Ontario has plenty to offer, but the price of admission usually comes with traffic, sky-high rent, and a calendar that fills itself.
If you want the upside of Ontario without the daily grind, the answer is almost always a good suburb. The catch: not every suburb is worth the move.
So we ranked them. Using Saturday Night Science, we pulled the numbers on every place within commuting distance of Ontario: incomes, home prices, unemployment, schools, the works. The result is a no-nonsense ranking of where you actually want to live.
$143,547 median income · $1,437,492 median home price
Located in
Los Angeles County, California
Sierra Madre is always mentioned as one of the best suburbs in the Ontario area. We’ll tell you the good about “Awesome Sierra Madre.”
Everyone here is rich; families average $143,547 a year, which is the 7th highest in the Ontario region. And only 2.6% are out of work. Homes average more than $1,437,492 each.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$117,989 median income · $1,203,550 median home price
Located in
Orange County, California
La Palma is the second best ‘burb we looked at near Ontario for 2026.
It ranks 19th for incomes in the area and only 3.9% of residents lack insurance, good for 15th best.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$202,245 median income · $2,343,977 median home price
Located in
Orange County, California
Here in Villa Park, it’s really safe, and residents are just about as rich as you’ll see in the Ontario 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 Villa Park.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$157,582 median income · $1,419,513 median home price
Located in
Orange County, California
Yorba Linda ranks as the 4th best suburb of Ontario for 2026.
You won’t find many better places to raise your kids in the region than in Yorba Linda and the schools are some of the best around.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$214,167 median income · $2,837,216 median home price
Located in
Los Angeles County, California
Coming in as the fifth best is San Marino.
San Marino gets kudos for having the most expensive homes in the Ontario area, where houses sell for an average of $2,837,216. However, the cost of living here is among the highest in the area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$136,123 median income · $1,229,743 median home price
Located in
Orange County, California
Mission Viejo 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 5.2%.
According to online reports, Mission Viejo is quickly becoming one of the more affluent suburbs in the Ontario area, meaning you need to get in soon.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$160,069 median income · $949,255 median home price
Located in
Riverside County, California
The 7th best suburb on our list goes to Eastvale.
Eastvale 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 5.4 miles to downtown, which is a good thing.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$179,583 median income · $1,399,870 median home price
Located in
Los Angeles County, California
La Habra Heights 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 4.8% of people lack insurance, good for 22nd in the area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$135,439 median income · $1,094,901 median home price
Located in
Los Angeles County, California
Is ‘Everything Better In Cerritos?’
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.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$127,876 median income · $1,142,479 median home price
Located in
Contra Costa County, California
And rounding out the top ten for 2026 is El Cerrito.
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.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is California’s statewide median.
California statewide median: $99,122
California statewide median: $774,582
California statewide median: 6.6%
California statewide median: 12.0%
On the map
Where the best Ontario suburbs are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we determined the best suburbs around Ontario for 2026
Figuring out the best suburbs around Ontario was simple. We used Saturday Night Science to find things people like about living in the suburbs and then locate the suburbs with those things.
We analyzed the newest American Community Survey data for 2020-2024 to research each suburb. We decided upon the following criteria:
- 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
We defined a suburb as being within 30 miles of Ontario.
Additionally, we limited the analysis to places that have over 3,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 75 suburbs to evaluate around Ontario.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 75 in each category, where 1 was the best.
Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a quality-of-life index.
Finally, we crowned the city with the best quality of life index, the “Best Suburb near Ontario.” We’re lookin’ at you, Sierra Madre.
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 more extensive selection of suburbs.
We updated the data for 2026. This report is our eleventh time ranking the best Ontario suburbs. Skip to the end to see the list of all the suburbs ranked from best to worst.
