Best PlacesPark West, San Diego, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Park West, San Diego, 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.
Park West, San Diego ranks 957th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Park West, San Diego
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.
Park West, San Diego's strengths and weaknesses
Where Park West, San Diego ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 344 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of neighborhoods
- Healthcare accessBetter than 87% of neighborhoods
- Short commute18.9 minutes each way, better than 86% of neighborhoods
- WalkabilityBetter than 84% of neighborhoods
- Household income$123,171 median, better than 82% of neighborhoods
Where Park West, San Diego ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than only 16% of neighborhoods
- Air qualityBetter than only 18% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of neighborhoods
- Crime safetyBetter than only 23% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Park West, San Diego
A household needs to earn about $234,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Park West, San Diego home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $123,171, 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 Park West, San Diego's effective rate of 0.98%, 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 Park West, San Diego
Park West, San Diego runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Park West, San Diego.
Who works in Park West, San Diego, and how
Work in Park West, San Diego centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 56%
- Work from home 35%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Park West, San Diego
The coast is about 6 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Park West, San Diego, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Park West, San Diego, month by month
Park West, San Diego sees roughly 344 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 77 degrees. January highs sit near 68, with lows near 48. Every month averages in that range.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 68° | 58° | 48° |
| April | 71° | 63° | 56° |
| July | 77° | 70° | 66° |
| October | 78° | 68° | 60° |
Flying in and out of Park West, San Diego
San Diego International sits about 1 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 12.7 million passengers in 2025, with 121 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Park West, San Diego
Schools across Park West, San Diego average a C+, better than 47% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Florence ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Roosevelt International MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Park West, San Diego school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Park West, San Diego 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 Park West, San Diego against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Park West, San Diego
Is Park West, San Diego a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Park West, San Diego ranks 957th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on the weather, health care access, and short commutes, and lowest on noise and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Park West, San Diego expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $875,868. The overall cost of living runs about 45% above the national average. Set against a $123,171 median income, cost of living beats 63% of neighborhoods.
Is Park West, San Diego safe?
Park West, San Diego is safer than 23% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $684 per resident a year.
Compare Park West, San Diego with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Park West, San Diego. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Park West, San Diego 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.
Park West, San Diego detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Park West, San Diego: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Park West, San Diego: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Park West, San Diego: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Park West, San Diego: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Park West, San Diego 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.