Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The typical home is worth about $940K, 9.8 years of the Los Angeles metro’s $96K median household income. Overall it grades C−, ranked 542nd of 841 in California. It has 9 miles of trail and it is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns. Its weakest subject is hazard risk: FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 84% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. Avalon’s average trip to work is 12 minutes, below both the California town median (28 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes). On history, just 23 of California’s 1,063 towns do better. The biggest park or preserve is Lover's Cove State Marine Conservation Area, at 38 acres.
Where Avalon beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Avalon is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 586 in 1920, 3,460 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1889 and 3 maps from 1943 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Avalon, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Avalon.
Avalon fares better on crime within California than nationally and has milder winter nights than nearly all U.S. towns, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of California.
The trail density in Avalon is 1.2 miles per square mile.
| Avalon | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.2 miles per square mile | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.2% | 4.3% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lover's Cove State Marine Conservation Area | — | 38 |
| 2. Casino Point State Marine Conservation Area | — | 5 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Long Beach Unified school district. Its one school is below. The largest public high school is Avalon K-12, with 443 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avalon K-12Largest public high schoolGrades K–12 | Grades K–12 | 443 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
Since 1995, 4 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Avalon.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
At 35.1 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 64% of California’s graded towns.
Avalon’s violent crime rate is 8.4 per 1,000 residents. Avalon reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 79% report less. Avalon’s property crime rate is 7.8 per 1,000 residents.
| Avalon | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 8.4 per 1,000 residents | 2.9 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 7.8 per 1,000 residents | 13.4 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
At 9.8 years of the Los Angeles metro’s $96K median household income, the typical home (about $940K) costs more against local pay than in 77% of California towns; that ratio is one input to its D− for cost of living.
51% of households own their home in Avalon. Typical home values rose 6.2% in the year to September 2026.
| Avalon | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 51% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $2,006 a month | $1,895 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
January nights average 49.8°, milder than in 99% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 79.2°.
Among 846 California towns, just 8 have a higher January low than Avalon. Avalon has warm winters and pleasant summers, with very little rain.
| Avalon | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 50°F | 40°F | 22°F |
| July high | 79°F | 89°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The average commute for its 1,389 working residents takes 11.6 minutes, against 28.7 across California.
41% of Avalon’s working residents work right in town. Since 2013, Avalon has added 100 jobs, to 1,586 in 2023. The top destinations are Los Angeles (12%), Long Beach (2%) and Irvine (2%).
| Avalon | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 41% | 6.6% | 8% |
| Median household income | $105,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 12% | 10% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Against the 7,824 U.S. towns with household incomes like Avalon’s, it is less healthy than 82%, so it trails even them.
Avalon beats the California average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 6. 41% of Avalon adults feel lonely.
| Avalon | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 36% | 33% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 72% | 72% | 79% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 22% | 19% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Avalon | CA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 6.1% | 5.1% |
| More adults in frequent physical distress | 15.9% | 13.4% |
| More adults in fair or poor health | 25.6% | 22.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
None within 15 miles of Avalon; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Avalon residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across California.
4 places in Avalon on the National Register of Historic Places.
City in California, United States
Avalon is the only incorporated city on Santa Catalina Island, in the California Channel Islands, and the southernmost city in Los Angeles County. The city is a resort community with the waterfront dominated by tourism-oriented businesses. The older parts of the city on the valley floor consist primarily of small houses and two and three-story buildings in various traditional architectural styles. In 1919, William Wrigley Jr. gained control of Avalon and oversaw much of its development, including the construction of the landmark Catalina Casino. From the late 19th century to the early 20th century, several different developers tried to develop Avalon into a resort destination community, but…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Avalon grades C− overall, better than 15% of U.S. towns and #542 of 841 in California. It grades B− for health, C− for safety and B for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D−.
2 notable people were born here, including Gregory Harrison and Sylvester Donovan Ryan.
