Best PlacesOrchard Hills, Irvine, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Orchard Hills, Irvine, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Orchard Hills, Irvine ranks 572nd of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on population health by a wide margin, and walkability ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Orchard Hills, Irvine
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.
Orchard Hills, Irvine's strengths and weaknesses
Where Orchard Hills, Irvine ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- Nice weatherabout 330 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of neighborhoods
- Local economyBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- Household income$180,955 median, better than 96% of neighborhoods
Where Orchard Hills, Irvine ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 5% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than only 5% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 9% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 11% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than only 13% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Orchard Hills, Irvine
A household needs to earn about $440,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Orchard Hills, Irvine home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $180,955, 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 Orchard Hills, Irvine's effective rate of 0.84%, 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 Orchard Hills, Irvine
Orchard Hills, Irvine'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 Orchard Hills, Irvine.
Who works in Orchard Hills, Irvine, and how
Work in Orchard Hills, Irvine centers on manufacturing and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 57%
- Work from home 40%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Orchard Hills, Irvine
The coast is about 15 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Orchard Hills, Irvine, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Orchard Hills, Irvine, month by month
Orchard Hills, Irvine sees roughly 330 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 69, with lows near 48. Every month averages in that range.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 69° | 58° | 48° |
| April | 73° | 63° | 56° |
| July | 81° | 72° | 66° |
| October | 81° | 69° | 61° |
Flying in and out of Orchard Hills, Irvine
John Wayne/Orange County sits about 8 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 5.5 million passengers in 2025, with 80 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Orchard Hills, Irvine
Schools across Orchard Hills, Irvine average a B+, better than 85% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Orchard HillsD+ · 25% proficient
- Peters Canyon ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Northwood HighA · 79% proficient
- Arnold O. Beckman HighA · 72% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Orchard Hills, Irvine school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Orchard Hills, Irvine 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 Orchard Hills, Irvine against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Orchard Hills, Irvine
Is Orchard Hills, Irvine a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Orchard Hills, Irvine ranks 572nd of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on population health, the weather, and a strong job market, and lowest on walkability and transit. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Orchard Hills, Irvine expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,674,958. The overall cost of living runs about 75% above the national average. Set against a $180,955 median income, cost of living beats 73% of neighborhoods.
Is Orchard Hills, Irvine safe?
Yes, Orchard Hills, Irvine is safer than 96% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $206 per resident a year.
Compare Orchard Hills, Irvine with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Orchard Hills, Irvine. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Orchard Hills, Irvine 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.
Orchard Hills, Irvine detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Orchard Hills, Irvine: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Orchard Hills, Irvine: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Orchard Hills, Irvine: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Orchard Hills, Irvine: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Orchard Hills, Irvine 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.