Best PlacesNorth El Monte, Arcadia, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around North El Monte, Arcadia, 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.
North El Monte, Arcadia ranks 3,252nd of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in North El Monte, Arcadia
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.
North El Monte, Arcadia's strengths and weaknesses
Where North El Monte, Arcadia ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
- Nice weatherabout 269 pleasant days a year, better than 95% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than 95% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than 90% of neighborhoods
- Local economyBetter than 69% of neighborhoods
Where North El Monte, Arcadia ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 8% of neighborhoods
- Heat safetyBetter than only 15% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 17% of neighborhoods
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 18% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in North El Monte, Arcadia
A household needs to earn about $221,000 a year to comfortably buy the median North El Monte, Arcadia home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $85,738, 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 North El Monte, Arcadia's effective rate of 0.73%, 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 North El Monte, Arcadia
North El Monte, Arcadia runs older 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 North El Monte, Arcadia.
Who works in North El Monte, Arcadia, and how
Work in North El Monte, Arcadia centers on hospitality & food and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in North El Monte, Arcadia
The coast is about 26 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across North El Monte, Arcadia, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in North El Monte, Arcadia, month by month
North El Monte, Arcadia sees roughly 269 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 68, with lows near 48. The comfortable stretch runs October through May.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 68° | 60° | 48° |
| April | 76° | 68° | 57° |
| July | 89° | 81° | 69° |
| October | 83° | 74° | 60° |
Flying in and out of North El Monte, Arcadia
Bob Hope sits about 20 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 North El Monte, Arcadia
Schools across North El Monte, Arcadia average a B−, better than 65% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Gidley ElementaryC · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every North El Monte, Arcadia school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
North El Monte, Arcadia 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 North El Monte, Arcadia against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in North El Monte, Arcadia
Is North El Monte, Arcadia a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, North El Monte, Arcadia ranks 3,252nd of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on few empty homes, the weather, and big-city access, 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 North El Monte, Arcadia expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $854,057. The overall cost of living runs about 48% above the national average. Set against a $85,738 median income, cost of living beats 18% of neighborhoods.
Is North El Monte, Arcadia safe?
Yes, North El Monte, Arcadia is safer than 65% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $377 per resident a year.
Compare North El Monte, Arcadia with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to North El Monte, Arcadia. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in North El Monte, Arcadia 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.
North El Monte, Arcadia detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for North El Monte, Arcadia: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in North El Monte, Arcadia: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of North El Monte, Arcadia: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in North El Monte, Arcadia: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
North El Monte, Arcadia 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.