Best PlacesWestlake, Los Angeles, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Westlake, Los Angeles, 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.
Westlake, Los Angeles ranks 4,752nd of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. The coast is about 12 minutes away. Its strengths are the weather and big-city access. The cost shows up in civic engagement, thin health care access, and air quality.
The best neighborhoods in Westlake, Los Angeles
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.
Westlake, Los Angeles' strengths and weaknesses
Westlake, Los Angeles ranks near the bottom because several of the basics fall short at once. The weather is the standout, in the top 2% of neighborhoods. Big-city access and walkability follow.
The weak spots are broad rather than narrow: civic engagement, thin health care access, and air quality all drag on the score. Those are area averages, and the map below shows which parts run well above them.
Where Westlake, Los Angeles ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 306 pleasant days a year, better than 98% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
- WalkabilityBetter than 96% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than 95% of neighborhoods
- Low property taxBetter than 78% of neighborhoods
Where Westlake, Los Angeles ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 2% of neighborhoods
- Air qualityBetter than only 3% of neighborhoods
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than only 7% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Westlake, Los Angeles
A household needs to earn about $227,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Westlake, Los Angeles home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $47,795, 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 Westlake, Los Angeles' effective rate of 0.66%, 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 Westlake, Los Angeles
Westlake, Los Angeles runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Westlake, Los Angeles.
Who works in Westlake, Los Angeles, and how
Work in Westlake, Los Angeles centers on hospitality & food and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 57%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 34%
Life in Westlake, Los Angeles
The coast is about 12 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Westlake, Los Angeles, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Westlake, Los Angeles, month by month
Westlake, Los Angeles sees roughly 306 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 70, with lows near 48. Every month averages in that range.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 70° | 58° | 48° |
| April | 76° | 64° | 55° |
| July | 85° | 73° | 65° |
| October | 82° | 69° | 60° |
Flying in and out of Westlake, Los Angeles
The nearest airport, Jack Northrop Field/Hawthorne Municipal, is about 10 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Los Angeles International, about 11 miles away.
The best schools in and around Westlake, Los Angeles
Schools across Westlake, Los Angeles average a C−, better than 33% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Camino Nuevo Charter AcademyD+ · 24% proficient
- N.e.w. Academy Of Science And ArtsD− · 15% proficient
Top middle schools
- Equitas Academy 4D+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Downtown Business HighA · 75% proficient
- Early College Academy-la Trade Tech CollegeB · 50% proficient
- Rise Kohyang HighB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Westlake, Los Angeles school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Westlake, Los Angeles 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 Westlake, Los Angeles against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Who Westlake, Los Angeles suits
Common questions about living in Westlake, Los Angeles
Is Westlake, Los Angeles a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Westlake, Los Angeles ranks 4,752nd of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on the weather, big-city access, and walkability, and lowest on civic engagement and thin health care access. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Westlake, Los Angeles expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $885,810. The overall cost of living runs about 36% above the national average. Set against a $47,795 median income, cost of living beats 6% of neighborhoods.
Is Westlake, Los Angeles safe?
Westlake, Los Angeles is safer than 13% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $840 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Westlake, Los Angeles?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 70 with lows near 48. That works out to about 306 pleasant days a year, more than 98% of neighborhoods.
Is Westlake, Los Angeles good for families?
Schools beat 33% of neighborhoods, crime safety beats 13%, and childcare runs $1,130 a month.
Is Westlake, Los Angeles good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 6% of neighborhoods, though advertised internet speeds beat only 12% of neighborhoods. About 9% of workers already work from home.
Compare Westlake, Los Angeles with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Westlake, Los Angeles. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Westlake, Los Angeles 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.
Westlake, Los Angeles detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Westlake, Los Angeles: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Westlake, Los Angeles: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Westlake, Los Angeles: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Westlake, Los Angeles: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Westlake, Los Angeles 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.