Best PlacesLake Balboa, Van Nuys, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lake Balboa, Van Nuys, 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.
Lake Balboa, Van Nuys ranks 4,565th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Lake Balboa, Van Nuys
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.
Lake Balboa, Van Nuys' strengths and weaknesses
Where Lake Balboa, Van Nuys ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 240 pleasant days a year, better than 93% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than 92% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than 81% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than 81% of neighborhoods
- Low property taxBetter than 73% of neighborhoods
Where Lake Balboa, Van Nuys ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 3% of neighborhoods
- Heat safetyBetter than only 8% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 9% of neighborhoods
- Internet speedBetter than only 9% of neighborhoods
- Short commute32.8 minutes each way, better than only 10% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Lake Balboa, Van Nuys
A household needs to earn about $187,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lake Balboa, Van Nuys home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $80,405, 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 Lake Balboa, Van Nuys' effective rate of 0.69%, 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 Lake Balboa, Van Nuys
Lake Balboa, Van Nuys runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Lake Balboa, Van Nuys.
Who works in Lake Balboa, Van Nuys, and how
Work in Lake Balboa, Van Nuys centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Lake Balboa, Van Nuys
Lake Balboa, Van Nuys has more restaurants and bars per resident than 72% of neighborhoods and more parkland per resident than 99% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 14 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Lake Balboa, Van Nuys and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Lake Balboa, Van Nuys, month by month
Lake Balboa, Van Nuys sees roughly 240 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 70, with lows near 46. The comfortable stretch runs October through June.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 70° | 57° | 46° |
| April | 79° | 64° | 52° |
| July | 95° | 78° | 65° |
| October | 88° | 71° | 58° |
Flying in and out of Lake Balboa, Van Nuys
Bob Hope sits about 8 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 3.1 million passengers in 2025, with 54 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Lake Balboa, Van Nuys
Schools across Lake Balboa, Van Nuys average a C−, better than 34% of neighborhoods.
Top high schools
- High Tech LaB+ · 57% proficient
- Early College Academy-la Trade Tech CollegeB · 50% proficient
- Birmingham Community Charter HighB− · 41% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lake Balboa, Van Nuys school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lake Balboa, Van Nuys 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 Lake Balboa, Van Nuys against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Lake Balboa, Van Nuys
Is Lake Balboa, Van Nuys a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lake Balboa, Van Nuys ranks 4,565th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on the weather, big-city access, and biking, and lowest on air quality and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lake Balboa, Van Nuys expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $728,282. The overall cost of living runs about 39% above the national average. Set against a $80,405 median income, cost of living beats 18% of neighborhoods.
Is Lake Balboa, Van Nuys safe?
Yes, Lake Balboa, Van Nuys is safer than 58% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $432 per resident a year.
Compare Lake Balboa, Van Nuys with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lake Balboa, Van Nuys. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lake Balboa, Van Nuys 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.
Lake Balboa, Van Nuys detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lake Balboa, Van Nuys: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lake Balboa, Van Nuys: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lake Balboa, Van Nuys: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lake Balboa, Van Nuys: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lake Balboa, Van Nuys 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.