These Are The 10 Best Los Angeles Suburbs

Big city living isn’t for everyone–but at the same time, urban areas certainly have their perks.

There’s the culture, the food, the arts, the food, the energy, and you know, the food. But there are drawbacks. There’s traffic, expensive parking, expensive housing–pretty much, expensive everything, depending on which big city you’re looking at.

But that’s where the suburbs come in–they have all of the benefits of being near big cities, without actually having to be big cities.

Of course, not all suburbs of Los Angeles are created equally, which is precisely why we set out to find the best ones. So without further ado, here are the 10 best suburbs around Los Angeles:

1. Hermosa Beach (Photos)
2. Manhattan Beach (Photos)
3. Palos Verdes Estates (Photos)
4. San Marino (Photos)
5. Rolling Hills Estates (Photos)
6. Redondo Beach (Photos)
7. South Pasadena (Photos)
8. Rancho Palos Verdes (Photos)
9. La Ca (Photos)
10. La Palma (Photos)

If you happen to be a resident of Hermosa Beach, you’re probably not too surprised to find it on the top our list.

We’ll tell you what makes each of these 10 Los Angeles ‘burbs better than the rest–but first, a bit about our methodology. Or read up on the worst suburbs of Los Angeles.

How We Determined The Best Suburbs Around Los Angeles

Figuring out the best ‘burbs around Los Angeles was pretty simple; we just needed to list several things that people like, and then find out which cities have the most of those things.

We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible:

• Low unemployment rate
• High Median household incomes
• Population density (lots of things to do)
• High home values
• A lot of college educated people

Then we used the 2010-2014 American Community Survey to research each suburb. FYI: We defined a suburb based on the Census’s designation of being part of an “Urban Cluster,” but not the main city of said urbanized area. For example, the Census considers all of these places to be part of the Los Angeles–Long Beach–Anaheim, Ca Urbanized Area.

Additionally, we limited the analysis to non-CDPs that have over 5,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 106 suburbs to evaluate around Los Angeles.

We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 106 in each category, where 1 was the “best.

Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a quality of life index.

And finally, we crowned the city with the best quality of life index the “Best Suburb near Los Angeles.” We’re lookin’ at you, Hermosa Beach.

Read on below to learn more about what it’s like to live in the best of the best. Or skip to the end to see the list of all the suburbs ranked from best to worst.

1. Hermosa Beach

Population: 19,725
Unemployment Rate: 4.8%
Median Home Price: $1,000,001
Median Income: $105,029

2. Manhattan Beach

Population: 35,534
Unemployment Rate: 5.1%
Median Home Price: $1,000,001
Median Income: $142,071

3. Palos Verdes Estates

Population: 13,568
Unemployment Rate: 2.1%
Median Home Price: $1,000,001
Median Income: $171,328

4. San Marino

Population: 13,294
Unemployment Rate: 5.6%
Median Home Price: $1,000,001
Median Income: $119,300

5. Rolling Hills Estates

Population: 8,184
Unemployment Rate: 3.7%
Median Home Price: $1,000,001
Median Income: $136,477

6. Redondo Beach

Population: 67,511
Unemployment Rate: 6.9%
Median Home Price: $720,600
Median Income: $103,064

7. South Pasadena

Population: 25,914
Unemployment Rate: 7.3%
Median Home Price: $832,200
Median Income: $80,479

8. Rancho Palos Verdes

Population: 42,282
Unemployment Rate: 4.7%
Median Home Price: $952,400
Median Income: $120,697

9. La Ca

Population: 20,477
Unemployment Rate: 5.7%
Median Home Price: $1,000,001
Median Income: $151,786

10. La Palma

Population: 15,791
Unemployment Rate: 7.2%
Median Home Price: $577,300
Median Income: $84,026

Welcome to the ‘Burbs

We said it once and we’ll say it again–life in the big city isn’t for everyone. At least not all the time.

