Moving to
Altadena.

All Altadena data Compare Altadena

41,705people live here $128,720median household income▲ 59% above US $2,355median rent per month▲ 67% above US $1,120,000median home value▲ 237% above US

Altadena is an unincorporated community in Los Angeles County, CA. It has no city government: the county runs it, and the Census counts it as its own place.

What it's like to live in Altadena

Altadena is an unincorporated community in California with household incomes running above the national average and a highly educated workforce. Those factors carry real weight for anyone weighing where to move next.

The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Altadena deals with rent well above the national average, home prices well above the national average, county unemployment above the national average, and air quality that falls short of national benchmarks.

The good

Higher-than-average incomes
Highly educated workforce

The not so good

Rent well above the national average
High home prices
Above-average unemployment in the county
Air quality concerns
Shrinking population
High student-teacher ratio

How Altadena compares

Median household income

Altadena$128,720

California avg$99,122

US$80,734

Median rent (per month)

Altadena$2,355

California avg$2,036

US$1,413

Median home value

Altadena$1,120,000

California avg$734,700

US$332,700

What it takes to move to Altadena

Based on Altadena's median rent, home value and household income

To rent

$4,710

up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit

Income to keep rent under 30%: $94,200 a year
55% of Altadena renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent

To buy

$224,000

a 20% down payment on the median home

With 10% down: $112,000
Homes cost 8.7× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)

Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.

The details

Cost of living▲ 67% above US

$2,355/mo median rent

Rent is expensive here, at $2,355 a month median and well above the national average. This is the kind of city where housing costs deserve serious budgeting before committing to a move. Home prices are steep, with a median around $1,120,000. Renting first to get a feel for the city before buying is often the more practical route.

Median home value $1,120,000 · 55% of renters cost-burdened

Job market

5.7% county unemployment

Unemployment in Los Angeles County is 5.7%, somewhat above the national average of 4.3%. Lining up work before the move is the safer route. That's the county-wide rate; BLS doesn't measure a place this size on its own.

Los Angeles County (county-wide)

Safety

632 violent crimes per 100k, whole jurisdiction

Altadena doesn't have its own police department, so there's no crime rate for it alone. The figures shown are for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office jurisdiction as a whole, which runs above the national average for violent crime and covers many communities. Individual neighborhoods can differ a lot from that overall rate.

Property crime 1648/100k · Policed by Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office (county-wide rate) · 2025 data

Getting aroundNear US average

28 min average commute

Commutes run about average, at 27.5 minutes. Fine day to day, but it adds up over a year, and where someone lives relative to where they work starts to matter. 7 in 10 workers drive to work; 25% work from home.

How workers get to work

Drive alone

62%

Work from home

25%

Carpool

6.4%

Other

3.6%

Public transit

1.5%

Walk

0.7%

Climate

Summers are hot and humid, with highs regularly hitting 88°F, and winters are mild, with lows rarely dropping below 45°F.

Average month

High °FLow °FPrecip (in)

30-year averages, 1991–2020

Education & workforce▲ 48% above US

53% bachelor's degree or higher

This is a highly educated city, with over half the adult population holding a college degree. That tends to shape the job market and the broader culture, and it's a solid indicator of a strong professional scene.

Schools

8 public schools inside the boundary

There are 8 public schools inside the boundary and 7 private schools. The student-to-teacher ratio is 20:1, slightly above the national average of 16:1.

Parks & recreation

The nearest national park or historic site is Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (37 miles away). There are 3 national parks and sites within a day's drive.

Bottom line

Altadena's strongest points are household incomes running above the national average and a highly educated workforce; the main tradeoffs are rent well above the national average and home prices well above the national average. A year of median rent ($2,355/mo) equals 22% of the median household income here, about the same as the 21% typical nationwide. It tends to suit remote workers (25% of workers here already work from home) and college-educated professionals. It may be a harder fit for renters on a tight budget and anyone moving without a job lined up.

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