Best PlacesKensington, San Diego, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kensington, San Diego, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Kensington, San Diego ranks 816th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Kensington, 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.
Kensington, San Diego's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kensington, San Diego ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 289 pleasant days a year, better than 96% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than 95% of neighborhoods
- Household income$156,561 median, better than 92% of neighborhoods
- Healthcare accessBetter than 90% of neighborhoods
- Low property taxBetter than 88% of neighborhoods
Where Kensington, San Diego ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 3% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 15% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$1,432 a month, better than only 25% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Kensington, San Diego
A household needs to earn about $365,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kensington, San Diego home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $156,561, 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 Kensington, San Diego's effective rate of 0.56%, 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 Kensington, San Diego
Kensington, San Diego 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 Kensington, San Diego.
Who works in Kensington, San Diego, and how
Work in Kensington, 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 56%
- Work from home 34%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Kensington, San Diego
The coast is about 10 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Kensington, San Diego, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Kensington, San Diego, month by month
Kensington, San Diego sees roughly 289 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 Kensington, San Diego
San Diego International sits about 5 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 Kensington, San Diego
Schools across Kensington, San Diego average a C+, better than 44% of neighborhoods.
Top middle schools
- Wilson MiddleF · 10% proficient
Top high schools
- Crawford HighD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kensington, San Diego school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kensington, 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 Kensington, San Diego against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Kensington, San Diego
Is Kensington, San Diego a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kensington, San Diego ranks 816th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on the weather, an educated workforce, and high incomes, and lowest on cell coverage and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Kensington, San Diego expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,445,513. The overall cost of living runs about 55% above the national average. Set against a $156,561 median income, cost of living beats 76% of neighborhoods.
Is Kensington, San Diego safe?
Kensington, San Diego is safer than 49% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $480 per resident a year.
Compare Kensington, San Diego with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kensington, San Diego. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kensington, 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.
Kensington, San Diego detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kensington, San Diego: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kensington, San Diego: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kensington, San Diego: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kensington, San Diego: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kensington, 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.