Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Rancho Palos Verdes grades A− overall, 28th of 841 graded towns in California. CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 96% of the country and its schools rank ahead of 95% of California towns. The trade-off is money: the typical home is worth about $1.8 million, 18.7 years of the Los Angeles metro’s $96K median household income. 70% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Rancho Palos Verdes, against 29% in California’s towns and 29% across U.S. towns. On safety, just 38 of California’s 426 towns do better. The biggest park or preserve is Point Vicente State Marine Conservation Area, at 7,429 acres.
Where Rancho Palos Verdes beats most towns.
7.5% of the town is conserved land, across 23 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Rancho Palos Verdes is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for health (better than 96% of comparable towns) to D− for cost of living (better than 1%), so the A− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Wayfarers Chapel is a National Historic Landmark, the National Register’s top tier.
Census counts: 36,577 in 1980, 42,287 in 2020. The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 1926 and 8 maps from 1896 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Rancho Palos Verdes. Close and well known come first.
Big draw15 mi Stadium & arenaSoFi Stadium
Big draw5 mi MuseumUSS Iowa
Big draw25 mi LandmarkHollywood Walk of Fame10.0M visitors a year
Big draw26 mi Theme parkDisneyland17.3M visitors a year
Big draw20 mi MuseumLucas Museum of Narrative Art
Big draw20 mi Stadium & arenaLos Angeles Memorial ColiseumSoFi Stadium: Thank You (21 Millions+) views, CC BY 2.0 · USS Iowa: PH1 Jeff Hilton, Public domain · Hollywood Walk of Fame: BenSherman, Public domain · Disneyland: HarshLight from San Jose, CA, USA, CC BY 2.0 · Lucas Museum of Narrative Art: Kriddl, CC0 · Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum: CanonStarGal, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Rancho Palos Verdes, 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 Rancho Palos Verdes.
Rancho Palos Verdes fares better on crime within California than nationally, has schools in the top 5% of California and has less no health insurance than most of California.
At 18.7 years of the Los Angeles metro’s $96K median household income, the typical home (about $1.79M) costs more against local pay than in 96% of California towns; that ratio is one input to that grade.
On the market in Rancho Palos Verdes: a median 26 days to sell. A typical home in the town is worth about $1,790,000, up 1.9% in a year, more than twice the California typical home. The rent at the middle of the market here is $3,501 a month.
| Rancho Palos Verdes | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $3,501 a month | $1,895 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 80% | 64% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
That grade ranks #29 of the 847 California towns we grade for schools. It comes with a D− for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $1.79M.
The Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified school district runs its public schools. One of its 14 schools is below, with the reason it’s listed. Public school enrollment in Rancho Palos Verdes: 2,449 students across 6 schools.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rudecinda Sepulveda Dodson MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,337 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with California is no health insurance: 3.2% of those 18–64 have no health insurance, against 10.6% statewide. Against the 1,371 U.S. towns with household incomes like Rancho Palos Verdes’s, it is healthier than 64%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
16% of Rancho Palos Verdes adults have been diagnosed with depression. The town does better than the California average on 24 of 32 CDC measures and worse on 3. In Rancho Palos Verdes, 11% of adults report frequent mental distress, and 6% smoke cigarettes.
| Rancho Palos Verdes | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 29% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 17% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 6% | 11% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 22% | 23% |
| What stands out | Rancho Palos Verdes | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 3.2% | 10.6% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 2.7% | 7.3% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.7% | 6.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Trails total 54 miles in 23 parks and preserves. Rancho Palos Verdes’ trail network density stands at 1.4 miles per square mile.
| Rancho Palos Verdes | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.4 miles per square mile | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 7.5% | 4.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Portuguese Bend Reserve | 10.9 mi | 411 |
| 2. Forrestal Reserve | 3.4 mi | 151 |
| 3. Abalone Cove Reserve | 3.3 mi | 72 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Rancho Palos Verdes has 5,843 jobs for its 20,057 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. Jobs based here grew from 3,930 in 2013 to 5,843.
The median commute is under 19 miles. Rancho Palos Verdes had 5,843 jobs in 2023, up 1,913 from 2013. Most working residents leave Rancho Palos Verdes for work: only 4% work in town. In Rancho Palos Verdes, the income of the median household is $180,000.
| Rancho Palos Verdes | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $180,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 28% | 14% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 33 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 4.2% | 10% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The national flood insurance program has paid 5 claims in Rancho Palos Verdes since 1980. On expected storm and flood damage, Rancho Palos Verdes sits above three quarters of U.S. communities. 61% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from earthquakes, followed by inland flooding at 38%. Federal aid has come to Rancho Palos Verdes households in 9 declared disasters; the latest was in 2025.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
January nights average 49.9°, milder than in 99% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 78.6°.
Rancho Palos Verdes’ midsummer high comes in at 79°F. The seasons in the town: warm winters, pleasant summers, with very little rain. It almost never snows.
| Rancho Palos Verdes | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 50°F | 40°F | 22°F |
| July high | 79°F | 89°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 12.9 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 92% of California’s graded towns. Violent crime is rare: 49 reported in 2025, 1.2 per 1,000 residents.
The rate of reported violence for Rancho Palos Verdes comes to 1.2 per 1,000 residents. The level of property crime for Rancho Palos Verdes comes to 7.9 per 1,000 residents.
| Rancho Palos Verdes | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.2 per 1,000 residents | 2.9 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 7.9 per 1,000 residents | 13.4 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
11 within 15 miles of the center of Rancho Palos Verdes
About 5 of every 100 Rancho Palos Verdes residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across California.
Where Rancho Palos Verdes’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
4 notable people were born in Rancho Palos Verdes.
City in California, United States
Rancho Palos Verdes is an affluent coastal city in southern Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated on September 7, 1973, the city has a population of 42,287 as reported in the 2020 United States census. The city sits atop the bluffs of the Palos Verdes Peninsula and the Palos Verdes Hills, and neighbors Palos Verdes Estates, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates, Torrance, and San Pedro. Rancho Palos Verdes is known for its nature preserve trails, its school district, and its high property values.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Rancho Palos Verdes.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rancho Palos Verdes | #28 | A− | D− | B+ | A+ | A+ |
| Rolling Hills Estates | #107 | B+ | D− | C+ | A+ | A+ |
| Rolling Hills | — | — | D− | A | A+ | A+ |
| Los Angeles | #613 | D | D− | D | B− | B− |
| Palos Verdes Estates | #24 | A− | D− | B+ | A+ | A+ |
| Lomita | #458 | C− | D− | C− | B− | B+ |
Rolling Hills has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Compare Rancho Palos Verdes with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Rancho Palos Verdes grades A− overall, better than 84% of U.S. towns and #28 of 841 in California. It grades A+ for health, B+ for safety and A+ 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−.
4 notable people were born here, including Robbie Rogers and JonTron.
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