Best PlacesSouth El Monte, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around South El Monte, 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.
South El Monte ranks 1,843rd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in South El Monte
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.
South El Monte's strengths and weaknesses
Where South El Monte ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 98% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than 98% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 271 pleasant days a year, better than 97% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 96% of cities
- TransitBetter than 90% of cities
Where South El Monte ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 1% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 5% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in South El Monte
A household needs to earn about $157,000 a year to comfortably buy the median South El Monte home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $71,657, 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 South El Monte's effective rate of 0.69%, 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 South El Monte
South El Monte 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 South El Monte.
Who works in South El Monte, and how
Work in South El Monte centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in South El Monte
South El Monte has more restaurants and bars per resident than 75% of cities and more parkland per resident than 96% of cities. The coast is about 23 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of South El Monte and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in South El Monte, month by month
South El Monte sees roughly 271 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 68, with lows near 48. The comfortable stretch runs October through May.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 68° | 60° | 48° |
| April | 76° | 68° | 57° |
| July | 89° | 81° | 69° |
| October | 83° | 74° | 60° |
Flying in and out of South El Monte
The nearest airport, Long Beach (Daugherty Field), is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bob Hope, about 21 miles away.
The best schools in and around South El Monte
Schools across South El Monte average a C+, better than 45% of cities.
Top high schools
- El Rancho HighB · 50% proficient
- Pioneer HighC+ · 39% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every South El Monte school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
South El Monte 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 South El Monte against the other 2,097 cities.
Who South El Monte suits
Common questions about living in South El Monte
Is South El Monte a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, South El Monte ranks 1,843rd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on cell coverage, big-city access, and the weather, and lowest on education levels and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is South El Monte expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $608,500. The overall cost of living runs about 32% above the national average. Set against a $71,657 median income, cost of living beats 1% of cities.
Is South El Monte safe?
South El Monte is safer than 19% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $474 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in South El Monte?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 68 with lows near 48. That works out to about 271 pleasant days a year, more than 97% of cities.
Is South El Monte good for families?
Schools beat 45% of cities, crime safety beats 19%, and childcare runs $1,130 a month.
Compare South El Monte with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to South El Monte. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in South El Monte 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.
South El Monte detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for South El Monte: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in South El Monte: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of South El Monte: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in South El Monte: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
South El Monte 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.