Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A city of 88,966, settled in 1870.
The typical home is worth about $1.1 million, 11.4 years of the Los Angeles metro’s $96K median household income. Overall it grades C−, 519th among California's 841 graded towns. Its public schools beat 79% of California towns on state tests and graduation and it is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns. Its weakest subject is hazard risk: FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 82% of U.S. communities, with earthquakes at the top. Westminster’s typical home value is $1,093,000, above both California’s towns ($709,000) and U.S. towns ($332,000). Westminster's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 91% of U.S. towns.
Where Westminster beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Demille Elementary | K–6 | 562 |
| Eastwood Elementary | K–6 | 542 |
| Jessie Hayden Elementary | K–5 | 514 |
Where Westminster’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Westminster is from typical.
Its grades run from A for walkability (better than 85% of comparable towns) to D− for cost of living (better than 2%), so the C− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 585 in 1890, 90,911 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2025 and 7 maps from 1896 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Westminster. Close and well known come first.
Big draw6 mi Theme parkDisneyland17.3M visitors a year
Big draw24 mi Stadium & arenaSoFi Stadium
Big draw6 mi Theme parkKnott's Berry Farm4.5M visitors a year
Big draw31 mi LandmarkHollywood Walk of Fame10.0M visitors a year
Big draw16 mi MuseumUSS Iowa
Big draw25 mi MuseumLucas Museum of Narrative ArtDisneyland: 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 · Hollywood Walk of Fame: BenSherman, Public domain · USS Iowa: PH1 Jeff Hilton, Public domain · Lucas Museum of Narrative Art: Kriddl, CC0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Westminster, 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 Westminster.
Westminster has milder winter nights than nearly all U.S. towns and has seen reported crime fall by a fifth or more, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of California.
Reported crimes fell from 2,836 to 2,079 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The property crime rate in Westminster is 20 per 1,000 residents.
| Westminster | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 20 per 1,000 residents | 13.3 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.3 per 1,000 residents | 2.9 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Three of its 27 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warner MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 846 | C− |
| Westminster HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,529 | A− |
| La Quinta HighTop results in townGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,041 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
At 11.4 years of the Los Angeles metro’s $96K median household income, the typical home (about $1.09M) costs more against local pay than in 84% of California towns; that ratio is one input to its D− for cost of living. Home values rose 35% in five years, to about $1.09M, against 13% across California.
Westminster’s median rent is $2,168 a month. Typical home values rose 5.5% in the year to September 2026. 53% of households own their home in Westminster.
| Westminster | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,168 a month | $1,895 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 53% | 64% | 73% |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 64% | 55% | 48% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Since 1978, 82 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Westminster.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Most working residents leave Westminster for work: only 7% work in town. 14% of Westminster residents live below the poverty line. The top destinations are Irvine (8%), Santa Ana (7%) and Huntington Beach (7%).
| Westminster | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 14% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $86,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
January nights average 46.9°, milder than in 97% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 81.8°.
Westminster has warm winters and pleasant summers, with very little rain. Snow is almost unheard of.
| Westminster | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 47°F | 40°F | 22°F |
| July high | 82°F | 89°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
| Westminster | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.4% | 4.3% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Sigler Park | 0.6 mi | 8 |
| 2. Russel C Paris Park | 0.5 mi | 12 |
| 3. Liberty Park | 0.5 mi | 6 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Westminster beats the California average on 5 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 12.
| Westminster | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 16% | 16% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 29% | 35% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 12% | 12% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 22% | 23% |
| What stands out | Westminster | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer binge drinkers | 11.4% | 15.3% |
| Fewer adults with obesity | 22.2% | 27.8% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 14.7% | 10.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
41 within 15 miles of the center of Westminster
About 8 of every 100 Westminster residents are enrolled in college, about the same as California.
20 notable people were born in Westminster.
City in California, United States
Westminster is a city in western Orange County, California, United States. Westminster was founded in 1870 by Rev. Lemuel Webber as a Presbyterian temperance colony and was incorporated in 1957. Westminster is bordered by the city of Seal Beach on the west, by Garden Grove on the north and east, and by Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley on the south. Santa Ana, the county seat of Orange County, is east of Westminster. Westminster has one of the largest Vietnamese populations in the US. They settled largely in Little Saigon, and the city is known as the "capital" of overseas Vietnamese with 39,799 Vietnamese Americans, or 43.8% of the total population, as of the 2020 United States census..…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Westminster.
All 5 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its C−; Midway City (C−) is closest.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westminster | #519 | C− | D− | C− | A− | C+ |
| Garden Grove | #358 | C | D− | C+ | A− | B− |
| Huntington Beach | #167 | B− | D− | C | A | A− |
| Fountain Valley | #226 | B− | D− | C+ | A− | A− |
| Seal Beach | #230 | B− | D | D | A | A− |
| Midway City | #481 | C− | D | — | A− | C |
Midway City reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Westminster with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Westminster grades C− overall, better than 17% of U.S. towns and #519 of 841 in California. It grades C+ for health, C− 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−.
20 notable people were born here, including Paul Caligiuri and Jarin Blaschke.
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