Best PlacesWhittier, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Whittier, 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.
Whittier ranks 1,004th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Whittier
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.
Whittier's strengths and weaknesses
Where Whittier ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 98% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 271 pleasant days a year, better than 97% of cities
- BikingBetter than 92% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 92% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than 91% of cities
Where Whittier ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 5% of cities
- Short commute33.4 minutes each way, better than only 10% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 17% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than only 20% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Whittier
A household needs to earn about $208,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Whittier home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $111,337, 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 Whittier's effective rate of 0.65%, 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 Whittier
Whittier'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 Whittier.
Who works in Whittier, and how
Work in Whittier centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Whittier
Whittier has more restaurants and bars per resident than 72% of cities and more parkland per resident than 77% of cities. The coast is about 19 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Whittier and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Whittier, month by month
Whittier sees roughly 271 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 71, with lows near 46. The comfortable stretch runs September through July.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 71° | 57° | 46° |
| April | 77° | 64° | 54° |
| July | 87° | 74° | 66° |
| October | 85° | 70° | 58° |
Flying in and out of Whittier
The nearest airport, Long Beach (Daugherty Field), is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is John Wayne/Orange County, about 22 miles away.
The best schools in and around Whittier
Schools across Whittier average a C+, better than 37% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Meadow Green ElementaryB · 44% proficient
- Jordan ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
- Macy ElementaryC+ · 39% proficient
Top middle schools
- Rancho-starbuck IntermediateC+ · 38% proficient
- Los Nietos MiddleC− · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- La Mirada HighA+ · 83% proficient
- La Serna HighB+ · 52% proficient
- Santa Fe HighB · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Whittier school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Whittier 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 Whittier against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Whittier suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 12% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Whittier
Is Whittier a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Whittier ranks 1,004th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on big-city access, the weather, and biking, and lowest on air quality and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Whittier expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $812,910. The overall cost of living runs about 35% above the national average. Set against a $111,337 median income, cost of living beats 27% of cities.
Is Whittier safe?
Whittier is safer than 37% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $357 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Whittier?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 71 with lows near 46. That works out to about 271 pleasant days a year, more than 97% of cities.
Is Whittier good for families?
Schools beat 37% of cities, crime safety beats 37%, and childcare runs $1,130 a month.
Compare Whittier with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Whittier. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Whittier 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.
Whittier detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Whittier: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Whittier: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Whittier: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Whittier: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Whittier 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.