Best PlacesLa Mesa, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around La Mesa, 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 Mesa ranks 963rd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in La Mesa
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 Mesa's strengths and weaknesses
Where La Mesa ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 240 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of cities
- TransitBetter than 88% of cities
- BikingBetter than 88% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 82% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than 80% of cities
Where La Mesa ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 3% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 9% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than only 16% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 18% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in La Mesa
A household needs to earn about $203,000 a year to comfortably buy the median La Mesa home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $100,328, 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 Mesa's effective rate of 0.65%, 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 Mesa
La Mesa runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for La Mesa.
Who works in La Mesa, and how
Work in La Mesa centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in La Mesa
La Mesa has more restaurants and bars per resident than 78% of cities and more parkland per resident than 78% of cities. The coast is about 13 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of La Mesa and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in La Mesa, month by month
La Mesa sees roughly 240 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 68, with lows near 43. The comfortable stretch runs February through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 68° | 54° | 43° |
| April | 74° | 61° | 52° |
| July | 87° | 74° | 65° |
| October | 82° | 67° | 56° |
Flying in and out of La Mesa
San Diego International sits about 10 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 Mesa
Schools across La Mesa average a C, better than 32% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Maryland Avenue ElementaryC · 31% proficient
- Murray Manor ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- La Mesa Arts AcademyB+ · 50% proficient
- Hillsdale MiddleF · 10% proficient
- Spring Valley AcademyF · 10% proficient
Top high schools
- Valhalla HighB · 48% proficient
- West Hills HighB · 47% proficient
- Grossmont HighB− · 41% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every La Mesa school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
La Mesa 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 Mesa against the other 2,097 cities.
Who La Mesa suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 18% already work from home.
Common questions about living in La Mesa
Is La Mesa a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, La Mesa ranks 963rd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on the weather, transit, and biking, and lowest on noise and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is La Mesa expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $792,327. The overall cost of living runs about 30% above the national average. Set against a $100,328 median income, cost of living beats 25% of cities.
Is La Mesa safe?
La Mesa is safer than 16% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $458 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in La Mesa?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 68 with lows near 43. That works out to about 240 pleasant days a year, more than 94% of cities.
Is La Mesa good for families?
Schools beat 32% of cities, crime safety beats 16%, and childcare runs $1,432 a month.
Compare La Mesa with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to La Mesa. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in La Mesa 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 Mesa detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for La Mesa: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in La Mesa: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of La Mesa: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in La Mesa: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
La Mesa 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.