Best Places90402, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 90402, 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.
90402 ranks 1,984th 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 90402
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.
90402's strengths and weaknesses
Where 90402 ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 338 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Household income$171,145 median, better than 98% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 98% of zip codes
Where 90402 ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 11% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 16% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 17% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 90402
A household needs to earn about $483,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 90402 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $171,145, 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 90402's effective rate of 0.62%, 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 90402
90402 runs older 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 90402.
Who works in 90402, and how
Work in 90402 centers on professional & technical and information. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 52%
- Work from home 43%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in 90402
The coast is about 2 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 90402, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 90402, month by month
90402 sees roughly 338 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 76 degrees. January highs sit near 68, with lows near 47. Every month averages in that range.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 68° | 57° | 47° |
| April | 69° | 60° | 53° |
| July | 76° | 68° | 63° |
| October | 78° | 67° | 58° |
Flying in and out of 90402
Los Angeles International sits about 8 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 36.7 million passengers in 2025, with 247 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around 90402
Schools across 90402 average a B+, better than 70% of zip codes.
Top middle schools
- Lincoln MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Early College Academy-la Trade Tech CollegeB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 90402 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
90402 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 90402 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 90402
Is 90402 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 90402 ranks 1,984th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on the weather, an educated workforce, and big-city access, and lowest on air quality and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 90402 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,894,475. The overall cost of living runs about 127% above the national average. Set against a $171,145 median income, cost of living beats 52% of zip codes.
Is 90402 safe?
90402 is safer than 17% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $524 per resident a year.
Compare 90402 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 90402. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 90402 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.
90402 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 90402: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 90402: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 90402: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 90402: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
90402 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.