Best PlacesLa Jolla, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around La Jolla, 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.
La Jolla ranks 556th of 2,098 U.S. cities 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 La Jolla
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.
La Jolla's strengths and weaknesses
Where La Jolla ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 269 pleasant days a year, better than 96% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than 94% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 91% of cities
- BikingBetter than 90% of cities
Where La Jolla ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than only 6% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 11% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than only 14% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in La Jolla
A household needs to earn about $389,000 a year to comfortably buy the median La Jolla home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $134,637, 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 La Jolla's effective rate of 0.68%, 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 La Jolla
La Jolla's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 La Jolla.
Who works in La Jolla, and how
Work in La Jolla centers on education and professional & technical. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 50%
- Work from home 29%
- Transit, walk, or bike 22%
Life in La Jolla
La Jolla has more restaurants and bars per resident than 87% of cities and more parkland per resident than 97% of cities. The coast is about 3 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of La Jolla and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in La Jolla, month by month
La Jolla sees roughly 269 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 La Jolla
San Diego International sits about 9 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 La Jolla
Schools across La Jolla average a B, better than 64% of cities.
Top middle schools
- Carmel Valley MiddleA · 67% proficient
- Muirlands MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- University City HighA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every La Jolla school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
La Jolla 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 La Jolla against the other 2,097 cities.
Who La Jolla suits
Retirees
The weather beats 96% of cities and health care access beats 61%.
Common questions about living in La Jolla
Is La Jolla a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, La Jolla ranks 556th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on an educated workforce, the weather, and population health, and lowest on an overheated housing market and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is La Jolla expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,512,989. The overall cost of living runs about 73% above the national average. Set against a $134,637 median income, cost of living beats 28% of cities.
Is La Jolla safe?
La Jolla is safer than 6% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,100 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in La Jolla?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 70 with lows near 45. That works out to about 269 pleasant days a year, more than 96% of cities.
Is La Jolla good for families?
Schools beat 64% of cities, crime safety beats 6%, and childcare runs $1,432 a month.
Compare La Jolla with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to La Jolla. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in La Jolla 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.
La Jolla detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for La Jolla: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in La Jolla: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of La Jolla: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in La Jolla: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
La Jolla 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.