Best PlacesSouth Gate, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around South Gate, 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 Gate ranks 1,825th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in South Gate
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 Gate's strengths and weaknesses
Where South Gate ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 308 pleasant days a year, better than 98% of cities
- TransitBetter than 96% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 96% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than 95% of cities
Where South Gate ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 2% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 3% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in South Gate
A household needs to earn about $163,000 a year to comfortably buy the median South Gate home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $76,656, 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 Gate's effective rate of 0.63%, 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 Gate
South Gate 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 Gate.
Who works in South Gate, and how
Work in South Gate centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in South Gate
South Gate has more restaurants and bars per resident than 66% of cities and more parkland per resident than 78% of cities. The coast is about 13 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of South Gate and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in South Gate, month by month
South Gate sees roughly 308 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 70, with lows near 48. Every month averages in that range.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 70° | 58° | 48° |
| April | 76° | 64° | 55° |
| July | 85° | 73° | 65° |
| October | 82° | 69° | 60° |
Flying in and out of South Gate
The nearest airport, Jack Northrop Field/Hawthorne Municipal, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Los Angeles International, about 12 miles away.
The best schools in and around South Gate
Schools across South Gate average a C−, better than 20% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- San Miguel ElementaryD · 20% proficient
- HollydaleD · 20% proficient
- Theodore RooseveltD · 19% proficient
Top middle schools
- Paramount Park MiddleD+ · 24% proficient
- Hosler MiddleD · 23% proficient
- Valiente College Preparatory CharterD− · 13% proficient
Top high schools
- International Studies Lrng Center At Legacy High Sch ComplexB+ · 53% proficient
- Early College Academy-la Trade Tech CollegeB · 50% proficient
- South East HighB · 49% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every South Gate school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
South Gate 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 Gate against the other 2,097 cities.
Who South Gate suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 8% already work from home.
Common questions about living in South Gate
Is South Gate a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, South Gate ranks 1,825th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on big-city access, the weather, and transit, and lowest on education levels and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is South Gate expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $638,163. The overall cost of living runs about 32% above the national average. Set against a $76,656 median income, cost of living beats 2% of cities.
Is South Gate safe?
South Gate is safer than 13% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $480 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in South Gate?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 70 with lows near 48. That works out to about 308 pleasant days a year, more than 98% of cities.
Is South Gate good for families?
Schools beat 20% of cities, crime safety beats 13%, and childcare runs $1,130 a month.
Compare South Gate with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to South Gate. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in South Gate 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 Gate detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for South Gate: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in South Gate: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of South Gate: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in South Gate: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
South Gate 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.