Best PlacesEl Cerritos, San Diego, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around El Cerritos, San Diego, 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.
El Cerritos, San Diego ranks 2,608th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in El Cerritos, San Diego
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.
El Cerritos, San Diego's strengths and weaknesses
Where El Cerritos, San Diego ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 290 pleasant days a year, better than 96% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than 91% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than 90% of neighborhoods
- Short commute19.0 minutes each way, better than 85% of neighborhoods
- Low property taxBetter than 81% of neighborhoods
Where El Cerritos, San Diego ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 11% of neighborhoods
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 19% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of neighborhoods
- Air qualityBetter than only 22% of neighborhoods
- School gradeD+, better than only 24% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in El Cerritos, San Diego
A household needs to earn about $182,000 a year to comfortably buy the median El Cerritos, San Diego home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $74,158, 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 El Cerritos, San Diego's effective rate of 0.63%, 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 El Cerritos, San Diego
El Cerritos, San Diego runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for El Cerritos, San Diego.
Who works in El Cerritos, San Diego, and how
Work in El Cerritos, San Diego centers on health care & social and hospitality & food. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in El Cerritos, San Diego
The coast is about 11 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across El Cerritos, San Diego, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in El Cerritos, San Diego, month by month
El Cerritos, San Diego sees roughly 290 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 69, with lows near 45. Every month averages in that range.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 69° | 56° | 45° |
| April | 73° | 61° | 53° |
| July | 82° | 71° | 65° |
| October | 82° | 68° | 58° |
Flying in and out of El Cerritos, San Diego
San Diego International sits about 7 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 El Cerritos, San Diego
Schools across El Cerritos, San Diego average a D+, better than 24% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Iftin CharterD · 21% proficient
Top high schools
- Crawford HighD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every El Cerritos, San Diego school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
El Cerritos, San Diego 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 El Cerritos, San Diego against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in El Cerritos, San Diego
Is El Cerritos, San Diego a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, El Cerritos, San Diego ranks 2,608th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on the weather, quiet, and few empty homes, and lowest on an overheated housing market and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is El Cerritos, San Diego expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $713,068. The overall cost of living runs about 35% above the national average. Set against a $74,158 median income, cost of living beats 19% of neighborhoods.
Is El Cerritos, San Diego safe?
El Cerritos, San Diego is safer than 40% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $528 per resident a year.
Compare El Cerritos, San Diego with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to El Cerritos, San Diego. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in El Cerritos, San Diego 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.
El Cerritos, San Diego detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for El Cerritos, San Diego: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in El Cerritos, San Diego: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of El Cerritos, San Diego: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in El Cerritos, San Diego: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
El Cerritos, San Diego 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.