So if you’re hankering for some of the amenities of a larger city like Los Angeles, but don’t want to deal with the drawbacks, one of these suburbs might just be for you.
For more California reading , check out:

• These Are The 10 Most Dangerous Cities In California
• These Are The 10 Drunkest Cities In California
• These Are The 10 Worst Places To Live In California

Detailed List Of The Best Burbs To Live Around Los Angeles

City	Rank	Population	Unemployment Rate	Median Home Price	Median Income
Hermosa Beach	1	19,725	4.8%	$1,000,001	$105,029
Manhattan Beach	2	35,534	5.1%	$1,000,001	$142,071
Palos Verdes Estates	3	13,568	2.1%	$1,000,001	$171,328
San Marino	4	13,294	5.6%	$1,000,001	$119,300
Rolling Hills Estates	5	8,184	3.7%	$1,000,001	$136,477
Redondo Beach	6	67,511	6.9%	$720,600	$103,064
South Pasadena	7	25,914	7.3%	$832,200	$80,479
Rancho Palos Verdes	8	42,282	4.7%	$952,400	$120,697
La Ca	9	20,477	5.7%	$1,000,001	$151,786
La Palma	10	15,791	7.2%	$577,300	$84,026
Newport Beach	11	86,594	7.2%	$1,000,001	$107,991
El Segundo	12	16,839	6.3%	$762,000	$84,004
Malibu	13	12,830	7.6%	$1,000,001	$130,432
Irvine	14	229,850	7.1%	$662,200	$91,999
Arcadia	15	57,251	6.3%	$832,400	$80,147
Villa Park	16	5,911	8.9%	$934,200	$150,864
Santa Monica	17	91,619	9.6%	$1,000,001	$74,534
Culver City	18	39,353	7.8%	$618,000	$79,292
West Hollywood	19	35,053	9.1%	$595,200	$56,025
Yorba Linda	20	66,335	8.0%	$687,300	$115,994
Walnut	21	29,822	7.5%	$635,000	$100,934
Torrance	22	147,181	8.1%	$622,800	$78,286
Cerritos	23	49,599	7.5%	$596,500	$91,487
Los Alamitos	24	11,598	8.2%	$631,400	$82,258
Cypress	25	48,748	5.7%	$500,100	$83,819
Calabasas	26	23,956	6.9%	$883,700	$117,176
Sierra Madre	27	11,060	5.1%	$804,600	$90,780
Temple City	28	36,006	7.6%	$591,500	$63,803
San Gabriel	29	40,173	7.5%	$574,600	$56,238
La Habra Heights	30	5,398	3.4%	$766,900	$111,250
La Mirada	31	49,038	8.4%	$409,800	$81,178
Diamond Bar	32	56,259	8.0%	$533,700	$90,901
Fountain Valley	33	56,440	8.3%	$605,000	$82,532
Huntington Beach	34	195,686	8.4%	$628,600	$82,554
Alhambra	35	84,400	7.4%	$484,100	$53,195
Beverly Hills	36	34,536	10.1%	$1,000,001	$87,366
Brea	37	40,443	8.6%	$530,500	$81,857
Lomita	38	20,539	9.1%	$467,900	$57,245
Claremont	39	35,569	9.5%	$539,800	$89,648
Placentia	40	51,860	9.6%	$514,000	$79,275
Tustin	41	77,765	8.9%	$501,500	$71,105
La Verne	42	31,592	7.8%	$443,200	$75,662
Whittier	43	86,400	8.7%	$421,900	$65,583
Lakewood	44	80,926	8.7%	$415,600	$79,113
Burbank	45	104,484	8.9%	$566,700	$66,111
Simi Valley	46	125,699	8.2%	$438,700	$89,595
Artesia	47	16,698	7.0%	$401,000	$60,544