The full plate
Table: Best Ontario Suburbs
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Suburb Score | Population | Median Income | Median Home Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sierra Madre | 10.00 | 10,940 | $143,547 | $1,437,492 |
| 2 | La Palma | 10.93 | 15,272 | $117,989 | $1,203,550 |
| 3 | Villa Park | 12.57 | 5,748 | $202,245 | $2,343,977 |
| 4 | Yorba Linda | 13.43 | 67,170 | $157,582 | $1,419,513 |
| 5 | San Marino | 13.71 | 12,216 | $214,167 | $2,837,216 |
| 6 | Mission Viejo | 13.79 | 92,151 | $136,123 | $1,229,743 |
| 7 | Eastvale | 15.50 | 70,633 | $160,069 | $949,255 |
| 8 | La Habra Heights | 16.71 | 5,478 | $179,583 | $1,399,870 |
| 9 | Cerritos | 16.86 | 47,867 | $135,439 | $1,094,901 |
| 10 | El Cerrito | 17.86 | 25,994 | $127,876 | $1,142,479 |
| 11 | Rancho Santa Margarita | 18.36 | 46,990 | $152,560 | $1,029,346 |
| 12 | Lake Forest | 18.93 | 86,281 | $135,175 | $1,208,686 |
| 13 | Cypress | 19.71 | 49,498 | $130,215 | $1,085,691 |
| 14 | Brea | 20.21 | 47,469 | $131,129 | $1,140,406 |
| 15 | La Mirada | 20.64 | 47,180 | $109,288 | $887,479 |
| 16 | Claremont | 21.14 | 36,595 | $125,647 | $1,039,337 |
| 17 | Arcadia | 21.43 | 55,170 | $113,516 | $1,414,451 |
| 18 | Walnut | 22.50 | 27,611 | $129,449 | $1,197,951 |
| 19 | Irvine | 24.86 | 311,690 | $136,719 | $1,557,982 |
| 20 | Placentia | 24.86 | 52,826 | $115,929 | $1,117,228 |
| 21 | Orange | 26.36 | 138,266 | $117,113 | $1,143,788 |
| 22 | Diamond Bar | 26.79 | 53,355 | $108,281 | $1,028,880 |
| 23 | Tustin | 28.50 | 78,981 | $112,503 | $1,189,731 |
| 24 | Glendora | 30.50 | 50,926 | $113,569 | $893,350 |
| 25 | Norco | 30.79 | 25,054 | $127,566 | $918,950 |
| 26 | La Verne | 31.64 | 30,600 | $103,761 | $951,548 |
| 27 | San Dimas | 31.79 | 33,789 | $105,321 | $927,055 |
| 28 | Rancho Cucamonga | 31.93 | 175,411 | $111,895 | $792,765 |
| 29 | Buena Park | 32.07 | 82,871 | $110,550 | $940,507 |
| 30 | Upland | 33.00 | 79,257 | $105,830 | $825,789 |
| 31 | Chino Hills | 33.71 | 77,927 | $126,334 | $996,262 |
| 32 | San Gabriel | 34.14 | 38,392 | $90,488 | $1,121,301 |
| 33 | Whittier | 35.00 | 86,165 | $97,201 | $821,843 |
| 34 | Monrovia | 35.43 | 37,571 | $96,021 | $992,558 |
| 35 | Duarte | 37.07 | 22,184 | $105,483 | $801,444 |
| 36 | Corona | 38.07 | 159,670 | $109,242 | $764,386 |
| 37 | Fullerton | 39.00 | 140,968 | $104,286 | $1,050,945 |
| 38 | West Covina | 39.07 | 107,037 | $101,065 | $852,373 |
| 39 | Redlands | 39.43 | 73,375 | $105,041 | $636,035 |
| 40 | Covina | 39.57 | 49,888 | $98,671 | $804,341 |
| 41 | La Habra | 39.71 | 61,970 | $100,106 | $911,595 |
| 42 | Norwalk | 39.86 | 99,789 | $100,085 | $763,283 |
| 43 | Santa Ana | 42.00 | 312,534 | $93,999 | $866,066 |
| 44 | Garden Grove | 42.21 | 170,964 | $92,174 | $1,013,183 |
| 45 | Artesia | 43.00 | 15,889 | $101,004 | $878,198 |
| 46 | Temple | 44.14 | 5,901 | $91,180 | $284,500 |
| 47 | Pico Rivera | 44.36 | 60,272 | $88,201 | $753,243 |
| 48 | Chino | 45.00 | 92,652 | $104,682 | $761,426 |
| 49 | Anaheim | 45.29 | 344,521 | $95,227 | $950,504 |
