Moving to
Gardnerville Ranchos.

All Gardnerville Ranchos data Compare Gardnerville Ranchos

12,114people live here $87,785median household incomeNear US average $1,533median rent per monthNear US average $486,000median home value▲ 46% above US

Gardnerville Ranchos is an unincorporated community in Douglas County, NV. It has no city government: the county runs it, and the Census counts it as its own place.

What it's like to live in Gardnerville Ranchos

Gardnerville Ranchos is an unincorporated community in Nevada with air quality that stays clean most of the year, a growing population, and schools with class sizes near the national average. Those factors carry real weight for anyone weighing where to move next.

The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Gardnerville Ranchos deals with home prices well above the national average, commute times longer than most cities, cold winters, and fewer dining and entertainment options than a bigger city.

The good

Clean air
Growing population
Average class sizes

The not so good

High home prices
Above-average commute times
Cold winters
Smaller place — fewer dining and entertainment options
Car-dependent — few commuters use transit

How Gardnerville Ranchos compares

Median household income

Gardnerville Ranchos$87,785

Nevada avg$78,260

US$80,734

Median rent (per month)

Gardnerville Ranchos$1,533

Nevada avg$1,597

US$1,413

Median home value

Gardnerville Ranchos$486,000

Nevada avg$435,400

US$332,700

What it takes to move to Gardnerville Ranchos

Based on Gardnerville Ranchos's median rent, home value and household income

To rent

$3,066

up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit

Income to keep rent under 30%: $61,320 a year
38% of Gardnerville Ranchos renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent

To buy

$97,200

a 20% down payment on the median home

With 10% down: $48,600
Homes cost 5.5× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)

Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.

The details

Cost of livingNear US average

$1,533/mo median rent

Rent is pretty middle of the road, at $1,533 a month median. Not a bargain, not a budget-buster. About typical for a city this size. Home prices are steep, with a median around $486,000. Renting first to get a feel for the city before buying is often the more practical route.

Median home value $486,000 · 38% of renters cost-burdened

Job market

4.3% county unemployment

Unemployment in Douglas County is 4.3%, close to the national average of 4.3%. That's the county-wide rate; BLS doesn't measure a place this size on its own.

Douglas County (county-wide)

Safety

134 violent crimes per 100k, whole jurisdiction

Gardnerville Ranchos doesn't have its own police department, so there's no crime rate for it alone. The figures shown are for the Douglas County Sheriff's Office jurisdiction as a whole, which runs below the national average for violent crime and covers many communities. Individual neighborhoods can differ a lot from that overall rate.

Property crime 610/100k · Policed by Douglas County Sheriff's Office (county-wide rate) · 2025 data

Getting around▲ 10% above US

29 min average commute

Commutes run about average, at 28.6 minutes. Fine day to day, but it adds up over a year, and where someone lives relative to where they work starts to matter. 9 in 10 workers drive to work; 9% work from home.

How workers get to work

Drive alone

82%

Work from home

9.0%

Carpool

8.7%

Walk

0.5%

Other

0.2%

Climate

Summers are hot and humid, with highs regularly hitting 88°F, and winters are cold and harsh, with lows dropping to 20°F. It's a dry climate with limited rainfall.

Average month

High °FLow °FPrecip (in)

30-year averages, 1991–2020

Education & workforce▼ 35% below US

24% bachelor's degree or higher

College degree attainment runs below average at 24%. That tends to reflect a more trade and working-class economy, which can be great or limiting depending on the industry.

Schools

3 public schools inside the boundary

There are 3 public schools inside the boundary and 1 private school. The student-to-teacher ratio is 17:1, close to the national average of 16:1.

Parks & recreation

The nearest national park or historic site is Yosemite National Park (73 miles away). There are 2 national parks and sites within a day's drive.

Bottom line

Gardnerville Ranchos's strongest points are air quality that stays clean most of the year and a growing population; the main tradeoffs are home prices well above the national average and commute times longer than most cities. A year of median rent ($1,533/mo) equals 21% of the median household income here, about the same as the 21% typical nationwide. Whether it fits comes down to the specifics: the neighborhood, the job, and what matters most in the move.

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