Best Places90242, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 90242, 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.
90242 ranks 15,390th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 90242
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.
90242's strengths and weaknesses
Where 90242 ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 301 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than 96% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than 92% of zip codes
Where 90242 ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 10% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 90242
A household needs to earn about $195,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 90242 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $90,406, 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 90242's effective rate of 0.68%, 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 90242
90242's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 90242.
Who works in 90242, and how
Work in 90242 centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in 90242
The coast is about 12 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 90242, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 90242, month by month
90242 sees roughly 301 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 70, with lows near 47. Every month averages in that range.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 70° | 57° | 47° |
| April | 75° | 63° | 54° |
| July | 84° | 72° | 65° |
| October | 83° | 69° | 60° |
Flying in and out of 90242
The nearest airport, Long Beach (Daugherty Field), is about 7 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Los Angeles International, about 15 miles away.
90242 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 90242 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 90242 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 12% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 90242
Is 90242 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 90242 ranks 15,390th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on big-city access, the weather, and few empty homes, 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 90242 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $758,094. The overall cost of living runs about 36% above the national average. Set against a $90,406 median income, cost of living beats 16% of zip codes.
Is 90242 safe?
90242 is safer than 39% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $365 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 90242?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 70 with lows near 47. That works out to about 301 pleasant days a year, more than 99% of zip codes.
Is 90242 good for families?
Schools beat 55% of zip codes, crime safety beats 39%, and childcare runs $1,130 a month.
Compare 90242 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 90242. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 90242 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.
90242 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 90242: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 90242: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 90242: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 90242: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
90242 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.