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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 Long Beach 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 to live around Long Beach for 2021:
What's the best suburb of Long Beach? Hermosa Beach ranks as the best suburb of Long Beach for 2021 based on the most recent Census and FBI data. 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 Long Beach 'burbs better than the rest--but first, a bit about our methodology.
Note: This result may differ from our state wide data as we did not include commute times and crime for this analysis to allow for a larger selection of suburbs.
Feel free to check out some more reading about California:
The 10 Best Long Beach Suburbs To Live For 2021
/10
Population: 19,539
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Median Income: $136,702
Unemployment Rate: 4.0%
Poverty Rate: 4.5%
More on Hermosa Beach: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Hermosa Beach is always mentioned as one of the best suburbs in the Long Beach area. We'll tell you the good about "Awesome Hermosa Beach."
Everyone here is rich; families average $136,702 a year, which is the 7th highest in the Long Beach region. And only 4.05% are out of work. Homes average more than $1,542,900 each.
/10
Population: 67,423
Rank Last Year: 3 (Up 1)
Median Income: $113,499
Unemployment Rate: 3.8%
Poverty Rate: 3.9%
More on Redondo Beach: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Redondo Beach is the second best 'burb we looked at near Long Beach for 2021.
It ranks 12th for incomes in the area and only 3.27% of residents lack insurance, good for 12th best.
/10
Population: 35,500
Rank Last Year: 2 (Down 1)
Median Income: $153,023
Unemployment Rate: 5.1%
Poverty Rate: 3.2%
More on Manhattan Beach: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Here in Manhattan Beach, it's really safe, and residents are just about as rich as you'll see in the Long Beach metro area.
The bad side? Schools are more crowded, and the cost of living puts a large part of the city out of reach for most families.
But price is based on demand and a lot of people want to live in Manhattan Beach.
/10
Population: 13,434
Rank Last Year: 4 (No Change)
Median Income: $194,543
Unemployment Rate: 2.3%
Poverty Rate: 5.9%
More on Palos Verdes Estates: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Palos Verdes Estates ranks as the 4th best suburb of Long Beach for 2021.
You won't find many better places to raise your kids in the region than in Palos Verdes Estates and the schools are some of the best around.
/10
Population: 13,194
Rank Last Year: 7 (Up 2)
Median Income: $166,607
Unemployment Rate: 1.8%
Poverty Rate: 6.7%
More on San Marino: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Coming in as the fifth best is San Marino.
San Marino gets kudos for having the 2nd most expensive homes in the Long Beach area, where houses sell for an average of $2,000,001. However, the cost of living here is among the highest in the area.
/10
Population: 42,030
Rank Last Year: 5 (Down 1)
Median Income: $138,557
Unemployment Rate: 4.0%
Poverty Rate: 4.1%
More on Rancho Palos Verdes: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Rancho Palos Verdes is proud of its 6th place finish on this list. And here's why.
Most residents have great jobs and the unemployment rate sits at 3.98% which is 17th best in the area.
According to online reports, Rancho Palos Verdes is quickly becoming one of the more affluent suburbs in the Long Beach area, meaning you need to get in soon.
/10
Population: 85,694
Rank Last Year: 6 (Down 1)
Median Income: $127,223
Unemployment Rate: 3.1%
Poverty Rate: 7.1%
More on Newport Beach: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The 7th best suburb on our list goes to Newport Beach.
Newport Beach schools are some of the best in the region, and crime is really low. The cost of living makes it a lot more desirable for many families, especially first-time home buyers.
And, it's only 21.1 miles to downtown, which is a good thing.
/10
Population: 67,725
Rank Last Year: 8 (No Change)
Median Income: $129,995
Unemployment Rate: 3.6%
Poverty Rate: 4.5%
More on Yorba Linda: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Yorba Linda is growing quickly, and for a good reason. Crime is far below average, and most residents are gainfully employed. Even the cost of living is reasonable.
A solid 2.8% of people lack insurance, good for 7th in the area.
/10
Population: 25,661
Rank Last Year: 11 (Up 2)
Median Income: $104,308
Unemployment Rate: 4.0%
Poverty Rate: 7.6%
More on South Pasadena: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Is 'Everything Better In South Pasadena?'
Almost.
It placed 9th on our list thanks to the fact that it's really expensive to live here, but the schools are great, so you get what you pay for in that regard.
/10
Population: 50,663
Rank Last Year: 9 (Down 1)
Median Income: $112,689
Unemployment Rate: 3.7%
Poverty Rate: 4.7%
More on Aliso Viejo: Real Estate | Data | Photos
And rounding out the top ten for 2021 is Aliso Viejo.
This city is far above average in every category, and the best part? It's far more affordable than the other cities listed above. So, you get a big bang for your buck here.
How We Determined The Best Suburbs Around Long Beach for 2021
Figuring out the best suburbs around Long Beach 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
- Low poverty
- High rate of insured families
Then we used the newest American Community Survey data for 2015-2019 to research each suburb.
FYI: We defined a suburb as being within 30 miles of Long Beach.
Additionally, we limited the analysis to places that have over 3,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 97 suburbs to evaluate around Long Beach.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 97 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 Long Beach." We're lookin' at you, Hermosa Beach. You can download the data here.
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.
Welcome to the Best Long Beach 'Burbs of 2021
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 Long Beach, but don't want to deal with the drawbacks, one of these suburbs might just be for you.
For more California reading, check out:
