Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Downey is a city of 108,468, and it grades C+ overall, ranked 257th of 841 in California. It is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns. The trade-offs: the typical home is worth about $880K, 9.2 years of the Los Angeles metro’s $96K median household income, and FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 83% of U.S. communities, with earthquakes at the top. Downey’s January low is 47°F, above both California’s towns (40°F) and U.S. towns (22°F). Downey's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 94% of U.S. towns. Downey has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Casa de Parley Johnson and James C. Rives House.
Where Downey beats most towns.
"Weird Al" Yankovic
James C. Rives HouseEach subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Downey is from typical.
Its grades run from A for walkability (better than 91% of comparable towns) to D− for cost of living (better than 2%), so the C+ overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 82,505 in 1960, 114,355 in 2020. The archive holds 24 old photos and papers going back to 1940 and 8 maps from 1896 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Downey. Close and well known come first.
Big draw12 mi Stadium & arenaSoFi Stadium
Big draw15 mi Theme parkDisneyland17.3M visitors a year
Big draw17 mi LandmarkHollywood Walk of Fame10.0M visitors a year
Big draw11 mi MuseumLucas Museum of Narrative Art
Big drawin town MuseumOldest McDonald's restaurant
Big draw10 mi Stadium & arenaLos Angeles Memorial ColiseumSoFi Stadium: Thank You (21 Millions+) views, CC BY 2.0 · Disneyland: HarshLight from San Jose, CA, USA, CC BY 2.0 · Hollywood Walk of Fame: BenSherman, Public domain · Lucas Museum of Narrative Art: Kriddl, CC0 · Oldest McDonald's restaurant: Northwalker, CC0 · Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum: CanonStarGal, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Downey, 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 Downey.
Downey has milder winter nights than nearly all U.S. towns, trades workers with Los Angeles and other neighbors and costs more than Bellflower or any other town next door.
Since 2001, 6 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Downey.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its public schools are run by the Downey Unified school district. Two of its 29 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stauffer (Mary R.) MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,329 | – |
| Downey HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 4,051 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
13 miles of trail in 13 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Wilderness Park, at 22 acres. The trail density in Downey is 1.0 miles per square mile.
| Downey | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.0 miles per square mile | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.4% | 4.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Furman Park | 1.1 mi | 15 |
| 2. Apollo Park | 0.7 mi | 12 |
| 3. Independence Park | 0.6 mi | 11 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
January nights average 47°, milder than in 97% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 84.3°.
Downey has warm winters and warm summers, with very little rain. Downey’s July high is 84°F. Snow is almost unheard of.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Downey has about as many jobs (42,300) as working residents, but only 4,183 people both live and work here.
Most working residents leave Downey for work: only 9% work in town. Jobs based in Downey grew to 42,300 in 2023, 5,066 more than in 2013. The top destinations are Los Angeles (22%), Long Beach (4%) and Santa Fe Springs (3%).
| Downey | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 31 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 9.2% | 14% | 11% |
| Median household income | $91,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its typical home is the priciest on its borders; Bellflower is next at $793K.
51% of Downey households own their home. The typical Downey home is worth about $880,000, up 2.3% in a year, 16% above the California typical home. 58% of Downey renter households spend 30% or more of their income on rent.
| Downey | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 51% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,937 a month | $1,895 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 58% | 55% | 48% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Downey beats the California average on 6 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 8. 41% of adults feel lonely in Downey.
| Downey | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 36% | 33% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 70% | 72% | 79% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 9% | 8.1% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 22% | 23% |
| What stands out | Downey | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5% | 6.4% |
| Fewer adults with COPD | 4% | 5.1% |
| More uninsured adults | 14.8% | 10.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Downey's reported crime rate is close to California's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. 324 violent crimes were reported in 2025.
| Downey | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 21.8 per 1,000 residents | 13.3 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3 per 1,000 residents | 2.9 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
63 within 15 miles of the center of Downey
About 8 of every 100 Downey residents are enrolled in college, about the same as California.
2 places in Downey on the National Register of Historic Places.
45 notable people were born in Downey.
City in California, United States
Downey is a city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States, 13 mi (21 km) southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. It is considered part of the Gateway Cities. The city is the birthplace of the Apollo space program and Taco Bell. It is also the home of the oldest operating McDonald's restaurant in the world. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 114,355.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
8 towns share a border with Downey.
It grades higher overall than all 7 graded towns on its borders; Norwalk (C) comes closest.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Downey | #257 | C+ | D− | — | B+ | B |
| South Gate | #640 | D | D | D | B− | C |
| Bellflower | #609 | D | D− | D | B− | C+ |
| Norwalk | #437 | C | D− | C− | B+ | B− |
| Santa Fe Springs | #596 | D | D− | D− | B+ | B− |
| Bell Gardens | #726 | D− | D | C | C | D |
| Paramount | #669 | D | D | D | C+ | C |
| Pico Rivera | #517 | C− | D | C− | B | C+ |
Downey reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Downey with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Downey grades C+ overall, better than 43% of U.S. towns and #257 of 841 in California. It grades B for health and B+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D−.
45 notable people were born here, including "Weird Al" Yankovic and James Hetfield.
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