Best Places90742, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 90742, 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.
90742 ranks 5,043rd of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 90742
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.
90742's strengths and weaknesses
Where 90742 ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 267 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 95% of zip codes
Where 90742 ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,494 a month, better than only 6% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 90742
A household needs to earn about $385,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 90742 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $121,747, 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 90742's effective rate of 0.54%, 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 90742
90742 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 90742.
Who works in 90742, and how
Work in 90742 centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in 90742
90742 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 96% of zip codes. The coast is about 0 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of 90742 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 90742, month by month
90742 sees roughly 267 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 69, with lows near 43. Every month averages in that range.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 69° | 55° | 43° |
| April | 74° | 61° | 51° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 63° |
| October | 82° | 67° | 55° |
Flying in and out of 90742
The nearest airport, Long Beach (Daugherty Field), is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is John Wayne/Orange County, about 12 miles away.
The best schools in and around 90742
Schools across 90742 average a B, better than 75% of zip codes.
Top high schools
- Huntington Beach HighA · 80% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 90742 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
90742 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 90742 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 90742
Is 90742 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 90742 ranks 5,043rd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on the weather, big-city access, and fast internet, and lowest on an overheated housing market and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 90742 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,527,577. The overall cost of living runs about 98% above the national average. Set against a $121,747 median income, cost of living beats 19% of zip codes.
Is 90742 safe?
90742 is safer than 26% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $431 per resident a year.
Compare 90742 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 90742. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 90742 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.
90742 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 90742: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 90742: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 90742: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 90742: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
90742 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.