Best PlacesNorth West Long Beach, Long Beach, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around North West Long Beach, Long Beach, 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 West Long Beach, Long Beach ranks 4,102nd of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in North West Long Beach, Long Beach
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 West Long Beach, Long Beach's strengths and weaknesses
Where North West Long Beach, Long Beach ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- Nice weatherabout 303 pleasant days a year, better than 97% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than 88% of neighborhoods
- School gradeB, better than 82% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than 82% of neighborhoods
Where North West Long Beach, Long Beach ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 2% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than only 3% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 11% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in North West Long Beach, Long Beach
A household needs to earn about $137,000 a year to comfortably buy the median North West Long Beach, Long Beach home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $83,944, 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 West Long Beach, Long Beach's effective rate of 0.65%, 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 West Long Beach, Long Beach
North West Long Beach, Long Beach 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 North West Long Beach, Long Beach.
Who works in North West Long Beach, Long Beach, and how
Work in North West Long Beach, Long Beach centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in North West Long Beach, Long Beach
The coast is about 8 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across North West Long Beach, Long Beach, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in North West Long Beach, Long Beach, month by month
North West Long Beach, Long Beach sees roughly 303 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 70, with lows near 47. Every month averages in that range.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 70° | 57° | 47° |
| April | 75° | 63° | 54° |
| July | 84° | 72° | 65° |
| October | 83° | 69° | 60° |
Flying in and out of North West Long Beach, Long Beach
The nearest airport, Long Beach (Daugherty Field), is about 5 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Los Angeles International, about 13 miles away.
The best schools in and around North West Long Beach, Long Beach
Schools across North West Long Beach, Long Beach average a B, better than 82% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Powell Academy For SuccessC− · 30% proficient
- King ElementaryD · 16% proficient
Top middle schools
- Helen Keller MiddleA · 60% proficient
Top high schools
- Eunice Sato Academy Of Math & ScienceA+ · 83% proficient
- Early College Academy-la Trade Tech CollegeB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every North West Long Beach, Long Beach school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
North West Long Beach, Long Beach 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 West Long Beach, Long Beach against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in North West Long Beach, Long Beach
Is North West Long Beach, Long Beach a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, North West Long Beach, Long Beach ranks 4,102nd of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on big-city access, the weather, and cell coverage, and lowest on air quality and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is North West Long Beach, Long Beach expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $533,351. The overall cost of living runs about 36% above the national average. Set against a $83,944 median income, cost of living beats 19% of neighborhoods.
Is North West Long Beach, Long Beach safe?
North West Long Beach, Long Beach is safer than 35% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $593 per resident a year.
Compare North West Long Beach, Long Beach with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to North West Long Beach, Long Beach. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in North West Long Beach, Long Beach 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 West Long Beach, Long Beach detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for North West Long Beach, Long Beach: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in North West Long Beach, Long Beach: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of North West Long Beach, Long Beach: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in North West Long Beach, Long Beach: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
North West Long Beach, Long Beach 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.