AreaProfile

90401Santa Monica, California

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 90401.

51
Area Score
Bottom 12% of 3,833 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity2629th of 4,073 published ZIP areas48
Growth2350th of 3,947 published ZIP areas44
Housing affordability4340th of 4,553 published ZIP areas35
ClimateTop 6% of 4,621 published ZIP areas100
Physical resilience4198th of 4,554 published ZIP areas10
AccessTop 10% of 4,623 published ZIP areas99
Economic stability2964th of 4,591 published ZIP areas53
The quick read

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 457 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 36% on the prior year.

Housing costs more relative to local incomes than in most published city profiles, with rent taking 27% of median household income.

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

At a glance

Population
8,101
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$110,385
Top 13% nationally
Density
10,730/sq mi
0.8 sq mi of land
Median age
36.9
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Santa Monica
California
Metro area
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
Nearest major airport
LAX
7 mi · Los Angeles Intl
Median home value
$1,149,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.2% is lower than 24% of the 4,387 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment fell 1.6% over the past year, to 49,203 employed residents.

77% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 98% of measured US ZIP areas.

Household income is higher than at least 87% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$17,449$110,385Top 13%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$16,073$104,754Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate17.7%Top 24%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute25.1 minBottom 35%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher77.3%Top 2%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment49,203Top 48%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-2.1%Bottom 19%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-1.6%Bottom 31%June 2026
Labor force51,898Top 47%June 2026
Labor force participation75.5%Top 6%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$77,270Top 20%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$55,850Top 28%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.3%Bottom 32%June 2026
Unemployment rate5.2%Top 24%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
2021202220232024110k90k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $110,385 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 Santa Monica, CA, the city containing this ZIP code.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $2,477 takes 27% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 10.4 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
26.9%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
10.4×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$2,477
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$1,149,200
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income10.41Top 2%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate5.2%Bottom 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±4316,104Top 25%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$262$2,477Top 3%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$92,308$1,149,200Top 2%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income26.9%Top 10%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate13.9%Top 41%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
44/ 100
Ranks 2350 of 3,947 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.

88% of recently permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

At 5.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
457
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
5.0
Top 30% nationally
Year over year
+36%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
87.7%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Santa Monica, 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 75°F and January a low of 49°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 13.4 inches.

40°60°80°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station SANTA MONICA MUNI AP, 2.4 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND3.3"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation13.4"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low49°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high75°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months121991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing13°F1991-2020 Normals

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.

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.

Taxes

AreaProfile does not yet publish tax comparisons. No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, methodology transparency and update cadence, and the product rule is to omit a dimension rather than estimate it. The Area Score is calculated without a tax component and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Nothing on AreaProfile is individualized tax advice.

Access

6 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 7 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Los Angeles IntlLAX7 mi12,923 ft
Van NuysVNY13 mi8,001 ft
Long Beach (Daugherty Fld)LGB24 mi10,000 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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Area Score
51
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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
June 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)

Profile recalculated August 29, 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.

90401 vs Santa Monica

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

90401
Santa Monica
Median household income
$110,385
vs
$114,885
Per capita income
$104,754
vs
$94,641
Population density
10,730/sq mi
vs
10,842/sq mi
Median home value
$1,149,200
vs
$1,755,500
Median gross rent
$2,477
vs
$2,402
Homeownership rate
5.2%
vs
27.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher
77.3%
vs
70.7%
Poverty rate
17.7%
vs
11.2%
Median age
36.9
vs
42.7

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.