| 50 | Westminster | 45.36 | 89,860 | $85,541 | $1,097,353 |
| 51 | Grand Terrace | 46.29 | 13,078 | $83,628 | $587,468 |
| 52 | Rosemead | 46.57 | 50,013 | $73,566 | $913,339 |
| 53 | Santa Fe Springs | 47.07 | 18,871 | $88,238 | $783,370 |
| 54 | Fontana | 49.00 | 214,169 | $102,821 | $639,032 |
| 55 | Lake Elsinore | 49.71 | 72,461 | $101,888 | $586,598 |
| 56 | Loma Linda | 50.57 | 25,122 | $82,353 | $640,816 |
| 57 | Azusa | 51.00 | 49,031 | $90,721 | $715,154 |
| 58 | La Puente | 51.71 | 37,142 | $86,602 | $723,135 |
| 59 | Riverside | 52.29 | 319,069 | $91,045 | $646,784 |
| 60 | Baldwin Park | 52.43 | 70,138 | $80,663 | $722,511 |
| 61 | Stanton | 52.57 | 39,402 | $84,707 | $793,738 |
| 62 | Montebello | 53.79 | 61,045 | $79,971 | $827,435 |
| 63 | Jurupa Valley | 54.08 | 107,011 | $97,550 | $672,514 |
| 64 | Moreno Valley | 55.29 | 211,666 | $93,222 | $551,284 |
| 65 | Midway | 55.50 | 3,511 | $63,381 | $248,338 |
| 66 | El Monte | 56.57 | 106,109 | $68,030 | $765,444 |
| 67 | Montclair | 57.93 | 37,810 | $77,659 | $660,566 |
| 68 | Pomona | 58.07 | 147,943 | $79,479 | $690,986 |
| 69 | Rialto | 58.71 | 104,143 | $88,857 | $588,566 |
| 70 | Highland | 59.00 | 56,675 | $77,120 | $545,940 |
| 71 | South El Monte | 62.14 | 19,287 | $72,990 | $762,159 |
| 72 | San Bernardino | 62.86 | 222,724 | $67,415 | $487,988 |
| 73 | Perris | 64.07 | 80,511 | $88,911 | $543,988 |
| 74 | Colton | 64.36 | 53,772 | $71,208 | $493,150 |
| 75 | Hesperia | 68.29 | 100,775 | $72,160 | $460,687 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 75 suburbs within 30 miles of Ontario.
Summary
Summary: Welcome to the Best Ontario ‘Burbs of 2026
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.
The best suburbs of Ontario are Sierra Madre, La Palma, Villa Park, Yorba Linda, San Marino, Mission Viejo, Eastvale, La Habra Heights, Cerritos, and El Cerrito.
So if you’re craving the amenities of a larger city like Ontario but don’t want to deal with the drawbacks, one of these suburbs might be for you. Not sold on California? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Best Suburbs Of Ontario FAQs
What is the best suburb of Ontario?
Sierra Madre is the best suburb of Ontario for 2026, according to Saturday Night Science. La Palma and Villa Park are next.
What are the best suburbs of Ontario?
The best suburbs of Ontario are Sierra Madre, La Palma, Villa Park, Yorba Linda, San Marino, Mission Viejo, Eastvale, La Habra Heights, Cerritos, and El Cerrito. We ranked all 75 places within commuting range.
How expensive is Sierra Madre?
The median household income in Sierra Madre is $143,547 and the median home costs $1,437,492. Top suburbs rarely come cheap; that is part of how they got there.
What counts as a suburb of Ontario?
Any place within 30 miles of Ontario qualifies. 75 towns fit that circle, and every one of them got scored.
How do you rank Ontario suburbs?
Each suburb is scored on income, home values, density, unemployment, education, insurance coverage, and poverty, using Census American Community Survey data. The best combined score, Sierra Madre, takes the crown.
