Best PlacesMission Bay, San Diego, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mission Bay, San Diego, 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.
Mission Bay, San Diego ranks 2,594th 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 Mission Bay, 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.
Mission Bay, San Diego's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mission Bay, San Diego ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 295 pleasant days a year, better than 97% of neighborhoods
- Health outlookBetter than 77% of neighborhoods
- Household income$111,360 median, better than 75% of neighborhoods
- Heat safetyBetter than 73% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than 69% of neighborhoods
Where Mission Bay, San Diego ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 3% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than only 8% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than only 13% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 23% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Mission Bay, San Diego
A household needs to earn about $203,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mission Bay, San Diego home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $111,360, 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 Mission Bay, San Diego's effective rate of 0.77%, 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 Mission Bay, San Diego
Mission Bay, San Diego runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Mission Bay, San Diego.
Who works in Mission Bay, San Diego, and how
Work in Mission Bay, San Diego centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Mission Bay, San Diego
Mission Bay, San Diego has more restaurants and bars per resident than 97% of neighborhoods and more parkland per resident than 96% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 6 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Mission Bay, San Diego and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Mission Bay, San Diego, month by month
Mission Bay, San Diego sees roughly 295 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 69, with lows near 43. Every month averages in that range.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 69° | 55° | 43° |
| April | 74° | 60° | 50° |
| July | 81° | 70° | 62° |
| October | 81° | 67° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Mission Bay, San Diego
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 Mission Bay, San Diego
Schools across Mission Bay, San Diego average a C, better than 36% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Howard Pence ElementaryD− · 11% proficient
- Sunnyslope ElementaryF · 10% proficient
- George Nicoloff ElementaryF · 6% proficient
Top middle schools
- Montgomery MiddleC− · 27% proficient
- Castle Park MiddleD · 22% proficient
- Southwest MiddleD− · 15% proficient
Top high schools
- Point Loma HighA · 75% proficient
- San Ysidro HighC+ · 36% proficient
- Southwest Senior HighC · 31% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mission Bay, San Diego school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mission Bay, 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 Mission Bay, San Diego against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Who Mission Bay, San Diego suits
Families
Schools land around the 36th percentile and crime safety beats 61%.
Common questions about living in Mission Bay, San Diego
Is Mission Bay, San Diego a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mission Bay, San Diego ranks 2,594th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on the weather, population health, and high incomes, and lowest on air quality and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Mission Bay, San Diego expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $778,099. The overall cost of living runs about 34% above the national average. Set against a $111,360 median income, cost of living beats 52% of neighborhoods.
Is Mission Bay, San Diego safe?
Yes, Mission Bay, San Diego is safer than 61% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $457 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Mission Bay, San Diego?
July highs average about 81 degrees, and January highs near 69 with lows near 43. That works out to about 295 pleasant days a year, more than 97% of neighborhoods.
Is Mission Bay, San Diego good for families?
Schools beat 36% of neighborhoods, crime safety beats 61%, and childcare runs $1,432 a month.
Compare Mission Bay, San Diego with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mission Bay, San Diego. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mission Bay, 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.
Mission Bay, San Diego detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mission Bay, San Diego: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mission Bay, San Diego: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mission Bay, San Diego: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mission Bay, San Diego: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mission Bay, 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.