Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The typical home is worth about $1.4 million, 14.4 years of the Los Angeles metro’s $96K median household income. Overall it grades B−, 226th among California's 841 graded towns. Its schools outperform 84% of the state's and CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 79% of the country. Its weakest subject is hazard risk: FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 81% of U.S. communities, with earthquakes at the top. Fountain Valley’s typical home value is $1,377,000, against $709,000 in California’s towns and $332,000 across U.S. towns. Only 36 of California’s 1,063 towns score lower on history. Fountain Valley is home to Coastline Community College.
Where Fountain Valley beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Fountain Valley is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 2,068 in 1960, 57,047 in 2020. The archive holds 14 old photos and papers going back to 1960 and 8 maps from 1896 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Fountain Valley. Close and well known come first.
Big draw7 mi Theme parkDisneyland17.3M visitors a year
Big draw28 mi Stadium & arenaSoFi Stadium
Big draw10 mi Theme parkKnott's Berry Farm4.5M visitors a year
Big draw35 mi LandmarkHollywood Walk of Fame10.0M visitors a year
Big draw19 mi MuseumUSS Iowa
Big draw29 mi MuseumLucas Museum of Narrative ArtDisneyland: HarshLight from San Jose, CA, USA, CC BY 2.0 · SoFi Stadium: Thank You (21 Millions+) views, CC BY 2.0 · Knott's Berry Farm: Phydend at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Hollywood Walk of Fame: BenSherman, Public domain · USS Iowa: PH1 Jeff Hilton, Public domain · Lucas Museum of Narrative Art: Kriddl, CC0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Fountain Valley, 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 Fountain Valley.
Fountain Valley has milder winter nights than nearly all U.S. towns and trades workers with Irvine and other neighbors, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of California.
At 14.4 years of the Los Angeles metro’s $96K median household income, the typical home (about $1.38M) costs more against local pay than in 91% of California towns; that ratio is one input to that grade. Home values rose 48% in five years, to about $1.38M, against 13% across California.
Homes sold in Fountain Valley spent a median 35 days on the market. Typical home values rose 6% in the year to September 2026. Its midpoint rent comes in at $2,631 a month. The typical home value in the town is about $1,377,000, up 6% in a year, 81% above the California typical home.
| Fountain Valley | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,631 a month | $1,895 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 69% | 55% | 48% |
| Households that own their home | 65% | 64% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
That grade comes with a D− for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $1.38M.
Two of the 17 schools are below, and why each made the list. The 6 public schools in Fountain Valley teach 3,486 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masuda (Kazuo) MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 768 | – |
| Fountain Valley HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 3,171 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with California is no health insurance: 6.2% of those 18–64 have no health insurance, against 10.6% statewide. Against the 6,413 U.S. towns with household incomes like Fountain Valley’s, it is healthier than 58%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
13% of Fountain Valley adults binge drink. This California town does better than the California average on 17 of 32 CDC measures and worse on 2.
| Fountain Valley | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 29% | 35% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 22% | 23% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 16% | 16% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 8.6% | 11% | 14% |
| What stands out | Fountain Valley | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 6.2% | 10.6% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 4.6% | 7.3% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 7.7% | 6.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Walkers can cover 9.5 miles of trail in 22 parks and preserves. Mile Square Regional Park, at 605 acres with 3 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. The concentration of trails in Fountain Valley is 1.0 miles per square mile.
| Fountain Valley | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 12% | 4.2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.0 miles per square mile | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Fountain Valley Sports Park | 3.4 mi | 81 |
| 2. Mile Square Regional Park | 3 mi | 605 |
| 3. Green Valley Park | 1 mi | 19 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The national flood insurance program has paid 91 claims in Fountain Valley since 1979. Expected losses in Fountain Valley break down as 60% from earthquakes and 39% from inland flooding. Federal aid has come to Fountain Valley households in 3 declared disasters; the latest was in 2017.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
January nights average 47.1°, milder than in 98% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 81.5°.
For Fountain Valley, the January low is 47°F. Snowfall is close to zero.
| Fountain Valley | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 47°F | 40°F | 22°F |
| July high | 82°F | 89°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Reported crimes fell from 1,256 to 980 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Within California, it does better than 65% of towns. The property offense rate for Fountain Valley comes to 15.8 per 1,000 residents.
| Fountain Valley | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 15.8 per 1,000 residents | 13.3 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.8 per 1,000 residents | 2.9 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Fountain Valley has about as many jobs (28,216) as working residents, but only 2,053 people both live and work here.
Only 8% of working residents stay in Fountain Valley for work; the rest commute out. The town’s income of the median household is $115,000. The top destinations are Irvine (10%), Santa Ana (8%) and Huntington Beach (6%). 17% of workers do their job from home in the town.
| Fountain Valley | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $115,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 17% | 14% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 8% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The bachelor’s-degree share among adults 25 and older is 46%, against 37% across California. People 65 and older are 21% of residents (16% statewide). In Fountain Valley, the age of the median resident is 44.4 years. The Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate puts Fountain Valley at 55,508 residents, down 2.7% since 2020.
| Fountain Valley | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 46% | 29% | 29% |
| Median age | 44.4 years | 39 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 19% | 22% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 21% | 16% | 18% |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±1.3 points. Across California, 50.1% of residents are women. Median age: women 46.7, men 41.3.
| Fountain Valley | CA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 8.5% | 11.4% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.5% | 10.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 8.5% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 12.4% | 14.8% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 10.8% | 13.9% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.9% | 12.5% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 14.7% | 12.1% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.2% | 9.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.4% | 6.5% | 7% |
| No diploma | 8.8% | 15.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 17.1% | 20.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 19.2% | 19.3% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.5% | 7.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 31.9% | 22.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 14.5% | 14.4% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
41 within 15 miles of the center of Fountain Valley
About 9 of every 100 Fountain Valley residents are enrolled in college, about the same as California.
29 notable people were born in Fountain Valley.
City in California, United States
Fountain Valley is a suburban city in Orange County, California. The population was 57,047 in the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Fountain Valley.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fountain Valley | #226 | B− | D− | C+ | A− | A− |
| Westminster | #519 | C− | D− | C− | A− | C+ |
| Santa Ana | #599 | D | D− | C− | C+ | C+ |
| Huntington Beach | #167 | B− | D− | C | A | A− |
| Garden Grove | #358 | C | D− | C+ | A− | B− |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Fountain Valley grades B− overall, better than 47% of U.S. towns and #226 of 841 in California. It grades A− for health, C+ for safety and A− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D−.
Within California, it does better than 65% of towns.
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−.
Fountain Valley was incorporated in 1957. 29 notable people were born here, including Keri Russell and Summer Altice.
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