 Most Comfortable Summer Cities
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Ridgecrest Ranked
#37 America's Best and Worst Cities for Crime (Large Metro Areas)
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Ridgecrest Ranked
#73 High Gas Prices - Which Cities are Hit the Hardest?
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Ridgecrest Ranked
#77 2005 High Gas Prices
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Ridgecrest Ranked
#88 The Most (and Least) Gender Imbalanced Cities
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Ridgecrest Ranked
#94 America's Migraine Hot Spots
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Ridgecrest Ranked
#95 The Most Single Cities
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Ridgecrest Ranked
#282 2005 Best Places to Live
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Ridgecrest Ranked
#300 Best Green Cities
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Reviews for Ridgecrest
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For context, I grew up in Ridgecrest and moved away after graduating high school. I have since lived in LA and the Bay Area but I visit RC often. RC is in the high  More

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Ridgecrest and Kern County are red state bastions in a land of blue voting counties. If you want a concealed weapons permit, you'll get it. Want to own any firearm  More

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Over 12 years ago

The hardest thing to get used to in Ridgecrest is the weather. It can get quite windy. And hot. 115 hot. But it's a dry heat! It does cool off in the evening, and it  More

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