Housing & affordability
18% of the score · 48/100
D+
Median home value$945,800
Los Angeles $871,300
Median rent$2,327/mo
Los Angeles $2,063/mo
Cost-burdened households41%
Los Angeles 46%
Orange
Orange County138,266 residentsOrange Unified
65
C+
Suburbgrade score
13th of 60 Los Angeles suburbs. Strong on amenities and cost of living, held back by housing & affordability.
65
Los Angeles median 55
0 · F
A+ · 100
Launch-day rule. Residents is not counted for Orange yet: no poll responses so far. The overall score of 65 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 Orange is like to live in, by category
Bars show Orange against Los Angeles. Weights are published in full.Schools
18% of the score · 66/100
C+
Within-state proficiency75th pct
Los Angeles median 63rd pct
Student–teacher ratio22.7
Los Angeles median 22.9
Graduation rate95%
Los Angeles median 92%
Cost of living
14% of the score · 75/100
B
Housing cost index108
Los Angeles 100
Eff. tax rate0.63%
Los Angeles 0.66%
Local sales tax7.75%
Los Angeles median 10.00%
Commute & transport
14% of the score · 66/100
C+
Mean commute25.8 min
Los Angeles 29.5 min
Under 30 minutes64%
Los Angeles 54%
Transit stops / sq mi18
Los Angeles median 11 · within 2 miles
Amenities
12% of the score · 80/100
B+
Restaurants & cafés208
Los Angeles median 92 · within 2 miles
Groceries7
Los Angeles median 9 · within 2 miles
Parks47
Los Angeles median 47 · within 2 miles
Employment & income
12% of the score · 60/100
C
Median household income$117,113
Los Angeles $95,958
Unemployment4.9%
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.
Nobody has answered for Orange 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 Orange on housing & affordability
Orange's weakest grade is D+. Six suburbs are within 25 miles and score higher on the same four inputs.
SuburbHousingOverall
Newport Beach11 mi from OrangeB− 72 B− Yorba Linda9 mi from OrangeC+ 60 C Mission Viejo17 mi from OrangeC 67 C+ Laguna Niguel20 mi from OrangeC 66 C+ Lake Forest14 mi from OrangeC− 67 C+ Fountain Valley7 mi from OrangeC− 64 C+ Median home value: ACS 2020–24 · Ownership rate: ACS 2020–24
Common questions about living in Orange
Is Orange, CA a good place to live?
Orange scores 65 out of 100, 13th of 60 Los Angeles suburbs. It is strongest on amenities and weakest on housing & affordability. Every weight behind that score is published on the methodology page.
Is Orange expensive to live in?
Cost of living grades B. The median home is $945,800, 9% above the Los Angeles median, and the effective property tax rate is 0.63%. $2,327/mo is the median gross rent.
How good are the schools in Orange?
Schools grade C+. The districts serving Orange sit at the 75th pct within-state proficiency percentile, with a 95% graduation rate and a 22.7 student–teacher ratio. Orange is served by Orange Unified. Proficiency is only ever compared inside the same state.
How long is the commute from Orange?
The mean commute is 25.8 min, with 64% of workers travelling under 30 minutes and 18% working from home. Transit density is 18 stops per square mile.
Can you walk anywhere in Orange?
Within two miles there are 7 groceries, 208 restaurants and cafés and 47 parks, which grades B+ on amenities.
Are the homes in Orange old or new?
The median home in Orange was built in 1973 — 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. 66% 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.