Best PlacesKearny Mesa, San Diego, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kearny Mesa, 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.
Kearny Mesa, San Diego ranks 2,599th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on population health by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Kearny Mesa, 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.
Kearny Mesa, San Diego's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kearny Mesa, San Diego ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- Nice weatherabout 290 pleasant days a year, better than 96% of neighborhoods
- Household income$128,035 median, better than 84% of neighborhoods
- Heat safetyBetter than 81% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than 80% of neighborhoods
Where Kearny Mesa, San Diego ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Crime safetyBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than only 5% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Kearny Mesa, San Diego
A household needs to earn about $162,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kearny Mesa, San Diego home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $128,035, 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 Kearny Mesa, San Diego's effective rate of 0.78%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Kearny Mesa, San Diego
Kearny Mesa, San Diego runs younger 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 Kearny Mesa, San Diego.
Who works in Kearny Mesa, San Diego, and how
Work in Kearny Mesa, San Diego centers on professional & technical and education. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Kearny Mesa, San Diego
Kearny Mesa, San Diego has more restaurants and bars per resident than 98% of neighborhoods and more parkland per resident than 86% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 10 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Kearny Mesa, San Diego and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Kearny Mesa, San Diego, month by month
Kearny Mesa, 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 Kearny Mesa, 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 Kearny Mesa, San Diego
Schools across Kearny Mesa, San Diego average a B−, better than 63% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Innovations AcademyB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Montgomery MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- San Diego Mission AcademyD · 19% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kearny Mesa, San Diego school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kearny Mesa, 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 Kearny Mesa, San Diego against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Kearny Mesa, San Diego
Is Kearny Mesa, San Diego a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kearny Mesa, San Diego ranks 2,599th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on population health, the weather, and high incomes, and lowest on noise and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Kearny Mesa, San Diego expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $621,531. The overall cost of living runs about 37% above the national average. Set against a $128,035 median income, cost of living beats 68% of neighborhoods.
Is Kearny Mesa, San Diego safe?
Kearny Mesa, San Diego is safer than 4% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,419 per resident a year.
Compare Kearny Mesa, San Diego with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kearny Mesa, San Diego. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kearny Mesa, 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.
Kearny Mesa, San Diego detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kearny Mesa, San Diego: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kearny Mesa, San Diego: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kearny Mesa, San Diego: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kearny Mesa, San Diego: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kearny Mesa, 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.