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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 Santa Clarita 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 Santa Clarita for 2022:
What's the best suburb of Santa Clarita? San Marino ranks as the best suburb of Santa Clarita for 2022 based on the most recent Census and FBI data. If you happen to be a resident of San Marino, you're probably not too surprised to find it on the top our list.
We'll tell you what makes each of these 10 Santa Clarita '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 Santa Clarita Suburbs To Live For 2022
San Marino is always mentioned as one of the best suburbs in the Santa Clarita area. We'll tell you the good about "Awesome San Marino."
Everyone here is rich; families average $164,423 a year, which is the 2nd highest in the Santa Clarita region. And only 2.19% are out of work. Homes average more than $2,000,001 each.
/10
Population: 13,020
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Median Income: $164,423
Unemployment Rate: 2.2%
Poverty Rate: 7.1%
More on San Marino: Real Estate | Data | Photos
South Pasadena is the second best 'burb we looked at near Santa Clarita for 2022.
It ranks 7th for incomes in the area and only 3.86% of residents lack insurance, good for 6th best.
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Population: 25,478
Rank Last Year: 2 (No Change)
Median Income: $109,927
Unemployment Rate: 4.1%
Poverty Rate: 6.8%
More on South Pasadena: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Here in Agoura Hills, it's really safe, and residents are just about as rich as you'll see in the Santa Clarita 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 Agoura Hills.
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Population: 20,269
Rank Last Year: 6 (Up 3)
Median Income: $126,956
Unemployment Rate: 4.5%
Poverty Rate: 3.9%
More on Agoura Hills: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Hidden Hills ranks as the 4th best suburb of Santa Clarita for 2022.
You won't find many better places to raise your kids in the region than in Hidden Hills and the schools are some of the best around.
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Population: 2,218
Rank Last Year: 5 (Up 1)
Median Income: $250,001
Unemployment Rate: 5.4%
Poverty Rate: 8.9%
More on Hidden Hills: Real Estate | Data
Coming in as the fifth best is Malibu.
Malibu gets kudos for having the 2nd most expensive homes in the Santa Clarita area, where houses sell for an average of $2,000,001. However, the cost of living here is among the highest in the area.
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Population: 12,280
Rank Last Year: 4 (Down 1)
Median Income: $162,716
Unemployment Rate: 4.1%
Poverty Rate: 11.0%
More on Malibu: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Moorpark 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 3.97% which is 4th best in the area.
According to online reports, Moorpark is quickly becoming one of the more affluent suburbs in the Santa Clarita area, meaning you need to get in soon.
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Population: 36,443
Rank Last Year: 9 (Up 3)
Median Income: $119,597
Unemployment Rate: 4.0%
Poverty Rate: 4.4%
More on Moorpark: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The 7th best suburb on our list goes to Beverly Hills.
Beverly Hills 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 23.1 miles to downtown, which is a good thing.
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Population: 33,709
Rank Last Year: 7 (No Change)
Median Income: $101,241
Unemployment Rate: 7.5%
Poverty Rate: 8.9%
More on Beverly Hills: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Santa Monica 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 4.87% of people lack insurance, good for 11th in the area.
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Population: 91,600
Rank Last Year: 8 (No Change)
Median Income: $98,300
Unemployment Rate: 6.3%
Poverty Rate: 10.1%
More on Santa Monica: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Is 'Everything Better In Calabasas?'
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.
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Population: 23,842
Rank Last Year: 3 (Down 6)
Median Income: $136,138
Unemployment Rate: 8.4%
Poverty Rate: 8.8%
More on Calabasas: Real Estate | Data | Photos
And rounding out the top ten for 2022 is Thousand Oaks.
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.
/10
Population: 127,648
Rank Last Year: 10 (No Change)
Median Income: $108,377
Unemployment Rate: 4.2%
Poverty Rate: 6.8%
More on Thousand Oaks: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Methodology: How We Determined The Best Suburbs Around Santa Clarita for 2022
Figuring out the best suburbs around Santa Clarita 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 2016-2020 to research each suburb.
FYI: We defined a suburb as being within 30 miles of Santa Clarita.
Additionally, we limited the analysis to places that have over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 21 suburbs to evaluate around Santa Clarita.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 21 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 Santa Clarita." We're lookin' at you, San Marino. 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.
Summary: Welcome to the Best Santa Clarita 'Burbs of 2022
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 Santa Clarita, but don't want to deal with the drawbacks, one of these suburbs might just be for you.
For more California reading, check out:
Detailed List Of The Best Santa Clarita Suburbs
| Rank | City | Population |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Marino, CA | 13,020 |
| 2 | South Pasadena, CA | 25,478 |
| 3 | Agoura Hills, CA | 20,269 |
| 4 | Hidden Hills, CA | 2,218 |
| 5 | Malibu, CA | 12,280 |
| 6 | Moorpark, CA | 36,443 |
| 7 | Beverly Hills, CA | 33,709 |
| 8 | Santa Monica, CA | 91,600 |
| 9 | Calabasas, CA | 23,842 |
| 10 | Thousand Oaks, CA | 127,648 |
| 11 | West Hollywood, CA | 35,506 |
| 12 | Simi Valley, CA | 125,768 |
| 13 | Fillmore, CA | 15,631 |
| 14 | Pasadena, CA | 142,017 |
| 15 | Burbank, CA | 103,411 |
| 16 | Glendale, CA | 199,357 |
| 17 | San Fernando, CA | 24,244 |
| 18 | Los Angeles, CA | 3,973,278 |
| 19 | Westlake, CA | 4,788 |
| 20 | Lancaster, CA | 157,697 |
| 21 | Palmdale, CA | 153,240 |