Buena Park	48	82,191	6.6%	$401,000	$68,884
San Dimas	49	33,896	8.8%	$433,100	$78,911
Glendale	50	195,380	10.7%	$598,600	$52,451
Monrovia	51	37,035	9.5%	$542,200	$72,034
Pasadena	52	139,065	8.9%	$614,400	$70,845
Orange	53	138,980	9.0%	$515,000	$77,086
Fullerton	54	137,945	10.1%	$492,800	$65,909
Costa Mesa	55	111,635	8.9%	$586,800	$66,491
Westminster	56	91,255	11.1%	$455,200	$53,660
La Habra	57	61,341	10.2%	$378,800	$61,364
Garden Grove	58	173,853	10.7%	$406,800	$59,360
Chino Hills	59	76,187	10.0%	$489,700	$97,609
Upland	60	75,089	9.2%	$412,700	$61,551
Glendora	61	50,855	10.2%	$454,200	$74,169
Rancho Cucamonga	62	170,170	10.6%	$365,100	$77,061
Monterey Park	63	60,966	10.1%	$485,400	$54,821
Norwalk	64	106,455	10.3%	$320,900	$60,523
Downey	65	113,082	10.1%	$413,400	$60,374
San Fernando	66	24,050	9.7%	$295,600	$55,044
Hawthorne	67	85,889	10.3%	$387,300	$44,384
Lawndale	68	33,155	10.1%	$365,000	$48,376
South El Monte	69	20,375	5.8%	$332,300	$44,498
Santa Ana	70	331,266	9.9%	$343,000	$52,519
Montebello	71	63,353	8.6%	$384,400	$47,562
Anaheim	72	342,973	10.9%	$413,800	$59,707
Covina	73	48,429	12.6%	$373,700	$64,496
Seal Beach	74	24,477	6.8%	$300,200	$54,026
Duarte	75	21,676	11.0%	$364,500	$62,186
Gardena	76	59,682	10.5%	$341,900	$47,856
West Covina	77	107,441	13.7%	$385,400	$67,069
Azusa	78	47,420	8.5%	$311,600	$52,087
Bellflower	79	77,521	11.0%	$341,700	$49,360
Rosemead	80	54,457	13.1%	$430,800	$44,524
Long Beach	81	468,594	12.1%	$419,400	$52,944
Los Angeles	82	3,862,210	11.5%	$453,800	$49,682
Baldwin Park	83	76,411	13.7%	$292,800	$51,189
La Puente	84	40,342	10.2%	$293,500	$54,660
Santa Fe Springs	85	16,859	10.8%	$348,700	$51,786
Signal Hill	86	11,245	10.5%	$377,200	$67,320
Pico Rivera	87	63,698	11.6%	$328,500	$56,576
Hawaiian Gardens	88	14,432	10.0%	$242,000	$39,073
Maywood	89	27,703	11.0%	$284,100	$36,492
Chino	90	80,810	10.8%	$337,200	$72,554
Carson	91	92,475	14.6%	$341,200	$71,420
Paramount	92	54,813	13.3%	$253,900	$43,784
El Monte	93	115,243	12.6%	$349,000	$38,906
Stanton	94	38,455	11.9%	$281,700	$45,842
Commerce	95	12,975	15.2%	$322,100	$45,846
South Gate	96	95,515	14.3%	$297,200	$43,526
Inglewood	97	111,133	14.6%	$325,000	$42,249
Cudahy	98	24,073	14.6%	$227,100	$37,759
Huntington Park	99	58,787	14.7%	$287,900	$34,777
Bell Gardens	100	42,712	13.0%	$280,600	$37,103
Lynwood	101	70,789	13.0%	$278,300	$41,930
Bell	102	35,896	14.8%	$282,200	$36,496
Ontario	103	166,892	13.0%	$255,400	$54,156
Montclair	104	37,685	12.0%	$254,400	$48,767
Pomona	105	151,142	12.9%	$264,800	$48,993
Compton	106	97,663	16.7%	$233,400	$43,230