Best Places90804, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 90804, 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.
90804 ranks 8,934th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 90804
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.
90804's strengths and weaknesses
Where 90804 ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 304 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 98% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 98% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of zip codes
Where 90804 ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 9% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 10% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 90804
A household needs to earn about $181,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 90804 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $77,177, 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 90804's effective rate of 0.73%, 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 90804
90804 runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 90804.
Who works in 90804, and how
Work in 90804 centers on health care & social and hospitality & food. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in 90804
90804 has more parkland per resident than 75% of zip codes. The coast is about 3 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of 90804 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 90804, month by month
90804 sees roughly 304 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 90804
The nearest airport, Long Beach (Daugherty Field), is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is John Wayne/Orange County, about 18 miles away.
The best schools in and around 90804
Schools across 90804 average a B+, better than 81% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Lowell ElementaryA · 68% proficient
- Fremont ElementaryA · 66% proficient
- Gant ElementaryA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- Helen Keller MiddleA · 60% proficient
- Jefferson Leadership AcademiesC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Eunice Sato Academy Of Math & ScienceA+ · 83% proficient
- Wilson HighB · 46% proficient
- Richard D. Browning HighD · 19% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 90804 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
90804 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 90804 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 90804 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 14% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 90804
Is 90804 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 90804 ranks 8,934th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on the weather, big-city access, and transit, and lowest on civic engagement and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 90804 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $699,932. The overall cost of living runs about 36% above the national average. Set against a $77,177 median income, cost of living beats 9% of zip codes.
Is 90804 safe?
90804 is safer than 17% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $517 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 90804?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 70 with lows near 47. That works out to about 304 pleasant days a year, more than 100% of zip codes.
Is 90804 good for families?
Schools beat 81% of zip codes, crime safety beats 17%, and childcare runs $1,130 a month.
Compare 90804 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 90804. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 90804 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.
90804 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 90804: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 90804: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 90804: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 90804: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
90804 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.