Best PlacesWest Hills, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Hills, 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.
West Hills ranks 611th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in West Hills
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.
West Hills' strengths and weaknesses
Where West Hills ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 234 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of cities
- Household income$159,206 median, better than 94% of cities
- BikingBetter than 92% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than 91% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than 86% of cities
Where West Hills ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 6% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 7% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 10% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 16% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in West Hills
A household needs to earn about $290,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Hills home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $159,206, 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 West Hills' effective rate of 0.71%, 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 West Hills
West Hills runs older 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 West Hills.
Who works in West Hills, and how
Work in West Hills centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 66%
- Work from home 30%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in West Hills
West Hills has more parkland per resident than 78% of cities. The coast is about 19 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of West Hills and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in West Hills, month by month
West Hills sees roughly 234 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 West Hills
Bob Hope sits about 16 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 West Hills
Schools across West Hills average a B, better than 57% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Round Meadow ElementaryA+ · 74% proficient
- Vista ElementaryA · 69% proficient
- Oak Hills ElementaryA · 62% proficient
Top middle schools
- Medea Creek MiddleA+ · 74% proficient
- Alice C. Stelle MiddleA− · 54% proficient
- Valley View MiddleC+ · 36% proficient
Top high schools
- Oak Park HighB+ · 56% proficient
- Early College Academy-la Trade Tech CollegeB · 50% proficient
- Calabasas HighB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Hills school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Hills 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 West Hills against the other 2,097 cities.
Who West Hills suits
Retirees
The weather beats 94% of cities, health care access beats 71%, and it is quieter than 62%.
Common questions about living in West Hills
Is West Hills a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Hills ranks 611th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on the weather, high incomes, and biking, and lowest on summer heat and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is West Hills expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,122,874. The overall cost of living runs about 45% above the national average. Set against a $159,206 median income, cost of living beats 69% of cities.
Is West Hills safe?
West Hills is safer than 45% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $330 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in West Hills?
July highs average about 95 degrees, and January highs near 70 with lows near 46. That works out to about 234 pleasant days a year, more than 94% of cities.
Is West Hills good for families?
Schools beat 57% of cities, crime safety beats 45%, and childcare runs $1,157 a month.
Compare West Hills with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Hills. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Hills 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.
West Hills detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Hills: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Hills: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Hills: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Hills: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Hills 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.