Best PlacesMar Vista, Los Angeles, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mar Vista, Los Angeles, 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.
Mar Vista, Los Angeles ranks 1,197th 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 Mar Vista, Los Angeles
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.
Mar Vista, Los Angeles' strengths and weaknesses
Where Mar Vista, Los Angeles ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 338 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than 94% of neighborhoods
- Low property taxBetter than 91% of neighborhoods
- Health outlookBetter than 89% of neighborhoods
- Internet speedBetter than 89% of neighborhoods
Where Mar Vista, Los Angeles ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 18% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 23% of neighborhoods
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 26% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Mar Vista, Los Angeles
A household needs to earn about $424,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mar Vista, Los Angeles home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $124,952, 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 Mar Vista, Los Angeles' effective rate of 0.52%, 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 Mar Vista, Los Angeles
Mar Vista, Los Angeles'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 Mar Vista, Los Angeles.
Who works in Mar Vista, Los Angeles, and how
Work in Mar Vista, Los Angeles centers on professional & technical and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 60%
- Work from home 31%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Mar Vista, Los Angeles
The coast is about 4 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Mar Vista, Los Angeles, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Mar Vista, Los Angeles, month by month
Mar Vista, Los Angeles sees roughly 338 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 76 degrees. January highs sit near 68, with lows near 47. Every month averages in that range.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 68° | 57° | 47° |
| April | 69° | 60° | 53° |
| July | 76° | 68° | 63° |
| October | 78° | 67° | 58° |
Flying in and out of Mar Vista, Los Angeles
Los Angeles International sits about 5 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 36.7 million passengers in 2025, with 247 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Mar Vista, Los Angeles
Schools across Mar Vista, Los Angeles average a C+, better than 58% of neighborhoods.
Top high schools
- Early College Academy-la Trade Tech CollegeB · 50% proficient
- Venice Senior HighB · 49% proficient
- Magnolia Science Academy 4D+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mar Vista, Los Angeles school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mar Vista, Los Angeles 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 Mar Vista, Los Angeles against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Who Mar Vista, Los Angeles suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 31% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 99% of neighborhoods and health care access beats 69%.
Common questions about living in Mar Vista, Los Angeles
Is Mar Vista, Los Angeles a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mar Vista, Los Angeles ranks 1,197th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on the weather, big-city access, and low property taxes, and lowest on air quality and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Mar Vista, Los Angeles expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,688,758. The overall cost of living runs about 73% above the national average. Set against a $124,952 median income, cost of living beats 47% of neighborhoods.
Is Mar Vista, Los Angeles safe?
Mar Vista, Los Angeles is safer than 50% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $470 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Mar Vista, Los Angeles?
July highs average about 76 degrees, and January highs near 68 with lows near 47. That works out to about 338 pleasant days a year, more than 99% of neighborhoods.
Is Mar Vista, Los Angeles good for families?
Schools beat 58% of neighborhoods, crime safety beats 50%, and childcare runs $1,130 a month.
Compare Mar Vista, Los Angeles with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mar Vista, Los Angeles. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mar Vista, Los Angeles 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.
Mar Vista, Los Angeles detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mar Vista, Los Angeles: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mar Vista, Los Angeles: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mar Vista, Los Angeles: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mar Vista, Los Angeles: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mar Vista, Los Angeles 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.