Best Places90606, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 90606, 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.
90606 ranks 16,943rd 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 90606
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.
90606's strengths and weaknesses
Where 90606 ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 270 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than 93% of zip codes
Where 90606 ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 7% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 10% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 90606
A household needs to earn about $168,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 90606 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $102,245, 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 90606'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 90606
90606'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 90606.
Who works in 90606, and how
Work in 90606 centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in 90606
The coast is about 16 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 90606, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 90606, month by month
90606 sees roughly 270 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 68, with lows near 48. The comfortable stretch runs October through May.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 68° | 60° | 48° |
| April | 76° | 68° | 57° |
| July | 89° | 81° | 69° |
| October | 83° | 74° | 60° |
Flying in and out of 90606
The nearest airport, Long Beach (Daugherty Field), is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Los Angeles International, about 20 miles away.
The best schools in and around 90606
Schools across 90606 average a C, better than 32% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Ada S. Nelson ElementaryC− · 25% proficient
- Aeolian ElementaryD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Los Nietos MiddleC− · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- El Rancho HighB · 50% proficient
- Santa Fe HighB · 45% proficient
- Whittier HighC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 90606 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
90606 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 90606 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 90606 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 9% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 90606
Is 90606 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 90606 ranks 16,943rd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on big-city access, the weather, and transit, 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 90606 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $654,347. The overall cost of living runs about 38% above the national average. Set against a $102,245 median income, cost of living beats 26% of zip codes.
Is 90606 safe?
90606 is safer than 46% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $334 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 90606?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 68 with lows near 48. That works out to about 270 pleasant days a year, more than 99% of zip codes.
Is 90606 good for families?
Schools beat 32% of zip codes, crime safety beats 46%, and childcare runs $1,130 a month.
Compare 90606 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 90606. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 90606 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.
90606 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 90606: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 90606: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 90606: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 90606: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
90606 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.