90604 — South Whittier, California

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 90604. Its median home value runs 11% above South Whittier as a whole, which is why this ZIP carries a profile of its own.

53out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 30% of 3,113 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
Opportunity1,811th of 3,116 ZIP areas measured50
Schools1,706th of 3,047 ZIP areas measured46
GrowthTop 39% of 3,124 ZIP areas measured56
Housing affordability2,750th of 3,112 ZIP areas measured44
ClimateTop 3% of 3,127 ZIP areas measured100
Physical resilience2,950th of 3,127 ZIP areas measured10
AccessTop 8% of 3,127 ZIP areas measured99
Economic stabilityTop 15% of 3,127 ZIP areas measured75
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.9% and median household income $105,074, putting employment conditions in the middle range of ZIP areas measured. The unemployment rate is published for South Whittier, CA, which contains 90604, rather than for 90604 alone.

In the public schools here, 42% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 22.2 students for every teacher.

Housing costs more relative to local incomes than in most ZIP areas measured: rent takes 31% of renter income and the median home is 5.9 times what its owners earn.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
39,276
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$105,074
Top 16% nationally
Density
9,331/sq mi
4.2 sq mi of land
Median age
37.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
South Whittier
California
Nearest major airport
LGB
11 mi · Long Beach (Daugherty Fld)
Median home value
$785,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across South Whittier, CA, which contains 90604, is 4.9% — higher than in all but 30% of the 3,127 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment across South Whittier, CA, which contains 90604, fell 0.8% over the past year, to 4,743,450 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsLos Angeles County, CA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$89,07677th percentileof 2,996filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftLos Angeles County, CA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$93,76285th percentileof 2,996filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$4,3952024 ACS 5-Year$105,074Top 16%of 31,0492024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,6582024 ACS 5-Year$38,636Top 43%of 32,8222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year6.1%Top 27%of 32,8462024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.6 min2024 ACS 5-Year34.6 minBottom 19%of 32,8872024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year24.4%Top 47%of 33,1932024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year75.4%48th percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentSouth Whittier, CA’s figureAugust 20264,743,450Top 1%of 3,127August 2026
Employment change (3 years)South Whittier, CA’s figureAugust 2026−0.7%Bottom 43%of 3,127August 2026
Employment change (year over year)South Whittier, CA’s figureAugust 2026−0.8%Bottom 48%of 3,127August 2026
Labor forceSouth Whittier, CA’s figureAugust 20264,990,44399th percentileof 3,127August 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year83.3%Top 28%of 32,8832024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageLos Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$77,270Top 16%of 2,7602025 OEWS
Median annual wageLos Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$55,850Top 24%of 2,7602025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year0.9%79th percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)South Whittier, CA’s figureAugust 2026−1.3%Top 5%of 3,127August 2026
Unemployment rateSouth Whittier, CA’s figureAugust 20264.9%Bottom 30%of 3,127August 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year9.7%50th percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

2021202220232024105k88k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $105,074 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

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

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 South Whittier, CA, the city containing this ZIP code.

42% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 57% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 22.2 students for every full-time teacher across 11 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
11
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
22.2
across all schools here
Math proficiency
42.1%
Top 46% in California
Reading proficiency
56.6%
Top 43% in California
All 11 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
California HighWhittier Union High2,26122.227%57%
Granada MiddleEast Whittier City Elementary98920.653%64%
Rancho-Starbuck IntermediateLowell Joint68723.753%60%
Hillview MiddleEast Whittier City Elementary64319.537%47%
Scott Avenue ElementaryEast Whittier City Elementary49424.750%54%
Ceres ElementaryEast Whittier City Elementary49222.467%67%
Orchard Dale ElementaryEast Whittier City Elementary47223.647%55%
Meadow Green ElementaryLowell Joint47024.762%74%
Los Altos ElementarySouth Whittier Elementary45721.822%32%
Howard J. McKibben ElementarySouth Whittier Elementary43023.945%53%
La Colima ElementaryEast Whittier City Elementary37821.041%50%

70.9% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against California’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 15% above the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 114.7, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA Metropolitan Division is up 32% over five years, and up 1.2% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $4,620 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.59% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $2,780, some 46% above the $1,904 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $2,780 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $111,200 a year, about 106% of the median household income here of $105,074.

The typical renter household here spends 31% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,904 a month.

