Best PlacesNorthridge, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Northridge, 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.
Northridge ranks 1,117th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Northridge
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.
Northridge's strengths and weaknesses
Where Northridge ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 233 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of cities
- BikingBetter than 94% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than 92% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than 85% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 83% of cities
Where Northridge ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 3% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than only 6% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 8% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 13% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Northridge
A household needs to earn about $264,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Northridge home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $120,905, 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 Northridge's effective rate of 0.68%, 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 Northridge
Northridge'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 Northridge.
Who works in Northridge, and how
Work in Northridge centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Northridge
Northridge has more restaurants and bars per resident than 76% of cities and more parkland per resident than 88% of cities. The coast is about 21 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Northridge and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Northridge, month by month
Northridge sees roughly 233 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 70, with lows near 46. The comfortable stretch runs October through June.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 70° | 57° | 46° |
| April | 79° | 64° | 52° |
| July | 95° | 78° | 65° |
| October | 88° | 71° | 58° |
Flying in and out of Northridge
Bob Hope sits about 11 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 Northridge
Schools across Northridge average a C+, better than 38% of cities.
Top high schools
- Early College Academy-la Trade Tech CollegeB · 50% proficient
- Valley International Preparatory HighB · 48% proficient
- Northridge Academy HighC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Northridge school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Northridge 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 Northridge against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Northridge suits
Common questions about living in Northridge
Is Northridge a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Northridge ranks 1,117th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on the weather, biking, and big-city access, and lowest on air quality and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Northridge expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,027,760. The overall cost of living runs about 38% above the national average. Set against a $120,905 median income, cost of living beats 39% of cities.
Is Northridge safe?
Northridge is safer than 38% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $357 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Northridge?
July highs average about 95 degrees, and January highs near 70 with lows near 46. That works out to about 233 pleasant days a year, more than 94% of cities.
Is Northridge good for families?
Schools beat 38% of cities, crime safety beats 38%, and childcare runs $1,130 a month.
Compare Northridge with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Northridge. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Northridge 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.
Northridge detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Northridge: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Northridge: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Northridge: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Northridge: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Northridge 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.