Best PlacesWest Whittier-Los Nietos, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Whittier-Los Nietos, 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 Whittier-Los Nietos ranks 1,531st of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in West Whittier-Los Nietos
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 Whittier-Los Nietos' strengths and weaknesses
Where West Whittier-Los Nietos ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 270 pleasant days a year, better than 97% of cities
- TransitBetter than 91% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than 89% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than 86% of cities
Where West Whittier-Los Nietos ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 1% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 4% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 6% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 6% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 11% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in West Whittier-Los Nietos
A household needs to earn about $165,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Whittier-Los Nietos home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $105,182, 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 Whittier-Los Nietos' effective rate of 0.67%, 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 Whittier-Los Nietos
West Whittier-Los Nietos'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 Whittier-Los Nietos.
Who works in West Whittier-Los Nietos, and how
Work in West Whittier-Los Nietos centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in West Whittier-Los Nietos
The coast is about 16 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across West Whittier-Los Nietos, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in West Whittier-Los Nietos, month by month
West Whittier-Los Nietos sees roughly 270 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 68, with lows near 48. The comfortable stretch runs October through May.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 68° | 60° | 48° |
| April | 76° | 68° | 57° |
| July | 89° | 81° | 69° |
| October | 83° | 74° | 60° |
Flying in and out of West Whittier-Los Nietos
The nearest airport, Long Beach (Daugherty Field), is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Los Angeles International, about 20 miles away.
The best schools in and around West Whittier-Los Nietos
Schools across West Whittier-Los Nietos average a C, better than 26% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Ada S. Nelson ElementaryC− · 25% proficient
- Aeolian ElementaryD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Los Nietos MiddleC− · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Santa Fe HighB · 45% proficient
- Whittier HighC+ · 40% proficient
- Pioneer HighC+ · 39% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Whittier-Los Nietos school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Whittier-Los Nietos 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 Whittier-Los Nietos against the other 2,097 cities.
Who West Whittier-Los Nietos suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 9% already work from home.
Common questions about living in West Whittier-Los Nietos
Is West Whittier-Los Nietos a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Whittier-Los Nietos ranks 1,531st of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on big-city access, the weather, and transit, 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 West Whittier-Los Nietos expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $641,964. The overall cost of living runs about 38% above the national average. Set against a $105,182 median income, cost of living beats 14% of cities.
Is West Whittier-Los Nietos safe?
West Whittier-Los Nietos is safer than 43% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $333 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in West Whittier-Los Nietos?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 68 with lows near 48. That works out to about 270 pleasant days a year, more than 97% of cities.
Is West Whittier-Los Nietos good for families?
Schools beat 26% of cities, crime safety beats 43%, and childcare runs $1,130 a month.
Compare West Whittier-Los Nietos with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Whittier-Los Nietos. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Whittier-Los Nietos 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 Whittier-Los Nietos detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Whittier-Los Nietos: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Whittier-Los Nietos: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Whittier-Los Nietos: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Whittier-Los Nietos: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Whittier-Los Nietos 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.