Best PlacesValley Adams, Santa Ana, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Valley Adams, Santa Ana, 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.
Valley Adams, Santa Ana ranks 2,089th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Valley Adams, Santa Ana
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.
Valley Adams, Santa Ana's strengths and weaknesses
Where Valley Adams, Santa Ana ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 326 pleasant days a year, better than 98% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
- Crime safetyBetter than 95% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than 93% of neighborhoods
- Heat safetyBetter than 87% of neighborhoods
Where Valley Adams, Santa Ana ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
- Air qualityBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 14% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Valley Adams, Santa Ana
A household needs to earn about $205,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Valley Adams, Santa Ana home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $105,410, 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 Valley Adams, Santa Ana's effective rate of 0.62%, 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 Valley Adams, Santa Ana
Valley Adams, Santa Ana 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 Valley Adams, Santa Ana.
Who works in Valley Adams, Santa Ana, and how
Work in Valley Adams, Santa Ana centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Valley Adams, Santa Ana
The coast is about 8 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Valley Adams, Santa Ana, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Valley Adams, Santa Ana, month by month
Valley Adams, Santa Ana sees roughly 326 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 Valley Adams, Santa Ana
John Wayne/Orange County sits about 4 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 Valley Adams, Santa Ana
Schools across Valley Adams, Santa Ana average a C, better than 40% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Jim Thorpe FundamentalC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Hector G. GodinezC+ · 35% proficient
- Valley HighC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Valley Adams, Santa Ana school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Valley Adams, Santa Ana 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 Valley Adams, Santa Ana against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Valley Adams, Santa Ana
Is Valley Adams, Santa Ana a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Valley Adams, Santa Ana ranks 2,089th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on the weather, few empty homes, and low crime, 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 Valley Adams, Santa Ana expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $804,388. The overall cost of living runs about 38% above the national average. Set against a $105,410 median income, cost of living beats 38% of neighborhoods.
Is Valley Adams, Santa Ana safe?
Yes, Valley Adams, Santa Ana is safer than 95% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $214 per resident a year.
Compare Valley Adams, Santa Ana with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Valley Adams, Santa Ana. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Valley Adams, Santa Ana 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.
Valley Adams, Santa Ana detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Valley Adams, Santa Ana: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Valley Adams, Santa Ana: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Valley Adams, Santa Ana: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Valley Adams, Santa Ana: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Valley Adams, Santa Ana 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.