Best PlacesNorwalk, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Norwalk, 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.
Norwalk ranks 270th of 445 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. The coast is about 13 minutes away. Its strengths are few empty homes and big-city access. The cost shows up in noise, education levels, and air quality.
The best neighborhoods in Norwalk
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.
Norwalk's strengths and weaknesses
Norwalk lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Few empty homes is the standout, in the top 1% of cities. Big-city access and the weather follow.
The one real hole is noise, near the bottom of the country. Education levels and air quality also cost it ground. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where Norwalk ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 99% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than 98% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 277 pleasant days a year, better than 95% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than 94% of cities
- TransitBetter than 86% of cities
Where Norwalk ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 3% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 7% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 7% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 11% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 14% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Norwalk
A household needs to earn about $167,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Norwalk home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $106,461, 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 Norwalk's effective rate of 0.70%, 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 Norwalk
Norwalk 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 Norwalk.
Who works in Norwalk, and how
Work in Norwalk centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Norwalk
Norwalk has more parkland per resident than 75% of cities and less late-night activity than most cities. The coast is about 13 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Norwalk and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Norwalk, month by month
Norwalk sees roughly 277 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 71, with lows near 46. The comfortable stretch runs September through July.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 71° | 57° | 46° |
| April | 77° | 64° | 54° |
| July | 87° | 74° | 66° |
| October | 85° | 70° | 58° |
Flying in and out of Norwalk
The nearest airport, Long Beach (Daugherty Field), is about 7 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Los Angeles International, about 19 miles away.
The best schools in and around Norwalk
Schools across Norwalk average a C, better than 33% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Wittmann (helen) ElementaryA+ · 88% proficient
- Niemes (john H.) ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Kennedy (john F.) ElementaryA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ross (faye) MiddleA+ · 75% proficient
Top high schools
- La Mirada HighA+ · 83% proficient
- Santa Fe HighB · 45% proficient
- John H. Glenn HighB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Norwalk school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Norwalk 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 Norwalk against the other 444 cities.
Who Norwalk suits
Families
Schools land around the 33rd percentile and crime safety beats 61%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 8% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Norwalk
Is Norwalk a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Norwalk ranks 270th of 445 cities. It scores highest on few empty homes, big-city access, and the weather, and lowest on noise and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Norwalk expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $646,779. The overall cost of living runs about 38% above the national average. Set against a $106,461 median income, cost of living beats 14% of cities.
Is Norwalk safe?
Yes, Norwalk is safer than 61% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $358 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Norwalk?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 71 with lows near 46. That works out to about 277 pleasant days a year, more than 95% of cities.
Is Norwalk good for families?
Schools beat 33% of cities, crime safety beats 61%, and childcare runs $1,130 a month.
Is Norwalk good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 14% of cities, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 78% of cities. About 8% of workers already work from home.
Compare Norwalk with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Norwalk. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Norwalk 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.
Norwalk detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Norwalk: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Norwalk: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Norwalk: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Norwalk: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Norwalk 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.