Best PlacesWest Side, Long Beach, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Side, Long Beach, 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 Side, Long Beach ranks 3,113th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in West Side, Long Beach
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 Side, Long Beach's strengths and weaknesses
Where West Side, Long Beach ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 304 pleasant days a year, better than 97% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than 95% of neighborhoods
- School gradeB+, better than 86% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than 80% of neighborhoods
- Internet speedBetter than 79% of neighborhoods
Where West Side, Long Beach ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 14% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 14% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than only 15% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in West Side, Long Beach
A household needs to earn about $150,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Side, Long Beach home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $85,658, 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 Side, Long Beach's effective rate of 0.68%, 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 Side, Long Beach
West Side, Long Beach'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 West Side, Long Beach.
Who works in West Side, Long Beach, and how
Work in West Side, Long Beach centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in West Side, Long Beach
The coast is about 5 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across West Side, Long Beach, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in West Side, Long Beach, month by month
West Side, Long Beach sees roughly 304 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 70, with lows near 47. Every month averages in that range.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 70° | 57° | 47° |
| April | 75° | 63° | 54° |
| July | 84° | 72° | 65° |
| October | 83° | 69° | 60° |
Flying in and out of West Side, Long Beach
The nearest airport, Long Beach (Daugherty Field), is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Los Angeles International, about 14 miles away.
The best schools in and around West Side, Long Beach
Schools across West Side, Long Beach average a B+, better than 86% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Los Cerritos ElementaryA− · 56% proficient
- Muir K-8B− · 42% proficient
- HudsonC− · 29% proficient
Top middle schools
- Helen Keller MiddleA · 60% proficient
- Stephens MiddleD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Dr. Richard A. Vladovic Harbor Teacher Preparation AcademyA+ · 86% proficient
- Eunice Sato Academy Of Math & ScienceA+ · 83% proficient
- Cabrillo HighC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Side, Long Beach school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Side, Long Beach 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 Side, Long Beach against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Who West Side, Long Beach suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 14% already work from home.
Common questions about living in West Side, Long Beach
Is West Side, Long Beach a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Side, Long Beach ranks 3,113th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on the weather, big-city access, and good schools, and lowest on air quality and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is West Side, Long Beach expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $585,557. The overall cost of living runs about 33% above the national average. Set against a $85,658 median income, cost of living beats 24% of neighborhoods.
Is West Side, Long Beach safe?
West Side, Long Beach is safer than 51% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $490 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in West Side, Long Beach?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 70 with lows near 47. That works out to about 304 pleasant days a year, more than 97% of neighborhoods.
Is West Side, Long Beach good for families?
Schools beat 86% of neighborhoods, crime safety beats 51%, and childcare runs $1,130 a month.
Compare West Side, Long Beach with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Side, Long Beach. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Side, Long Beach 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 Side, Long Beach detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Side, Long Beach: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Side, Long Beach: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Side, Long Beach: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Side, Long Beach: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Side, Long Beach 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.