Cover entry points first, in this order: front door, back door, driveway or garage, then any easily reached first-floor window or side gate. Mount cameras roughly eight to ten feet up, angled slightly down to catch faces rather than the tops of heads, and add indoor cameras only after the exterior entry points are covered. That order matters more than the total number of cameras you own, because a single well-placed camera at the front door does more work than three cameras crowded onto one side of the house. The rest of this guide walks the property in that same priority order and flags the blind spots most homeowners miss.
Coverage order, not camera count
It's tempting to ask "how many cameras do I need" before asking "where do they go," but placement decides value more than quantity does. A home with two cameras correctly placed at the front and back doors is better covered than a home with four cameras clustered around one attractive angle. If you're still deciding on total count and budget, our guide to how many security cameras you actually need covers that question directly; this guide assumes you already have a rough number and need to know where each one earns its place.
Priority one: entry points
Start at the doors, because that's where most break-ins and most package thefts happen.
- Front door. The single highest-value spot on the property. A doorbell camera or a porch-facing camera covering the walkway catches nearly everyone who approaches the house, including delivery drivers and anyone testing whether you're home.
- Back door. Often the forgotten entry point, and exactly the one an intruder is more likely to use because it's out of view from the street. Cover it with the same priority as the front.
- Side or garage-adjacent doors. Any secondary door that opens directly into the house, rather than into a garage or shed, deserves its own camera before you move on to windows.
Priority two: driveway, garage, and vehicle approach
After the doors, the driveway and garage matter most. A camera mounted above or beside the garage, angled to cover both the driveway and the approach from the street, captures vehicles, delivery activity, and anyone walking up before they reach a door. If your garage door opener itself is part of your security thinking, our piece on smart garage door opener security covers that device's own exposure separately from where you point a camera at it.
Priority three: corners, side yards, and the gaps between
This is where most placement guides stop early and where real blind spots live. Side yards and the narrow gap between houses are how someone reaches a back window or door without ever crossing the front lawn. A camera mounted at a corner of the house, angled down the fence line or side path, closes that gap far more effectively than a second camera pointed at the same front door you already cover. If your property has a side gate, treat it the same as a door: it's an entry point, not a landscaping feature.
Priority four: first-floor windows
Ground-floor windows that are easy to reach, especially ones hidden from the street by fencing or landscaping, are worth a camera once the doors and side approaches are covered. You rarely need one camera per window; a single camera with a wide field of view covering that whole side of the house is usually enough.
Priority five: indoor cameras, only after the exterior is covered
Indoor cameras add a second layer, not a replacement for exterior coverage. The most useful spot is an entry hallway or a living room facing the front door, so you have a record of who actually came inside, not just who approached. Resist the urge to cover every room; more cameras indoors means more footage to review and, for a household with roommates, guests, or children, real privacy questions about who is being recorded and where. Our guide to indoor camera privacy covers how to set household expectations before you mount a camera anywhere people live and sleep.
Mounting height and angle
Across manufacturer guidance and independent reviewers, a mounting height of roughly eight to ten feet is the commonly recommended range for exterior cameras: high enough to be out of easy reach, low enough to still capture a clear, identifiable view of a face rather than the top of someone's head. Angle the camera slightly downward from that height rather than mounting it flat, and avoid pointing any camera directly into oncoming headlights, streetlights, or the rising or setting sun, since those all wash out the image at exactly the times you need it most.
The legal line still applies at every spot on this list
Coverage and legality are two different questions, and this guide is about the first one. Wherever you decide to point a camera, the same underlying rule applies: you can generally record your own property and the public space visible from it, but you cannot point a camera into a neighbor's window or a clearly private, fenced space, and audio recording is regulated more strictly than video in many places, including a number of US states that require everyone's consent, not just yours. Rules here vary by country and, within the US, by state and sometimes by city, so this is general guidance, not a legal ruling for your specific situation. Our full breakdown of where you can and can't point a home security camera covers that question in depth and is the guide to check before you finalize any angle that includes a neighbor's yard or a shared space.
A quick placement checklist
- Front door or porch: highest priority, cover first.
- Back door: equal priority, often skipped.
- Driveway and garage approach: covers vehicles and the walk-up.
- Side yards and gates: the blind spot most placement guides skip.
- First-floor windows: add once doors and side approaches are covered.
- Indoor entry hallway: optional second layer, with a household privacy conversation first.
- Mount roughly eight to ten feet up, angled down, away from direct light sources.
- Check the legal placement guide before any angle includes a neighbor's property.
FAQ
How many cameras do I need to cover a typical house? There's no fixed number, but most homes get the majority of their real coverage from two to four well-placed cameras: front door, back door, and the driveway or garage approach. Our dedicated guide to camera count walks through how to size a system to your own layout.
Should I put a camera at every window? No. Cover doors, the driveway, and side-yard access points first. Ground-floor windows are worth adding once those priority spots are covered, and usually one wide-angle camera per side of the house is enough rather than one camera per window.
How high should an outdoor camera be mounted? Roughly eight to ten feet is the commonly recommended range: high enough to be harder to reach or disable, low enough to still capture a usable, identifiable image of a face.
Can I point a camera at my neighbor's yard if it happens to be in the background? Incidentally including part of a neighbor's property in a wide shot is usually fine, since it's visible from your own property. Deliberately aiming a camera to look into their windows or a fenced private area is different and can cross a real legal line. See our placement laws guide for the fuller explanation, and note that the specific rules vary by state and country.
Is one indoor camera enough? For most households, yes. A single camera covering the main entry hallway or the room facing the front door gives you a record of who came inside without covering every private space in the home.
I’m John Smith, the founder of Homegadgetguru.com. I use my IT background to extensively test home automation setups in my own house, giving you the hands-on, practical advice you need to build a smarter, more connected home.