A median home at $785,200 costs 5.9 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $133,211, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Cost of living
114.7

Prices here run about 15% above the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
30.8%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
5.9×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$2,780
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,904
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$785,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against 90604’s median household income of $105,074, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Metro Area’s figure2023114.7Bottom 4%of 2,7372023
Home price change (1 year)the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+1.2%25th percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+31.9%17th percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+81.4%26th percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.52024 ACS 5-Year5.9Bottom 5%of 29,2752024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year65.4%22nd percentileof 32,7502024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±3802024 ACS 5-Year12,07687th percentileof 33,4602024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$2,230Bottom 10%of 3,031FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$3,520Bottom 9%of 3,031FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$2,780Bottom 8%of 3,031FY2026
Median gross rent ±$772024 ACS 5-Year$1,904Bottom 10%of 26,3962024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$19,4842024 ACS 5-Year$785,20096th percentileof 30,8122024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$3312024 ACS 5-Year$4,62085th percentileof 28,9352024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$10,6762024 ACS 5-Year$133,211Top 11%of 29,8022024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.04%2024 ACS 5-Year0.59%21st percentileof 24,0992024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year30.8%Bottom 36%of 26,2472024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±292024 ACS 5-Year01st percentileof 33,7722024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 32,9612024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year2.9%20th percentileof 32,7882024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1682024 ACS 5-Year35166th percentileof 33,7722024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

56/ 100
Top 39% of 3,124 published ZIP 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.

At 2.9 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US ZIP areas. The permit rate is published for South Whittier, CA, which contains 90604, rather than for 90604 alone.

Units permitted
28K
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.9
Bottom 49% nationally
Year over year
+43%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
59.7%
units in 5+ unit buildings

People moving in and out

Net migration
−1.1%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
47%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$89,076
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$93,762
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Orange County, CA 23,952 people · 14% of arrivals
  2. San Bernardino County, CA 18,695 people · 11% of arrivals
  3. Riverside County, CA 10,934 people · 6.3% of arrivals
  4. San Diego County, CA 6,906 people · 4.0% of arrivals
  5. Ventura County, CA 6,332 people · 3.6% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. San Bernardino County, CA 34,872 people · 13% of departures
  2. Orange County, CA 31,420 people · 12% of departures
  3. Riverside County, CA 20,742 people · 8.0% of departures
  4. Ventura County, CA 10,470 people · 4.0% of departures
  5. Clark County, NV 10,100 people · 3.9% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for Los Angeles County, CA. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for South Whittier, 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 84°F and January a low of 46°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 11.9 inches.

30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station FULLERTON MUNI AP, 4.3 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND3.0"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year1642024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals11.9"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals46°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals84°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals121991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year1332024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year802024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals20°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. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

10 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are earthquake, inland flooding and wildfire, with earthquake alone responsible for 60% of it.

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, hurricane, volcanic activity, ice storm.

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 offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Homicide
4.6
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
6.3
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
17.8
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
8.4
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around 90604 (Los Angeles County) rather than 90604 itself. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. A ZIP area is not a jurisdiction, so no department reports for one. South Whittier carries the figure where its department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

9 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Long Beach (Daugherty Fld) at 11 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year91.3%Top 40%of 32,6632024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle11 miTop 30%of 3,127NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle9Top 4%of 3,127NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year7.0%Top 45%of 32,6632024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Long Beach (Daugherty Fld)LGB11 mi10,000 ft
Los Angeles IntlLAX23 mi12,923 ft
Ontario IntlONT25 mi12,197 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
53
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
August 2026
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 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 every source with how often each updates.

90604 vs South Whittier

How this ZIP area compares with South Whittier as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like — a gap here is a real difference between the two places, not two surveys disagreeing.

90604
South Whittier
Median household income: 90604 is the more favorable of the two.
Median household income
$105,074
vs
$100,800
Per capita income: 90604 is the more favorable of the two.
Per capita income
$38,636
vs
$33,807
Population density
9,331/sq mi
vs
10,425/sq mi
Median home value
$785,200
vs
$708,300
Median gross rent: 90604 is the more favorable of the two.
Median gross rent
$1,904
vs
$1,908
Homeownership rate
65.4%
vs
64.7%
Bachelor's degree or higher: 90604 is the more favorable of the two.
Bachelor's degree or higher
24.4%
vs
17.8%
Poverty rate: 90604 is the more favorable of the two.
Poverty rate
6.1%
vs
10.7%
Median age
37.3
vs
36.3

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.