Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Homes are expensive, about $754K for a typical one and 7.9 times the Los Angeles metro’s $96K median household income. Overall it grades C, 437th among California's 841 graded towns. It is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns. Its weakest subject is hazard risk: FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 90% of U.S. communities, with earthquakes at the top. Norwalk's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 99% of U.S. towns. Norwalk’s January low is 47°F, against 40°F in California’s towns and 22°F across U.S. towns. Norwalk is home to Cerritos College.
Where Norwalk beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
| College | Students |
|---|---|
| Cerritos College | 13,757 |
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Norwalk is from typical.
Its grades run from A for walkability (better than 86% of comparable towns) to D− for cost of living (better than 5%), so the C overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 88,739 in 1960, 102,773 in 2020. The archive holds 17 old photos and papers going back to 1891 and 8 maps from 1896 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Norwalk. Close and well known come first.
Big draw12 mi Theme parkDisneyland17.3M visitors a year
Big draw15 mi Stadium & arenaSoFi Stadium
Big draw20 mi LandmarkHollywood Walk of Fame10.0M visitors a year
Big draw14 mi MuseumLucas Museum of Narrative Art
Big draw7 mi Theme parkKnott's Berry Farm4.5M visitors a year
Big draw14 mi Stadium & arenaLos Angeles Memorial ColiseumDisneyland: HarshLight from San Jose, CA, USA, CC BY 2.0 · SoFi Stadium: Thank You (21 Millions+) views, CC BY 2.0 · Hollywood Walk of Fame: BenSherman, Public domain · Lucas Museum of Narrative Art: Kriddl, CC0 · Knott's Berry Farm: Phydend at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum: CanonStarGal, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Norwalk, 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 Norwalk.
Norwalk reports less crime than Bellflower or any other graded neighbor, has milder winter nights than nearly all U.S. towns and owes part of its health edge to its incomes.
Since 1998, 2 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Norwalk.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its public schools are run by the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified school district. Two of its 28 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Alisos MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 920 | – |
| Norwalk HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,075 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
Crime runs higher than in most U.S. towns, but its C− tops all 3 graded towns on its borders; Bellflower (D) comes closest. At 33.5 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 61% of California’s graded towns.
Norwalk’s violent crime rate is 3.3 per 1,000 residents.
| Norwalk | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.3 per 1,000 residents | 2.9 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 15.8 per 1,000 residents | 13.3 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Most working residents leave Norwalk for work: only 6% work in town. The average trip to work in Norwalk is 30 minutes. Since 2013, Norwalk has added 2,009 jobs, to 23,748 in 2023.
| Norwalk | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 7.9% | 14% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $100,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 5.7% | 6.6% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
January nights average 46.9°, milder than in 97% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 83.5°.
Norwalk has warm winters and pleasant summers, with very little rain. Snow is almost unheard of.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
| Norwalk | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.5% | 4.3% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Holifield Park | 0.7 mi | 17 |
| 2. Hermosillo Park | 0.6 mi | 9 |
| 3. Norwalk Park | 0.5 mi | 9 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Against the 8,584 U.S. towns with household incomes like Norwalk’s, it is less healthy than 68%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
Norwalk beats the California average on 6 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 11. 42% of adults feel lonely in Norwalk.
| Norwalk | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 36% | 33% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 70% | 72% | 79% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 9% | 8.1% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 22% | 23% |
| What stands out | Norwalk | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 4.7% | 6.4% |
| Fewer adults with COPD | 4.1% | 5.1% |
| More uninsured adults | 15.4% | 10.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The typical Norwalk home is worth about $754,000, up 1.5% in a year, close to the California typical home.
| Norwalk | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,090 a month | $1,895 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 57% | 55% | 48% |
| Households that own their home | 68% | 64% | 73% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
49 within 15 miles of the center of Norwalk
About 8 of every 100 Norwalk residents are enrolled in college, about the same as California.
Where Norwalk’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
2 places in Norwalk on the National Register of Historic Places.
City in California, United States
Norwalk is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 102,773 at the 2020 census. Founded in the late 19th century, Norwalk was incorporated as a city in 1957. It is located 17 miles (27 km) southeast of downtown Los Angeles and is part of the Greater Los Angeles area. Norwalk is a member of the Gateway Cities Council of Governments. Norwalk's sister cities are Morelia in the Mexican state of Michoacán, and Hermosillo, in the Mexican state of Sonora.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Norwalk.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norwalk | #437 | C | D− | C− | B+ | B− |
| Santa Fe Springs | #596 | D | D− | D− | B+ | B− |
| Cerritos | #247 | C+ | D | D | A− | A |
| Bellflower | #609 | D | D− | D | B− | C+ |
| Downey | #257 | C+ | D− | — | B+ | B |
Downey reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Norwalk with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Norwalk grades C overall, better than 26% of U.S. towns and #437 of 841 in California. It grades B− for health, C− 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−.
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