Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Population 111,647: a city in California.
Cost of living is its weak spot: the typical home is worth about $671K, 7 years of the Los Angeles metro’s $96K median household income. Overall, East Los Angeles earns a D, better than 13% of U.S. towns. It ranks 574th of 841 in California. Hazard risk is weaker too (D) — FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 89% of U.S. communities, with earthquakes at the top. Walkability is its strong suit (A+) — it is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns. The city has 4 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Golden Gate Theater. The biggest place to walk is Belvedere Park, 45 acres with 1.1 miles of trail. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 94% of U.S. towns, with 4 places on the National Register.
Figures: home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · FEMA National Risk Index · National Register of Historic Places · OpenStreetMap.
Where East Los Angeles beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Where East Los Angeles’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far East Los Angeles is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 98% of comparable towns) to D for hazard risk (better than 7%), so the D overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 104,270 in 1960, 118,786 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1972 and 7 maps from 1894 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around East Los Angeles. Close and well known come first.
Big draw11 mi Stadium & arenaSoFi Stadium
Big draw11 mi LandmarkHollywood Walk of Fame10.0M visitors a year
Big draw7 mi MuseumLucas Museum of Narrative Art
Big draw7 mi Stadium & arenaLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Big draw6 mi Stadium & arenaCrypto.com Arena
Big draw21 mi Theme parkDisneyland17.3M visitors a yearSoFi Stadium: Thank You (21 Millions+) views, CC BY 2.0 · Hollywood Walk of Fame: BenSherman, Public domain · Lucas Museum of Narrative Art: Kriddl, CC0 · Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum: CanonStarGal, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Crypto.com Arena: Troutfarm27, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Disneyland: HarshLight from San Jose, CA, USA, CC BY 2.0
East Los Angeles is unincorporated, so Los Angeles County and regional agencies provide most services.
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 East Los Angeles.
East Los Angeles has milder winter nights than nearly all U.S. towns and is mostly renters, but it scores below Commerce and its other neighbors on health.
73% of East Los Angeles’s expected losses from natural hazards come from earthquakes, followed by inland flooding at 26%. Federal disaster aid has reached households in East Los Angeles once, in 2025. Flood insurance has paid out on 6 claims locally since 1980.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Two of the 48 schools are below, and why each made the list. Its public schools are run by the Los Angeles Unified school district. Public school enrollment in East Los Angeles: 3,603 students across 6 schools.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Griffith MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,070 | – |
| James A. Garfield Senior HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,237 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
All 4 graded neighbors score healthier than its C−, from Commerce (C) to Monterey Park (B−).
Among adults in East Los Angeles, 37% get no exercise outside work. East Los Angeles: 35% of adults say their health is fair or poor, above both California’s towns (22%) and U.S. towns (19%). Against the California average, East Los Angeles comes out ahead on 2 CDC measures out of 32, and behind on 21.
| East Los Angeles | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 22% | 19% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 45% | 36% | 33% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 16% | 14% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 67% | 72% | 79% |
| What stands out | East Los Angeles | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 3.9% | 6.4% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 17.9% | 20.8% |
| More uninsured adults | 25.3% | 10.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The share of workers in East Los Angeles who work from home: 8.5%. Only 5% of working residents stay in East Los Angeles for work; the rest commute out. East Los Angeles: 17% of residents live below the poverty line, above both the California town median (10%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%). In East Los Angeles, the mean commuting time is 30 minutes.
| East Los Angeles | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 17% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $69,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 8.5% | 14% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
January nights average 47.2°, milder than in 98% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 85.3°.
The January low for East Los Angeles comes to 47°F. It almost never snows.
| East Los Angeles | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 47°F | 40°F | 22°F |
| July high | 85°F | 89°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Count the trails in 7 parks and preserves and they come to 4.3 miles. East Los Angeles’ trail density is 0.6 miles per square mile. Parks and preserves locally: 7, covering 88 acres.
| East Los Angeles | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.6 miles per square mile | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.9% | 4.3% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Belvedere Park | 1.1 mi | 45 |
| 2. Ruben F. Salazar Park | 0.8 mi | 8 |
| 3. Obregon Park | 0.5 mi | 11 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
On the market in East Los Angeles: a median 53 days to sell. Zillow values the typical East Los Angeles home at about $671,000, about the same as a year ago, 12% below the California typical home. Just over a third of households are owner-occupiers locally.
| East Los Angeles | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 34% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,494 a month | $1,898 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 50% | 55% | 48% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
64 within 15 miles of the center of East Los Angeles
About 7 of every 100 East Los Angeles residents are enrolled in college, about the same as California.
4 places in East Los Angeles on the National Register of Historic Places.
27 notable people were born in East Los Angeles.
Unincorporated community in California, United States
East Los Angeles, or East L.A., (El Este de Los Angeles in Spanish) is an unincorporated community in the Eastside of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It borders Monterey Park to the northeast; the City of Los Angeles to the north, west, and a small portion to the south. Commerce to the south, and Montebello to the southeast. California State Route 60 and Interstate 710 intersect through the community. According to the United States Census Bureau, East Los Angeles is designated as a census-designated place (CDP) for statistical purposes. The most recent data from the 2020 census reports a population of 118,786, reflecting a 6.1% decrease compared to the 2010 population of 126,…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with East Los Angeles.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Los Angeles | #574 | D | D | — | B− | C− |
| Montebello | #680 | D | D− | D | C | B− |
| Monterey Park | #496 | C− | D− | C− | B | B− |
| Commerce | #679 | D | D | D− | C | C |
| Los Angeles | #613 | D | D− | D | B− | B− |
East Los Angeles reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare East Los Angeles with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
East Los Angeles grades D overall, better than 13% of U.S. towns and #574 of 841 in California. It grades C− for health and B− for schools. Hazard risk 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.
27 notable people were born here, including Edward James Olmos and Oscar De La Hoya.
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