Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Long Beach earns a D, ranked 564th of 841 in California, mostly because of safety. Its police reported 2,777 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 92% of U.S. towns. One bright spot: it is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns. Long Beach’s July high is 76°F, below both the California town median (89°F) and the median of U.S. towns (85°F). Its National Register listings include Los Cerritos Ranch House and Rms Queen Mary. Homes are expensive, about $852K for a typical one and 8.9 times the Los Angeles metro’s $96K median household income.
Where Long Beach beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Los Cerritos Ranch HouseLos Cerritos Ranch House is a National Historic Landmark, the National Register’s top tier. Its 19 National Register listings are more than in 95% of California towns with a listing.
Census counts: 564 in 1890, 466,742 in 2020. The archive holds 24 old photos and papers going back to 1834 and 7 maps from 1896 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Long Beach is from typical.
Its grades run from A for walkability (better than 94% of comparable towns) to D− for cost of living (better than 3%), so the D overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Long Beach. Close and well known come first.
Big draw15 mi Stadium & arenaSoFi Stadium
Big draw14 mi Theme parkDisneyland17.3M visitors a year
Big draw7 mi MuseumUSS Iowa
Big draw24 mi LandmarkHollywood Walk of Fame10.0M visitors a year
Big draw18 mi MuseumLucas Museum of Narrative Art
Big draw11 mi Theme parkKnott's Berry Farm4.5M visitors a yearSoFi Stadium: Thank You (21 Millions+) views, CC BY 2.0 · Disneyland: HarshLight from San Jose, CA, USA, CC BY 2.0 · USS Iowa: PH1 Jeff Hilton, Public domain · Hollywood Walk of Fame: BenSherman, Public domain · Lucas Museum of Narrative Art: Kriddl, CC0 · Knott's Berry Farm: Phydend at English Wikipedia, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Long Beach, 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 Long Beach.
Long Beach has milder winter nights than nearly all U.S. towns and has seen reported crime fall beyond ordinary swings, but it has a long record of flood insurance claims.
Reported crimes fell from 16,076 to 14,048 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Long Beach’s violent crime rate is 6.2 per 1,000 residents. Long Beach reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 92% report less. Long Beach’s property crime rate is 25.2 per 1,000 residents.
| Long Beach | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 6.2 per 1,000 residents | 2.9 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 25.2 per 1,000 residents | 13.3 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by the Long Beach Unified school district. Three of its 104 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hughes MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,214 | B |
| Polytechnic HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 3,890 | A |
| Eunice Sato Academy of Math & ScienceTop results in townGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 552 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
195 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 13 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 92% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 195 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Long Beach.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
January nights average 49.3°, milder than in 98% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 75.5°.
The January low in Long Beach is 49°F. Long Beach has warm winters and cool summers, with very little rain. Snow is almost unheard of.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
About one in 5 of Long Beach’s working residents works in town. 15% of Long Beach residents live below the poverty line. The top destinations are Los Angeles (16%), Torrance (3%) and Irvine (3%).
| Long Beach | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 21% | 6.6% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 15% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 16% | 14% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
41% of households own their home in Long Beach. The typical Long Beach home is worth about $852,000, up 2.4% in a year, 12% above the California typical home.
| Long Beach | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 41% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,871 a month | $1,898 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 56% | 55% | 48% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
24 miles of trail in 75 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is El Dorado East Regional Park, 448 acres with 3 miles of trail.
| Long Beach | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 6.3% | 4.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. El Dorado East Regional Park | 3 mi | 448 |
| 2. Scherer Park | 0.9 mi | 18 |
| 3. Houghton Park | 0.8 mi | 26 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Long Beach beats the California average on 3 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 10.
| Long Beach | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 36% | 33% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 71% | 72% | 79% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 16% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 29% | 35% |
| What stands out | Long Beach | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.4% | 6.4% |
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 4.9% | 5.6% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 22.9% | 17.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the California average. Long Beach has lost 3.5% of its people since 2020, down to 450,469 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 36% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 37% across California.
| Long Beach | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 14% | 16% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 20% | 22% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 36% | 29% | 29% |
| Median age | 37.1 years | 39.1 years | 40.5 years |
50.9% women, 49.1% men
About 97 men for every 100 women. Across California, 50.1% of residents are women. Median age: women 37.7, men 36.5.
| Long Beach | CA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.9% | 11.4% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10% | 10.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.7% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 16.9% | 14.8% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 14.4% | 13.9% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.1% | 12.5% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12.5% | 12.1% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 8.4% | 9.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.1% | 6.5% | 7% |
| No diploma | 17.6% | 15.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 18.3% | 20.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 21.4% | 19.3% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 7.1% | 7.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 22.5% | 22.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 13.1% | 14.4% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
28 within 15 miles of the center of Long Beach
About 9 of every 100 Long Beach residents are enrolled in college, about the same as California.
2 colleges in town.
19 places in Long Beach on the National Register of Historic Places.
53 notable people were born in Long Beach.
City in California, United States
Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 450,469 as of 2025. A charter city, Long Beach is the 7th-most populous city in California, the 2nd-most populous city in Los Angeles County, and the largest city in California that is not a county seat. Incorporated in 1897, Long Beach is in Southern California, in the southern part of Los Angeles County. Long Beach is approximately 20 miles (32 km) south of downtown Los Angeles, and is part of the Gateway Cities region. The Port of Long Beach is the second busiest container port in the United States and is among the world'…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
8 towns share a border with Long Beach.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Long Beach | #564 | D | D− | D | B | B |
| Lakewood | #361 | C | D− | C− | B | A− |
| Hawaiian Gardens | #490 | C− | D | D | A− | C |
| Carson | #530 | C− | D | D | B− | B |
| Compton | #742 | D− | D | D− | B− | C− |
| Los Angeles | #613 | D | D− | D | B− | B− |
| Seal Beach | #230 | B− | D | D | A | A− |
| Paramount | #669 | D | D | D | C+ | C |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Long Beach grades D overall, better than 14% of U.S. towns and #564 of 841 in California. It grades B for health, D 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−.
53 notable people were born here, including Nicolas Cage and Snoop Dogg.
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