Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For a city of 138,365, Orange does unevenly: it grades B−, 235th among California's 841 graded towns. The median household earns $117K and CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 75% of the country. The trade-offs: the typical home is worth about $1.1 million, 11.7 years of the Los Angeles metro’s $96K median household income, and FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 88% of U.S. communities, with earthquakes at the top. Orange’s typical home value is $1,120,000, against $709,000 in California’s towns and $332,000 across U.S. towns. Orange is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns. Orange has 17 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Lewis Ainsworth House and Irvine Park.
Where Orange beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Lewis Ainsworth House
Census counts: 679 in 1880, 139,911 in 2020. The archive holds 11 old photos and papers going back to 1914 and 8 maps from 1896 on.
17 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Orange is from typical.
Its grades run from A for walkability (better than 92% of comparable towns) to D− for cost of living (better than 1%), so the B− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Orange. Close and well known come first.
Big draw4 mi Theme parkDisneyland17.3M visitors a year
Big draw30 mi Stadium & arenaSoFi Stadium
Big draw9 mi Theme parkKnott's Berry Farm4.5M visitors a year
Big draw2 mi Stadium & arenaAngel Stadium of Anaheim
Big draw35 mi LandmarkHollywood Walk of Fame10.0M visitors a year
Big draw4 mi Theme parkDisney California Adventure10.1M visitors a yearDisneyland: 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 · Angel Stadium of Anaheim: Staff Sgt. Chad McMeen, Public domain · Hollywood Walk of Fame: BenSherman, Public domain · Disney California Adventure: CrispyCream27, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Orange, 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 Orange.
Orange reports less crime than Garden Grove or any other graded neighbor, draws workers from Anaheim and beyond and has milder winter nights than nearly all U.S. towns.
Santiago Oaks Regional Park, at 326 acres with 8.6 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. In 28 parks and preserves, walkers have 55 miles of trail. Orange’s density of trails stands at 2.1 miles per square mile.
| Orange | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 2.1 miles per square mile | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 9.2% | 4.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Santiago Oaks Regional Park | 8.6 mi | 326 |
| 2. Peters Canyon Regional Park | 5.1 mi | 194 |
| 3. El Modena Open Space | 3.3 mi | 146 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Below: Three of its 42 schools, each with why it was picked. The public schools here belong to the Orange Unified school district. Also worth knowing: the 6 public schools in Orange teach 3,329 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santiago Charter MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 7–8 | Grades 7–8 | 1,137 | – |
| El Modena HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,795 | B+ |
| Orange County Classical AcademyTop results in townGrades K–12 | Grades K–12 | 740 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
105,875 jobs are based in Orange, 1.8 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Half commute less than 10 miles. Orange had 105,875 jobs in 2023, up 13,439 from 2013. Commuting out is the norm in the town: 13% of working residents work locally. For workers here, the share who work from home is 18%.
| Orange | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $117,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 18% | 14% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 13% | 6.6% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 11.7 years of the Los Angeles metro’s $96K median household income, the typical home (about $1.12M) costs more against local pay than in 85% of California towns; that ratio is one input to that grade. Home values rose 33% in five years, to about $1.12M, against 13% across California.
The typical home value in Orange is about $1,120,000, up 3% in a year, 47% above the California typical home. In Orange, the going rate for rent is $2,327 a month. 57% of households are owner-occupiers in the town.
| Orange | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,327 a month | $1,895 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 57% | 64% | 73% |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 54% | 55% | 48% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The national flood insurance program has paid 14 claims in Orange since 1992. Of the losses FEMA expects locally, 65% come from earthquakes and 34% from inland flooding. Households in the town have drawn federal disaster aid in 3 declared disasters, most recently in 2017.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Against the 6,144 U.S. towns with household incomes like Orange’s, it is less healthy than 52%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
The share of adults in Orange who report frequent physical distress: 12%. Two figures for adults locally: 27% have high blood pressure, 72% had a checkup this year.
| Orange | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 29% | 35% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 31% | 35% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 72% | 72% | 79% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 9.2% | 11% | 14% |
| What stands out | Orange | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 8.5% | 10.6% |
| Fewer smokers | 9.2% | 10.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
January nights average 46.8°, milder than in 97% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 84.7°.
Snow is a rarity. The January low for Orange comes to 47°F.
| Orange | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 47°F | 40°F | 22°F |
| July high | 85°F | 89°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Crime runs higher than in most U.S. towns, but its C+ tops all 4 graded towns on its borders; Garden Grove (C+) comes closest. Reported crimes fell from 2,743 to 1,547 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Within California, it does better than 72% of towns. Orange’s violent offense rate comes in at 2 per 1,000 residents.
| Orange | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2 per 1,000 residents | 2.9 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 9.3 per 1,000 residents | 13.4 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Orange: 20% of residents are under 18. Every broad age group is within 4 points of the California average. In Orange, the median age is 37.2 years. The bachelor’s-degree share among adults 25 and older is 40%, against 37% across California.
| Orange | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 40% | 29% | 29% |
| Median age | 37.2 years | 39.1 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 20% | 22% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 15% | 16% | 18% |
49.6% women, 50.4% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±0.8 points. Across California, 50.1% of residents are women. Median age: women 38.2, men 36.4.
| Orange | CA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.3% | 11.4% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.1% | 10.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 10.5% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 15.6% | 14.8% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.8% | 13.9% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.8% | 12.5% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.5% | 12.1% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9.2% | 9.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.2% | 6.5% | 7% |
| No diploma | 11.1% | 15.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 19.2% | 20.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 21.6% | 19.3% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.3% | 7.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 25.5% | 22.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 14.2% | 14.4% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
38 within 15 miles of the center of Orange
About 10 of every 100 Orange residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across California.
2 colleges in town.
17 places in Orange on the National Register of Historic Places.
39 notable people were born in Orange.
City in California, United States
Orange is a city located in northern Orange County, California, United States. It is approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) north of the county seat, Santa Ana. Orange is unusual in this region because many of the homes in its Old Town District were built before 1920. While many other cities in the region demolished such houses in the 1960s, Orange decided to preserve them. The small city of Villa Park is surrounded by the city of Orange. The population of Orange was 139,911 as of 2020.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Orange.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orange | #235 | B− | D− | C+ | B+ | A− |
| Anaheim | #560 | D | D− | D | B | B− |
| North Tustin | #72 | B+ | D− | — | A− | A |
| Santa Ana | #599 | D | D− | C− | C+ | C+ |
| Garden Grove | #358 | C | D− | C+ | A− | B− |
| Tustin | #255 | C+ | D− | C | A− | A− |
North Tustin reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Orange with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Orange grades B− overall, better than 46% of U.S. towns and #235 of 841 in California. It grades A− for health, C+ for safety and B+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D−.
Within California, it does better than 72% 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−.
39 notable people were born here, including Mike Pompeo and Sunny.
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