Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A city of 50,755, settled in 1948.
Paramount grades D overall, ranked 669th of 841 in California, mostly because of safety. Its crime rate is higher than 91% of U.S. towns, with 324 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. One bright spot: it is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns. Paramount’s violent crime rate is 6.4 per 1,000 residents, above both California’s towns (2.9) and U.S. towns (1.6). Paramount's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 99% of U.S. towns. Homes are expensive, about $648K for a typical one and 6.8 times the Los Angeles metro’s $96K median household income.
Where Paramount beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Paramount is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 27,249 in 1960, 53,733 in 2020. The archive holds 1 old photo or paper going back to 2023 and 7 maps from 1896 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Paramount. Close and well known come first.
Big draw10 mi Stadium & arenaSoFi Stadium
Big draw16 mi Theme parkDisneyland17.3M visitors a year
Big draw17 mi LandmarkHollywood Walk of Fame10.0M visitors a year
Big draw11 mi MuseumLucas Museum of Narrative Art
Big draw11 mi Stadium & arenaLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Big draw13 mi MuseumUSS IowaSoFi Stadium: Thank You (21 Millions+) views, CC BY 2.0 · Disneyland: HarshLight from San Jose, CA, USA, 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 · USS Iowa: PH1 Jeff Hilton, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Paramount, 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 Paramount.
Paramount has milder winter nights than nearly all U.S. towns and has seen reported crime fall beyond ordinary swings.
Reported crimes fell from 1,784 to 1,530 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Paramount’s property crime rate is 23.8 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by the Paramount Unified school district. Two of its 16 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. 6 public schools serve Paramount, with 2,806 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alondra MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 735 | C+ |
| Paramount HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 3,400 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
5 flood insurance claims have been paid in Paramount since 1992. Storm and flood damage is expected to run higher than in 87% of U.S. communities. FEMA puts 72% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to earthquakes, and 27% to inland flooding. Federal disaster aid has reached households in Paramount after 6 declared disasters, most recently in 2025.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Walkers can cover 3.6 miles of trail in 10 parks and preserves. The concentration of trails for Paramount comes to 0.8 miles per square mile.
| Paramount | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.8 miles per square mile | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.5% | 4.3% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Salud Park | 1.2 mi | 9 |
| 2. Ralph C. Dills Park | 0.8 mi | 11 |
| 3. Paramount Park | — | 15 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
A third of Paramount adults get no exercise outside work. The town does better than the California average on 3 of 32 CDC measures and worse on 20. In Paramount, 33% of adults worry about having enough food, and 31% say their health is fair or poor.
| Paramount | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 44% | 36% | 33% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 16% | 14% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 9% | 8.1% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 22% | 19% |
| What stands out | Paramount | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 3.9% | 6.4% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 17.5% | 20.8% |
| More uninsured adults | 20.4% | 10.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
January nights average 46.9°, milder than in 97% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 83°.
Its January low is 47°F. It almost never snows.
| Paramount | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 47°F | 40°F | 22°F |
| July high | 83°F | 89°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The top destinations are Los Angeles (17%), Long Beach (7%) and Downey (3%). Among workers in Paramount, 7.3% work remotely from home. Half of commuters travel less than 11 miles. The average trip to work in the town is 28 minutes.
| Paramount | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 7.3% | 14% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 13% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $75,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
In Paramount, 43% of households are owner-occupiers. The typical Paramount home is worth about $648,000, up 2.1% in a year, 15% below the California typical home. For Paramount, the median rent is $1,875 a month.
| Paramount | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 43% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,875 a month | $1,898 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 59% | 55% | 48% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
56 within 15 miles of the center of Paramount
About 8 of every 100 Paramount residents are enrolled in college, about the same as California.
6 notable people were born in Paramount.
City in California, United States
Paramount is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. According to the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 53,733, down from 54,098 at the 2010 census. Part of the Greater Los Angeles area, Paramount is bordered by Compton and Lynwood to the west, South Gate and Downey to the north, Bellflower to the east and south, and Long Beach to the south.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Paramount.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paramount | #669 | D | D | D | C+ | C |
| South Gate | #640 | D | D | D | B− | C |
| East Rancho Dominguez | #591 | D | D | — | B− | C− |
| Compton | #742 | D− | D | D− | B− | C− |
| Long Beach | #564 | D | D− | D | B | B |
| Lynwood | #771 | D− | D | D | C+ | C− |
| Bellflower | #609 | D | D− | D | B− | C+ |
| Downey | #257 | C+ | D− | — | B+ | B |
East Rancho Dominguez and Downey report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Paramount with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Paramount grades D overall, better than 6% of U.S. towns and #669 of 841 in California. It grades C for health, D for safety and C+ 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.
6 notable people were born here, including Nicolle Payne and Anthony Gose.
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