Best PlacesSherman Oaks, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Sherman Oaks, 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.
Sherman Oaks ranks 980th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Sherman Oaks
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.
Sherman Oaks' strengths and weaknesses
Where Sherman Oaks ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 96% of cities
- BikingBetter than 96% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 95% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than 95% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 241 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of cities
Where Sherman Oaks ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 2% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 3% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 6% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 6% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than only 10% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Sherman Oaks
A household needs to earn about $322,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sherman Oaks home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $128,341, 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 Sherman Oaks' effective rate of 0.74%, 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 Sherman Oaks
Sherman Oaks's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Sherman Oaks.
Who works in Sherman Oaks, and how
Work in Sherman Oaks centers on professional & technical and information. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 61%
- Work from home 34%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Sherman Oaks
Sherman Oaks has more restaurants and bars per resident than 88% of cities and more parkland per resident than 76% of cities. The coast is about 12 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Sherman Oaks and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Sherman Oaks, month by month
Sherman Oaks sees roughly 241 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 Sherman Oaks
Bob Hope sits about 6 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 Sherman Oaks
Schools across Sherman Oaks average a B−, better than 44% of cities.
Top middle schools
- Ivy Bound Acad Of Math Sci And Tech Charter MidC · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- Early College Academy-la Trade Tech CollegeB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sherman Oaks school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sherman Oaks 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 Sherman Oaks against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Sherman Oaks suits
Retirees
The weather beats 94% of cities and health care access beats 64%.
Common questions about living in Sherman Oaks
Is Sherman Oaks a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sherman Oaks ranks 980th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on cell coverage, biking, and walkability, and lowest on noise 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 Sherman Oaks expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,242,448. The overall cost of living runs about 56% above the national average. Set against a $128,341 median income, cost of living beats 42% of cities.
Is Sherman Oaks safe?
Sherman Oaks is safer than 16% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $455 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Sherman Oaks?
July highs average about 95 degrees, and January highs near 70 with lows near 46. That works out to about 241 pleasant days a year, more than 94% of cities.
Is Sherman Oaks good for families?
Schools beat 44% of cities, crime safety beats 16%, and childcare runs $1,130 a month.
Compare Sherman Oaks with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sherman Oaks. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sherman Oaks 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.
Sherman Oaks detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sherman Oaks: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sherman Oaks: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sherman Oaks: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sherman Oaks: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sherman Oaks 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.