Best PlacesCentral City, Los Angeles, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Central City, Los Angeles, 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.
Central City, Los Angeles ranks 5,179th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Central City, Los Angeles
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.
Central City, Los Angeles' strengths and weaknesses
Where Central City, Los Angeles ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- Nice weatherabout 304 pleasant days a year, better than 97% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than 91% of neighborhoods
- WalkabilityBetter than 90% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than 89% of neighborhoods
Where Central City, Los Angeles ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 2% of neighborhoods
- Air qualityBetter than only 3% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than only 5% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Central City, Los Angeles
A household needs to earn about $172,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Central City, Los Angeles home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $53,448, 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 Central City, Los Angeles' effective rate of 0.61%, 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 Central City, Los Angeles
Central City, Los Angeles 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 Central City, Los Angeles.
Who works in Central City, Los Angeles, and how
Work in Central City, Los Angeles centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 67%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 26%
Life in Central City, Los Angeles
Central City, Los Angeles has more restaurants and bars per resident than 67% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 12 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Central City, Los Angeles and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Central City, Los Angeles, month by month
Central City, Los Angeles sees roughly 304 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 70, with lows near 48. Every month averages in that range.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 70° | 58° | 48° |
| April | 76° | 64° | 55° |
| July | 85° | 73° | 65° |
| October | 82° | 69° | 60° |
Flying in and out of Central City, Los Angeles
The nearest airport, Jack Northrop Field/Hawthorne Municipal, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Los Angeles International, about 10 miles away.
The best schools in and around Central City, Los Angeles
Schools across Central City, Los Angeles average a D, better than 19% of neighborhoods.
Top high schools
- Orthopaedic HospitalB+ · 58% proficient
- Early College Academy-la Trade Tech CollegeB · 50% proficient
- Santee Education ComplexC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Central City, Los Angeles school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Central City, Los Angeles 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 Central City, Los Angeles against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Who Central City, Los Angeles suits
Common questions about living in Central City, Los Angeles
Is Central City, Los Angeles a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Central City, Los Angeles ranks 5,179th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on big-city access, the weather, and biking, and lowest on thin health care access and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Central City, Los Angeles expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $675,420. The overall cost of living runs about 30% above the national average. Set against a $53,448 median income, cost of living beats 6% of neighborhoods.
Is Central City, Los Angeles safe?
Central City, Los Angeles is safer than 15% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $864 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Central City, Los Angeles?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 70 with lows near 48. That works out to about 304 pleasant days a year, more than 97% of neighborhoods.
Is Central City, Los Angeles good for families?
Schools beat 19% of neighborhoods, crime safety beats 15%, and childcare runs $1,130 a month.
Compare Central City, Los Angeles with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Central City, Los Angeles. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Central City, Los Angeles 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.
Central City, Los Angeles detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Central City, Los Angeles: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Central City, Los Angeles: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Central City, Los Angeles: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Central City, Los Angeles: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Central City, Los Angeles 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.