Best PlacesNormal Heights, San Diego, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Normal Heights, 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.
Normal Heights, San Diego ranks 1,505th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Normal Heights, 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.
Normal Heights, San Diego's strengths and weaknesses
Where Normal Heights, San Diego ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 296 pleasant days a year, better than 97% of neighborhoods
- Health outlookBetter than 88% of neighborhoods
- WalkabilityBetter than 86% of neighborhoods
- Low property taxBetter than 80% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than 78% of neighborhoods
Where Normal Heights, San Diego ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 18% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than only 23% of neighborhoods
- Air qualityBetter than only 24% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$1,432 a month, better than only 25% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Normal Heights, San Diego
A household needs to earn about $193,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Normal Heights, San Diego home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $96,385, 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 Normal Heights, San Diego's effective rate of 0.64%, 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 Normal Heights, San Diego
Normal Heights, San Diego runs younger than the country, 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 Normal Heights, San Diego.
Who works in Normal Heights, San Diego, and how
Work in Normal Heights, San Diego centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Normal Heights, San Diego
The coast is about 9 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Normal Heights, San Diego, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Normal Heights, San Diego, month by month
Normal Heights, San Diego sees roughly 296 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 69, with lows near 45. Every month averages in that range.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 69° | 56° | 45° |
| April | 73° | 61° | 53° |
| July | 82° | 71° | 65° |
| October | 82° | 68° | 58° |
Flying in and out of Normal Heights, San Diego
San Diego International sits about 4 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 Normal Heights, San Diego
Schools across Normal Heights, San Diego average a C, better than 36% of neighborhoods.
Top middle schools
- Roosevelt International MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
- Wilson MiddleF · 10% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Normal Heights, San Diego school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Normal Heights, 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 Normal Heights, San Diego against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Normal Heights, San Diego
Is Normal Heights, San Diego a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Normal Heights, San Diego ranks 1,505th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on the weather, population health, and walkability, and lowest on tree cover and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Normal Heights, San Diego expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $753,787. The overall cost of living runs about 49% above the national average. Set against a $96,385 median income, cost of living beats 33% of neighborhoods.
Is Normal Heights, San Diego safe?
Normal Heights, San Diego is safer than 39% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $560 per resident a year.
Compare Normal Heights, San Diego with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Normal Heights, San Diego. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Normal Heights, 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.
Normal Heights, San Diego detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Normal Heights, San Diego: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Normal Heights, San Diego: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Normal Heights, San Diego: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Normal Heights, San Diego: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Normal Heights, 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.