Best PlacesMontecito Heights, Los Angeles, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Montecito Heights, 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.
Montecito Heights, Los Angeles ranks 4,329th 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 Montecito Heights, 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.
Montecito Heights, Los Angeles' strengths and weaknesses
Where Montecito Heights, Los Angeles ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 306 pleasant days a year, better than 98% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
- Low property taxBetter than 86% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than 75% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than 72% of neighborhoods
Where Montecito Heights, Los Angeles ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 3% of neighborhoods
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Montecito Heights, Los Angeles
A household needs to earn about $204,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Montecito Heights, Los Angeles home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $70,613, 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 Montecito Heights, Los Angeles' effective rate of 0.58%, 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 Montecito Heights, Los Angeles
Montecito Heights, Los Angeles's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Montecito Heights, Los Angeles.
Who works in Montecito Heights, Los Angeles, and how
Work in Montecito Heights, Los Angeles centers on health care & social and hospitality & food. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 13%
Life in Montecito Heights, Los Angeles
Montecito Heights, Los Angeles has more parkland per resident than 86% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 15 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Montecito Heights, Los Angeles and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Montecito Heights, Los Angeles, month by month
Montecito Heights, Los Angeles sees roughly 306 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 70, with lows near 48. Every month averages in that range.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 70° | 58° | 48° |
| April | 76° | 64° | 55° |
| July | 85° | 73° | 65° |
| October | 82° | 69° | 60° |
Flying in and out of Montecito Heights, Los Angeles
Bob Hope sits about 12 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 Montecito Heights, Los Angeles
Schools across Montecito Heights, Los Angeles average a C−, better than 34% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- El Rio CommunityB · 50% proficient
- Los Angeles Leadership Primary AcademyD− · 13% proficient
Top high schools
- Early College Academy-la Trade Tech CollegeB · 50% proficient
- Abraham Lincoln Senior HighB · 49% proficient
- Ednovate - East College PrepC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Montecito Heights, Los Angeles school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Montecito Heights, 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 Montecito Heights, Los Angeles against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Who Montecito Heights, Los Angeles suits
Common questions about living in Montecito Heights, Los Angeles
Is Montecito Heights, Los Angeles a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Montecito Heights, Los Angeles ranks 4,329th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on the weather, big-city access, and low property taxes, and lowest on air quality and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Montecito Heights, Los Angeles expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $806,146. The overall cost of living runs about 46% above the national average. Set against a $70,613 median income, cost of living beats 6% of neighborhoods.
Is Montecito Heights, Los Angeles safe?
Montecito Heights, Los Angeles is safer than 42% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $529 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Montecito Heights, Los Angeles?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 70 with lows near 48. That works out to about 306 pleasant days a year, more than 98% of neighborhoods.
Is Montecito Heights, Los Angeles good for families?
Schools beat 34% of neighborhoods, crime safety beats 42%, and childcare runs $1,130 a month.
Compare Montecito Heights, Los Angeles with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Montecito Heights, Los Angeles. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Montecito Heights, 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.
Montecito Heights, Los Angeles detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Montecito Heights, Los Angeles: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Montecito Heights, Los Angeles: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Montecito Heights, Los Angeles: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Montecito Heights, Los Angeles: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Montecito Heights, 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.