Best PlacesDel Mar, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Del Mar, 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.
Del Mar ranks 2,164th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on an educated workforce by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Del Mar
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.
Del Mar's strengths and weaknesses
Where Del Mar ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 250 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of towns
- Household income$194,165 median, better than 99% of towns
- BikingBetter than 99% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 98% of towns
Where Del Mar ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,432 a month, better than only 5% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 8% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Del Mar
A household needs to earn about $476,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Del Mar home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $194,165, 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 Del Mar's effective rate of 0.52%, 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 Del Mar
Del Mar 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 Del Mar.
Who works in Del Mar, and how
Work in Del Mar centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 59%
- Work from home 39%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Del Mar
Del Mar has more restaurants and bars per resident than 93% of towns and more parkland per resident than 99% of towns. The coast is about 2 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Del Mar and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Del Mar, month by month
Del Mar sees roughly 250 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 70, with lows near 45. Every month averages in that range.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 70° | 56° | 45° |
| April | 74° | 61° | 50° |
| July | 84° | 72° | 63° |
| October | 83° | 67° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Del Mar
The nearest airport, McClellan-Palomar, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is San Diego International, about 16 miles away.
The best schools in and around Del Mar
Schools across Del Mar average an A−, better than 82% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- R. Roger Rowe ElementaryA+ · 78% proficient
Top middle schools
- Carmel Valley MiddleA · 67% proficient
- R. Roger Rowe MiddleA · 60% proficient
- Earl Warren MiddleB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- University City HighA · 75% proficient
- Canyon Crest AcademyA · 68% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Del Mar school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Del Mar 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 Del Mar against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Del Mar
Is Del Mar a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Del Mar ranks 2,164th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on an educated workforce, the weather, and high incomes, and lowest on an overheated housing market and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Del Mar expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,893,078. The overall cost of living runs about 117% above the national average. Set against a $194,165 median income, cost of living beats 68% of towns.
Is Del Mar safe?
Del Mar is safer than 12% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $551 per resident a year.
Compare Del Mar with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Del Mar. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Del Mar 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.
Del Mar detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Del Mar: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Del Mar: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Del Mar: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Del Mar: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Del Mar 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.