Best PlacesWalnut Village, Irvine, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Walnut Village, 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.
Walnut Village, Irvine ranks 314th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Walnut Village, 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.
Walnut Village, Irvine's strengths and weaknesses
Where Walnut Village, Irvine ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 327 pleasant days a year, better than 98% of neighborhoods
- Household income$163,990 median, better than 94% of neighborhoods
- Crime safetyBetter than 93% of neighborhoods
- Health outlookBetter than 92% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than 92% of neighborhoods
Where Walnut Village, Irvine ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 3% of neighborhoods
- Air qualityBetter than only 14% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 15% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$1,494 a month, better than only 21% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Walnut Village, Irvine
A household needs to earn about $280,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Walnut Village, Irvine home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $163,990, 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 Walnut Village, Irvine's effective rate of 0.55%, 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 Walnut Village, Irvine
Walnut Village, Irvine's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Walnut Village, Irvine.
Who works in Walnut Village, Irvine, and how
Work in Walnut Village, Irvine centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 67%
- Work from home 28%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Walnut Village, Irvine
The coast is about 12 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Walnut Village, Irvine, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Walnut Village, Irvine, month by month
Walnut Village, Irvine sees roughly 327 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 Walnut Village, Irvine
John Wayne/Orange County sits about 5 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 Walnut Village, Irvine
Schools across Walnut Village, Irvine average a B+, better than 80% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Sycamore Magnet AcademyA+ · 75% proficient
Top middle schools
- C. E. Utt MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Irvine HighA · 72% proficient
- Tustin HighC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Walnut Village, Irvine school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Walnut Village, 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 Walnut Village, Irvine against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Walnut Village, Irvine
Is Walnut Village, Irvine a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Walnut Village, Irvine ranks 314th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on the weather, high incomes, and low crime, and lowest on noise and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Walnut Village, Irvine expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,108,687. The overall cost of living runs about 56% above the national average. Set against a $163,990 median income, cost of living beats 73% of neighborhoods.
Is Walnut Village, Irvine safe?
Yes, Walnut Village, Irvine is safer than 93% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $238 per resident a year.
Compare Walnut Village, Irvine with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Walnut Village, Irvine. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Walnut Village, 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.
Walnut Village, Irvine detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Walnut Village, Irvine: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Walnut Village, Irvine: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Walnut Village, Irvine: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Walnut Village, Irvine: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Walnut Village, 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.