90274Palos Verdes Estates, California

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 90274.

50out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 16% of 5,298 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity3877th of 6,210 published ZIP areas49
Growth4349th of 5,428 published ZIP areas32
Housing affordability5747th of 6,685 published ZIP areas52
ClimateTop 4% of 6,789 published ZIP areas100
Physical resilience6250th of 6,709 published ZIP areas10
AccessTop 17% of 6,791 published ZIP areas98
Economic stabilityTop 50% of 6,742 published ZIP areas60
The quick read

Residential permitting has slowed: 14 units authorized over the past twelve months, 18% below the prior year.

Buying strains local incomes far more than renting does — the median home is 9.3 times median household income, against a historic benchmark near three — while rent takes 19% of it.

Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by earthquake, inland flooding and wildfire.

At a glance

Population
25,059
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$215,925
Top 1% nationally
Density
2,093/sq mi
12.0 sq mi of land
Median age
51.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Palos Verdes Estates
California
Metro area
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
Nearest major airport
LAX
11 mi · Los Angeles Intl
Median home value
$2,000,001
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.2% is lower than 22% of the 6,544 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment fell 1.8% over the past year, to 4,679,684 employed residents.

76% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 98% of measured US ZIP areas.

Household income is higher than at least 99% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$21,204$215,925Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$10,295$115,718Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate3.0%Bottom 11%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute32.0 minTop 28%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher76.3%Top 2%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment4,679,684Top 1%July 2026
Employment change (3 years)-2.1%Bottom 18%July 2026
Employment change (year over year)-1.8%Bottom 25%July 2026
Labor force4,937,408Top 1%July 2026
Labor force participation53.1%Bottom 26%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$77,270Top 21%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$55,850Top 28%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-1.0%Bottom 7%July 2026
Unemployment rate5.2%Top 22%July 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
2021202220232024222k186k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $215,925 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides385,530$34,320
Fast Food and Counter Workers160,270$42,110
Retail Salespersons130,650$37,700
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand120,720$42,390
Office Clerks, General112,270$48,100
Cashiers109,940$36,980

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Palos Verdes Estates, CA, the city containing this ZIP code.

There are 22.2 students for every full-time teacher, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
9
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
22.2
across all schools here
Math proficiency
Reading proficiency
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Palos Verdes Peninsula HighPalos Verdes Peninsula Unified2,07522.3
Palos Verdes HighPalos Verdes Peninsula Unified1,48422.8
Palos Verdes IntermediatePalos Verdes Peninsula Unified73523.0
Dapplegray ElementaryPalos Verdes Peninsula Unified63923.7
Montemalaga ElementaryPalos Verdes Peninsula Unified41621.9
Lunada Bay ElementaryPalos Verdes Peninsula Unified32921.9
Rancho Vista ElementaryPalos Verdes Peninsula Unified32919.4
Rancho del Mar High (Continuation)Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified4110.3
Sunrise Pre-SchoolPalos Verdes Peninsula Unified0

10.2% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against California’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $3,492 takes 19% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 9.3 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
19.4%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
9.3×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$3,492
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$2,000,001
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income9.26Top 3%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate86.1%Top 29%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±38710,062Top 16%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$289$3,492Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value$2,000,001Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income19.4%Top 39%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate8.6%Bottom 40%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
32/ 100
Ranks 4349 of 5,428 published city profiles

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 1.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
14
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.1
Bottom 28% nationally
Year over year
−18%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Palos Verdes Estates, CA, the city containing this ZIP code.

Weather & climate

12 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 77°F and January a low of 47°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 13.6 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 80, in the Moderate band, and about 133 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

40°60°80°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station TORRANCE AP, 2.3 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND3.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index164.02024 calendar year
Annual precipitation13.6"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall0.0"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low47°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high77°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months121991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1001332024 calendar year
Median air quality index80.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing14°F1991-2020 Normals
Air quality
Median air quality index
80
Moderate on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
164
90th percentile index
Days above 100
133
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today. Air quality is measured rather than modelled, by EPA monitors, and published by county only where a monitor sits — roughly half the counties AreaProfile publishes have one, and the rest show nothing rather than an estimate. Air masses are regional, so a county reading describes the air over a place reasonably well, but it is still the county reading.

Physical risk

10 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are earthquake, inland flooding and wildfire.

Inland floodingHigh
EarthquakeHigh
WildfireModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, landslide, tornado, lightning, hail, avalanche, coastal flooding, strong wind, winter weather, tsunami, drought, cold wave.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Los Angeles County records 4.7 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 6.3 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 17.8 per 100,000 residents in Los Angeles County.

Homicide
4.7
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
6.3
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
17.8
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
8.1
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Los Angeles County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around 90274 rather than 90274 itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

6 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 11 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Los Angeles IntlLAX11 mi12,923 ft
Long Beach (Daugherty Fld)LGB13 mi10,000 ft
Van NuysVNY30 mi8,001 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar yearAnnually, once a calendar year is complete

Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

90274 vs Palos Verdes Estates

How this ZIP area compares with Palos Verdes Estates as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.

90274
Palos Verdes Estates
Median household income
$215,925
vs
$242,014
Per capita income
$115,718
vs
$133,196
Population density
2,093/sq mi
vs
2,706/sq mi
Median home value
$2,000,001
vs
$2,000,001
Median gross rent
$3,492
vs
$3,217
Homeownership rate
86.1%
vs
89.7%
Bachelor's degree or higher
76.3%
vs
79.6%
Poverty rate
3.0%
vs
2.9%
Median age
51.1
vs
52.4

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.