Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town settled in 1911, now home to 16,379 people.
El Segundo’s strongest subject is health: it is healthier than 98% of U.S. towns. Overall, El Segundo earns a B−, better than half of U.S. towns. It ranks 199th of 841 in California. The weak point is cost of living (D−) — the typical home is worth about $1.7 million, 17.9 years of the Los Angeles metro’s $96K median household income. The town’s midpoint home value is $1,719,000, where California’s towns sit at $709,000 and U.S. towns at $332,000. Only 88 of California’s 1,063 towns score higher on walkability. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 92% of U.S. communities, with earthquakes at the top. On safety, just 21 of California’s 426 towns do worse.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · FEMA National Risk Index · FBI crime data, 2025 · Zillow, September 2026.
Where El Segundo beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Where El Segundo’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 El Segundo is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,563 in 1920, 17,272 in 2020. The archive holds 11 old photos and papers going back to 1935 and 8 maps from 1896 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around El Segundo. Close and well known come first.
Big draw6 mi Stadium & arenaSoFi Stadium
Big draw14 mi LandmarkHollywood Walk of Fame10.0M visitors a year
Big draw11 mi MuseumLucas Museum of Narrative Art
Big draw11 mi Stadium & arenaLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Big draw5 mi Stadium & arenaIntuit Dome
Big draw30 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 · Intuit Dome: Spatms, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Disneyland: HarshLight from San Jose, CA, USA, CC BY 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in El Segundo, 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 El Segundo.
El Segundo draws workers from Los Angeles and beyond and has less no health insurance than most of California, but it reports more crime than Los Angeles and its other graded neighbors.
At 17.9 years of the Los Angeles metro’s $96K median household income, the typical home (about $1.72M) costs more against local pay than in 95% of California towns; that ratio is one input to that grade. The median property tax bill is $8,056, against $5,124 across California, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Home values are up 3.9% over the year to September 2026. In El Segundo, the midpoint rent is $2,556 a month. For households here, the share who own their home is 43%.
| El Segundo | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,556 a month | $1,895 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 43% | 64% | 73% |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 36% | 55% | 48% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its A for schools comes with a D− for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $1.72M.
Below: Three of its 9 schools, each with why it was picked. The largest public high school is El Segundo High, with 1,232 students. The public schools here belong to the El Segundo Unified school district.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| El Segundo MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 804 | A |
| El Segundo HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,232 | A |
| Da Vinci ScienceTop results in townGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 552 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with California is no health insurance: 4% of those 18–64 have no health insurance, against 10.6% statewide.
Among adults 18 to 64 in El Segundo, 4% have no health insurance. On the CDC’s 32 measures, El Segundo is ahead of California on 23 and behind on 2. Two figures for adults here: 14% get no exercise outside work, 10% report frequent physical distress.
| El Segundo | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 29% | 35% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 24% | 25% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 10% | 14% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 31% | 35% |
| What stands out | El Segundo | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 4% | 10.6% |
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 4.1% | 10.6% |
| More binge drinkers | 18.8% | 15.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Each of the 3 graded towns on its borders reports less crime per resident, from Los Angeles (D) to Manhattan Beach (C). Reported crimes fell from 1,150 to 637 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
El Segundo’s violent crime rate stands at 4.1 per 1,000 residents. The property offense rate for El Segundo comes to 34.8 per 1,000 residents.
| El Segundo | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 34.8 per 1,000 residents | 13.3 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.1 per 1,000 residents | 2.9 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
74,172 jobs are based in El Segundo, 8.9 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. 35.1% of workers work from home, against 17.2% across California.
Roughly one working resident in five has a job in El Segundo itself. Between 2013 and 2023, jobs here rose by 7,964, to 74,172. The town’s middle household income comes in at $151,000. Half of commuters travel less than 8 miles.
| El Segundo | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $151,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 20% | 6.6% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 5.3% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Households in El Segundo have drawn federal disaster aid in 5 declared disasters, most recently in 2025. Expected losses in El Segundo break down as 66% from earthquakes and 33% from inland flooding. Flood insurance has paid out on 3 claims here since 1997.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
January nights average 49.9°, milder than in 99% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 73.9°.
Expect warm winters and cool summers in El Segundo, with very little rain. Its July high is 74°F. It almost never snows.
| El Segundo | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 74°F | 89°F | 85°F |
| January low | 50°F | 40°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The trail density in El Segundo is 0.2 miles per square mile. Walkers can cover 2.1 miles of trail in 8 parks and preserves. Parks and preserves here: 8, covering 41 acres.
| El Segundo | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.8% | 4.3% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Recreation Park | 1.3 mi | 19 |
| 2. Imperial Strip and Memory Tree Row | — | 8 |
| 3. Campus El Segundo Athletic Fields | — | 5 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
41 within 15 miles of the center of El Segundo
About 6 of every 100 El Segundo residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across California.
5 notable people were born in El Segundo.
City in California, United States
El Segundo ( EL sə-GUN-doh, Spanish: [el seˈɣundo]; Spanish for 'The Second') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located on Santa Monica Bay, it was incorporated on January 18, 1917, and is part of the South Bay Cities Council of Governments. The population was 17,272 as of the 2020 census, a 3.7% increase from 16,654 in the 2010 census. A significant center of the oil and aerospace industries in Southern California, roughly three quarters of the city's land is dedicated exclusively to industrial and commercial uses, including a Chevron oil refinery which takes up more than a quarter of the city.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with El Segundo.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| El Segundo | #199 | B− | D− | D− | A | A+ |
| Los Angeles | #613 | D | D− | D | B− | B− |
| Manhattan Beach | #84 | B+ | D− | C | A+ | A+ |
| Del Aire | #136 | B | D− | — | B+ | A− |
| Hawthorne | #634 | D | D− | D | B | C+ |
Del Aire reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare El Segundo with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
El Segundo grades B− overall, better than 50% of U.S. towns and #199 of 841 in California. It grades A+ for health, D− for safety and A 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−.
5 notable people were born here, including Christopher McCandless and Lars Nootbaar.
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