Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The town has 9,176 residents and lies in California.
Plenty in its favour, and one clear drawback. Health is its strong suit (A+). Marina del Rey’s overall grade, B, puts it better than 61% of U.S. towns. In the ranking it comes 135th of 841 in California. What counts against it is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $1.4 million, 14.4 years of the Los Angeles metro’s $96K median household income. It lags on hazard risk as well: FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 87% of U.S. communities, with earthquakes at the top. ZUMBROTA (yacht) is on the National Register of Historic Places. 75% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in the town, where California’s towns sit at 29% and U.S. towns at 29%.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · FEMA National Risk Index · National Register of Historic Places.
Where Marina del Rey beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
| Widest gap | Marina del Rey | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 3.4% | 10.6% |
8,866 counted in 2010 and 11,373 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Marina del Rey is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 8,065 in 1980, 11,373 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1861 and 8 maps from 1896 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Marina del Rey. Close and well known come first.
Big draw7 mi Stadium & arenaSoFi Stadium
Big draw11 mi LandmarkHollywood Walk of Fame10.0M visitors a year
Big draw10 mi MuseumLucas Museum of Narrative Art
Big draw10 mi Stadium & arenaLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Big draw8 mi MuseumLa Brea Tar Pits
Big draw7 mi Stadium & arenaIntuit DomeSoFi 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 · La Brea Tar Pits: Daniel Schwen, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Intuit Dome: Spatms, CC BY-SA 4.0
Marina del Rey 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 Marina del Rey.
Marina del Rey has less no health insurance than most of California and has milder winter nights than nearly all U.S. towns, 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 its D for cost of living. The typical value, about $1.38M, is 14% below its July 2022 peak.
In Marina del Rey, the midpoint rent is $3,501 a month. The typical home value locally is about $1,378,000, down 1.6% in a year, 81% above the California typical home.
| Marina del Rey | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 5.6% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $3,501 a month | $1,895 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its widest gap with California is no health insurance: 3.4% of those 18–64 have no health insurance, against 10.6% statewide.
71% of Marina del Rey adults had a checkup this year. Only 6 of the 847 California towns we compare have a lower share of adults who say their health is fair or poor than Marina del Rey. Among adults here, 12% get no exercise outside work and 21% binge drink. Of 32 CDC measures, Marina del Rey beats the California average on 24 and trails it on 2.
| Marina del Rey | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 9% | 14% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 24% | 25% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 16% | 16% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 31% | 35% |
| What stands out | Marina del Rey | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 3.4% | 10.6% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 6.5% | 17.9% |
| More binge drinkers | 20.5% | 15.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Households in Marina del Rey have drawn federal disaster aid in 4 declared disasters, most recently in 2025. 68% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from earthquakes, followed by inland flooding at 28%.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
In 3 parks and preserves, walkers have 1.6 miles of trail. The biggest park or preserve is Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve, at 138 acres. For Marina del Rey, the concentration of trails is 1.1 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Burton Chace Park | 0.8 mi | 7 |
| 2. Admiralty Park | 0.3 mi | 6 |
| 3. Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve | — | 138 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
January nights average 49.9°, milder than in 99% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 73.7°.
The January low in Marina del Rey is 50°F. It almost never snows.
| Marina del Rey | 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
Marina del Rey has about as many jobs (4,879) as working residents, but only 179 people both live and work here. 55% of workers work from home, against 17.2% across California.
Half of commuters travel less than 9 miles. In Marina del Rey, the median household income is $147,000. Most working residents leave Marina del Rey for work: only 4% work in town. Also worth knowing: among residents in the town, 1.8% live below the poverty line.
| Marina del Rey | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $147,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 1.8% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 32 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.9% | 6.6% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
47 within 15 miles of the center of Marina del Rey
About 2 of every 100 Marina del Rey residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across California.
Census-designated place in California, United States
Marina del Rey (Spanish for "Docks of the King") is an unincorporated seaside community in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The marina, which includes residential, light commercial, and office facilities, is a major boating and water recreation destination of the Greater Los Angeles area. It is North America's largest man-made small-craft harbor with slips for approximately 5,000 boats. The area is a popular tourism destination for both land and water activities, such as paddleboard and kayak rentals, dining cruises, and yacht charters. Land activities include bicycling on several bicycle paths, walking paths along the waterfront, and birdwatching (birding). Wildlife watching …
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Marina del Rey grades B overall, better than 61% of U.S. towns and #135 of 841 in California. It grades A+ for health 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.
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