Best Places90026, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 90026, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
90026 ranks 14,987th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 90026
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.
90026's strengths and weaknesses
Where 90026 ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 307 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 98% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 96% of zip codes
Where 90026 ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 8% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 90026
A household needs to earn about $303,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 90026 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $90,455, 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 90026's effective rate of 0.61%, 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 90026
90026 runs younger 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 90026.
Who works in 90026, and how
Work in 90026 centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 59%
- Work from home 26%
- Transit, walk, or bike 14%
Life in 90026
90026 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 75% of zip codes and more late-night spots per resident than 79% of zip codes. The coast is about 14 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 90026 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 90026, month by month
90026 sees roughly 307 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 70, with lows near 48. Every month averages in that range.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 70° | 58° | 48° |
| April | 76° | 64° | 55° |
| July | 85° | 73° | 65° |
| October | 82° | 69° | 60° |
Flying in and out of 90026
Bob Hope sits about 10 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 3.1 million passengers in 2025, with 54 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around 90026
Schools across 90026 average a C+, better than 44% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Camino Nuevo Charter Academy #4D · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Vista Charter MiddleF · 6% proficient
Top high schools
- Early College Academy-la Trade Tech CollegeB · 50% proficient
- Harris Newmark ContinuationD+ · 25% proficient
- Edward R. Roybal Learning CenterD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 90026 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
90026 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 90026 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 90026 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 26% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 90026
Is 90026 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 90026 ranks 14,987th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on the weather, big-city access, and walkability, and lowest on air quality and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 90026 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,188,767. The overall cost of living runs about 54% above the national average. Set against a $90,455 median income, cost of living beats 13% of zip codes.
Is 90026 safe?
90026 is safer than 5% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $777 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 90026?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 70 with lows near 48. That works out to about 307 pleasant days a year, more than 100% of zip codes.
Is 90026 good for families?
Schools beat 44% of zip codes, crime safety beats 5%, and childcare runs $1,130 a month.
Compare 90026 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 90026. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 90026 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.
90026 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 90026: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 90026: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 90026: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 90026: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
90026 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.