Best Places92154, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 92154, 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.
92154 ranks 17,174th 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 92154
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.
92154's strengths and weaknesses
Where 92154 ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 284 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 92% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 89% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 89% of zip codes
Where 92154 ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,432 a month, better than only 9% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 9% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 10% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 92154
A household needs to earn about $166,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 92154 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $99,775, 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 92154's effective rate of 0.74%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 92154
92154 runs younger than the country, 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 92154.
Who works in 92154, and how
Work in 92154 centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in 92154
92154 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 97% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 87% of zip codes. The coast is about 7 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 92154 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 92154, month by month
92154 sees roughly 284 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 75 degrees. January highs sit near 65, with lows near 46. The comfortable stretch runs February through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 65° | 54° | 46° |
| April | 68° | 58° | 50° |
| July | 75° | 70° | 64° |
| October | 75° | 67° | 57° |
Flying in and out of 92154
San Diego International sits about 14 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 12.7 million passengers in 2025, with 121 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around 92154
Schools across 92154 average a D+, better than 16% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Nestor Language Academy CharterC− · 28% proficient
- Emory ElementaryD+ · 23% proficient
- Central ElementaryD− · 14% proficient
Top middle schools
- Rancho Del Rey MiddleA− · 55% proficient
- Eastlake MiddleB+ · 47% proficient
- Montgomery MiddleC− · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Olympian HighB · 48% proficient
- San Ysidro HighC+ · 36% proficient
- Southwest Senior HighC · 31% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 92154 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
92154 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 92154 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 92154 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 9% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 92154
Is 92154 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 92154 ranks 17,174th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on the weather, transit, and biking, 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 92154 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $639,924. The overall cost of living runs about 22% above the national average. Set against a $99,775 median income, cost of living beats 39% of zip codes.
Is 92154 safe?
92154 is safer than 27% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $456 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 92154?
July highs average about 75 degrees, and January highs near 65 with lows near 46. That works out to about 284 pleasant days a year, more than 99% of zip codes.
Is 92154 good for families?
Schools beat 16% of zip codes, crime safety beats 27%, and childcare runs $1,432 a month.
Compare 92154 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 92154. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 92154 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.
92154 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 92154: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 92154: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 92154: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 92154: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
92154 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.