Fountain Valley

Orange County56,258 residents3 school districts
64
C+
Suburbgrade score

15th of 60 Los Angeles suburbs. Strongest on amenities, held back by employment & income.

Launch-day rule. Residents is not counted for Fountain Valley yet: no poll responses so far. The overall score of 64 is computed on the other six categories, re-normalised to 100%. Answer the poll →

What living here is actually like
Written summary in preparation This page is waiting for its written summary, and for a person to check it. Until then it is excluded from search engines.

What Fountain Valley is like to live in, by category

Bars show Fountain Valley against Los Angeles. Weights are published in full.

Housing & affordability

18% of the score · 55/100
C−
Median home value$1,072,300
Los Angeles $871,300
Median rent$2,631/mo
Los Angeles $2,063/mo
Cost-burdened households41%
Los Angeles 46%

Schools

18% of the score · 69/100
B−
Within-state proficiency90th pct
Los Angeles median 63rd pct
Student–teacher ratio23.7
Los Angeles median 22.9
Graduation rate92%
Los Angeles median 92%
EDFacts SY2021–22 · NCES CCD 2024–25 · EDFacts ACGR SY2018–19Full page →

Cost of living

14% of the score · 65/100
C+
Housing cost index109
Los Angeles 100
Eff. tax rate0.57%
Los Angeles 0.66%
Local sales tax8.75%
Los Angeles median 10.00%
Composed in-house · ACS 2020–24 · ACS 2020–24 · CDTFA 2026-09Full page →

Commute & transport

14% of the score · 63/100
C+
Mean commute26.0 min
Los Angeles 29.5 min
Under 30 minutes62%
Los Angeles 54%
Transit stops / sq mi15
Los Angeles median 11 · within 2 miles

Amenities

12% of the score · 81/100
B+
Restaurants & cafés94
Los Angeles median 92 · within 2 miles
Groceries11
Los Angeles median 9 · within 2 miles
Parks62
Los Angeles median 47 · within 2 miles

Employment & income

12% of the score · 52/100
D+
Median household income$115,237
Los Angeles $95,958
Unemployment5.6%
Los Angeles 6.8%
Professional occupations48%
Los Angeles 43%

Residents

12% of the score · inactive
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No responses yet. Residents is excluded from the score until eight people answer.

Ask the people who live here

Twelve yes/no questions, one tap each. No dataset knows whether the yards are kept or whether anyone talks to their neighbours. Answers feed the Residents grade, which needs eight responses before it counts.

0 responses·Residents category: waiting for first responses·Live

Nobody has answered for Fountain Valley yet. If you live here, you can be the first.

Is it quiet at night?
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Do you feel safe walking after dark?
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Can you walk to a grocery store?
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Is it good for young children?
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Are yards and streets well kept?
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Tap either button to answer — no account neededAll twelve questions →

Better than Fountain Valley on employment & income

Fountain Valley's weakest grade is D+. Six suburbs are within 25 miles and score higher on the same four inputs.

Median household income: ACS 2020–24 · Unemployment: ACS 2020–24

Common questions about living in Fountain Valley

Is Fountain Valley, CA a good place to live?

Fountain Valley scores 64 out of 100, 15th of 60 Los Angeles suburbs. It is strongest on amenities and weakest on employment & income. Every weight behind that score is published on the methodology page.

Is Fountain Valley expensive to live in?

Cost of living grades C+. The median home is $1,072,300, 23% above the Los Angeles median, and the effective property tax rate is 0.57%. $2,631/mo is the median gross rent.

How good are the schools in Fountain Valley?

Schools grade B−. The districts serving Fountain Valley sit at the 90th pct within-state proficiency percentile, with a 92% graduation rate and a 23.7 student–teacher ratio. Fountain Valley is served by Huntington Beach Union High, Fountain Valley Elementary and Garden Grove Unified. Proficiency is only ever compared inside the same state.

How long is the commute from Fountain Valley?

The mean commute is 26.0 min, with 62% of workers travelling under 30 minutes and 17% working from home. Transit density is 15 stops per square mile.

Can you walk anywhere in Fountain Valley?

Within two miles there are 11 groceries, 94 restaurants and cafés and 62 parks, which grades B+ on amenities.

Are the homes in Fountain Valley old or new?

The median home in Fountain Valley was built in 1972 — close to the Los Angeles median of 1969. That is a median, so a town can be half post-war and half new-build and still land there. 78% of homes are houses rather than flats.

Every answer is built from the figures on this page, with their sources and as-of dates on the methodology page.