Best PlacesCalifornial Heights, Long Beach, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Californial Heights, Long Beach, 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.
Californial Heights, Long Beach ranks 1,191st of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Californial Heights, Long Beach
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.
Californial Heights, Long Beach's strengths and weaknesses
Where Californial Heights, Long Beach ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 302 pleasant days a year, better than 97% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than 96% of neighborhoods
- School gradeA−, better than 93% of neighborhoods
- Local economyBetter than 90% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than 83% of neighborhoods
Where Californial Heights, Long Beach ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 8% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than only 13% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than only 15% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 18% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Californial Heights, Long Beach
A household needs to earn about $214,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Californial Heights, Long Beach home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $113,299, 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 Californial Heights, Long Beach's effective rate of 0.69%, 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 Californial Heights, Long Beach
Californial Heights, Long Beach's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Californial Heights, Long Beach.
Who works in Californial Heights, Long Beach, and how
Work in Californial Heights, Long Beach centers on education and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 68%
- Work from home 25%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Californial Heights, Long Beach
Californial Heights, Long Beach has more restaurants and bars per resident than 79% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 7 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Californial Heights, Long Beach and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Californial Heights, Long Beach, month by month
Californial Heights, Long Beach sees roughly 302 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 Californial Heights, Long Beach
The nearest airport, Long Beach (Daugherty Field), is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Los Angeles International, about 16 miles away.
The best schools in and around Californial Heights, Long Beach
Schools across Californial Heights, Long Beach average an A−, better than 93% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Longfellow ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Madison ElementaryC · 35% proficient
- Birney ElementaryC− · 27% proficient
Top middle schools
- Intellectual Virtues Academy Of Long BeachA · 62% proficient
- Helen Keller MiddleA · 60% proficient
Top high schools
- Eunice Sato Academy Of Math & ScienceA+ · 83% proficient
- The Education CorpsD+ · 25% proficient
- College Bridge AcademyF · 8% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Californial Heights, Long Beach school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Californial Heights, Long Beach 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 Californial Heights, Long Beach against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Californial Heights, Long Beach
Is Californial Heights, Long Beach a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Californial Heights, Long Beach ranks 1,191st of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on the weather, big-city access, and good schools, and lowest on air quality and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Californial Heights, Long Beach expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $830,307. The overall cost of living runs about 41% above the national average. Set against a $113,299 median income, cost of living beats 49% of neighborhoods.
Is Californial Heights, Long Beach safe?
Californial Heights, Long Beach is safer than 47% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $493 per resident a year.
Compare Californial Heights, Long Beach with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Californial Heights, Long Beach. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Californial Heights, Long Beach 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.
Californial Heights, Long Beach detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Californial Heights, Long Beach: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Californial Heights, Long Beach: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Californial Heights, Long Beach: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Californial Heights, Long Beach: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Californial Heights, Long Beach 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.