Best PlacesPortola Springs, Irvine, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Portola Springs, 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.
Portola Springs, Irvine ranks 282nd 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 Portola Springs, 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.
Portola Springs, Irvine's strengths and weaknesses
Where Portola Springs, Irvine ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- Nice weatherabout 331 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of neighborhoods
- Crime safetyBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
- Household income$178,836 median, better than 96% of neighborhoods
- Local economyBetter than 96% of neighborhoods
Where Portola Springs, Irvine ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 2% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 7% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than only 11% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than only 12% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 14% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Portola Springs, Irvine
A household needs to earn about $328,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Portola Springs, Irvine home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $178,836, 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 Portola Springs, Irvine's effective rate of 0.95%, 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 Portola Springs, Irvine
Portola Springs, Irvine 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 Portola Springs, Irvine.
Who works in Portola Springs, Irvine, and how
Work in Portola Springs, Irvine centers on professional & technical and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 63%
- Work from home 32%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Portola Springs, Irvine
Portola Springs, Irvine has more parkland per resident than 78% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 14 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Portola Springs, Irvine and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Portola Springs, Irvine, month by month
Portola Springs, Irvine sees roughly 331 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 Portola Springs, Irvine
John Wayne/Orange County sits about 9 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 Portola Springs, Irvine
Schools across Portola Springs, Irvine average an A, better than 92% of neighborhoods.
Top high schools
- Northwood HighA · 79% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Portola Springs, Irvine school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Portola Springs, 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 Portola Springs, Irvine against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Portola Springs, Irvine
Is Portola Springs, Irvine a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Portola Springs, Irvine ranks 282nd of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on population health, the weather, and low crime, and lowest on walkability 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 Portola Springs, Irvine expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,231,536. The overall cost of living runs about 59% above the national average. Set against a $178,836 median income, cost of living beats 81% of neighborhoods.
Is Portola Springs, Irvine safe?
Yes, Portola Springs, Irvine is safer than 97% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $187 per resident a year.
Compare Portola Springs, Irvine with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Portola Springs, Irvine. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Portola Springs, 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.
Portola Springs, Irvine detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Portola Springs, Irvine: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Portola Springs, Irvine: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Portola Springs, Irvine: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Portola Springs, Irvine: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Portola Springs, 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.