What it's like to live in Glendale
Glendale is a mid-size city in California with a highly educated workforce and hospitals with strong quality ratings. Those factors carry real weight for anyone weighing where to move next.
The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Glendale deals with rent well above the national average, home prices well above the national average, unemployment above the national average, and air quality that falls short of national benchmarks.
The good
- Highly educated workforce
- Strong hospital ratings
The not so good
- Rent well above the national average
- High home prices
- Above-average unemployment
- Air quality concerns
- Shrinking population
- High student-teacher ratio
How Glendale compares
Median household income
Median rent (per month)
Median home value
What it takes to move to Glendale
Based on Glendale's median rent, home value and household income
To rent
$4,364
up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit
- Income to keep rent under 30%: $87,280 a year
- 59% of Glendale renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent
To buy
$220,460
a 20% down payment on the median home
- With 10% down: $110,230
- Homes cost 12.5× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)
Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.
The details
Cost of living▲ 54% above US
$2,182/mo median rent
Rent is expensive here, at $2,182 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 $1,102,300. Renting first to get a feel for the city before buying is often the more practical route.
Median home value $1,102,300 · 59% of renters cost-burdened
Job market▲ 33% above US
5.7% unemployment
Unemployment here is 5.7%, somewhat above the national average of 4.3%. Lining up work before the move is the safer route.
City-level (BLS)
Safety▼ 29% below US
234 violent crimes per 100k
Pretty safe, all things considered. Violent crime sits below the national average, nothing alarming, just ordinary city-life awareness.
Property crime 1904/100k · Glendale Police Department · 2025 data
Getting aroundNear US average
27 min average commute
Commutes run about average, at 27.1 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; 21% work from home.
How workers get to work
Climate
Summers are warm, with highs around 85°F, and winters are mild, with lows rarely dropping below 43°F. It's a dry climate with limited rainfall.
Average month
30-year averages, 1991–2020
Healthcare
3 hospitals
There are 3 Medicare-certified hospitals inside city limits. They average 4.0 out of 5 on Medicare's star rating.
Medicare-certified hospitals
Education & workforce▲ 31% above US
47% bachelor's degree or higher
The population is well-educated, with 47% holding college degrees. That points to a strong professional base and generally a healthy local economy.
Schools
28 public schools inside the boundary
There are 28 public schools inside the boundary and 13 private schools. The student-to-teacher ratio is 23:1, above the national average of 16:1.
Parks & recreation
The nearest national park or historic site is Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (31 miles away). There are 4 national parks and sites within a day's drive.
Bottom line
Glendale's strongest points are a highly educated workforce and hospitals with strong quality ratings; the main tradeoffs are rent well above the national average and home prices well above the national average. A year of median rent ($2,182/mo) equals 30% of the median household income here, more than the 21% typical nationwide. It tends to suit anyone prioritizing low crime, remote workers (21% 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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