Oak Park is an unincorporated community in Ventura 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 Oak Park

Oak Park 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. Oak Park deals with rent well above the national average, home prices well above the national average, commute times longer than most cities, 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 commute times
  • Air quality concerns
  • High student-teacher ratio
  • Hot summers

How Oak Park compares

Median household income

Oak Park$163,085
California avg$99,122
US$80,734

Median rent (per month)

Oak Park$3,149
California avg$2,036
US$1,413

Median home value

Oak Park$1,036,900
California avg$734,700
US$332,700

What it takes to move to Oak Park

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

To rent

$6,298

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

  • Income to keep rent under 30%: $125,960 a year
  • 45% of Oak Park renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent

To buy

$207,380

a 20% down payment on the median home

  • With 10% down: $103,690
  • Homes cost 6.4× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)

Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.

The details

Cost of living▲ 123% above US

$3,149/mo median rent

Rent is expensive here, at $3,149 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 $1,036,900. Renting first to get a feel for the city before buying is often the more practical route.

Median home value $1,036,900 · 45% of renters cost-burdened

Job market

4.8% county unemployment

Unemployment in Ventura County is 4.8%, 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.

Ventura County (county-wide)

Safety

214 violent crimes per 100k, whole jurisdiction

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

Property crime 709/100k · Policed by Ventura County Sheriff's Office (county-wide rate) · 2025 data

Getting around▲ 20% above US

31 min average commute

Traffic is a real factor here. The 31.1 minute average means plenty of commuters are pushing 45 to 60 minutes on a bad day. Proximity to work matters more here than it might elsewhere. 7 in 10 workers drive to work; 31% work from home.

How workers get to work

Drive alone
62%
Work from home
31%
Carpool
4.6%
Other
2.1%
Walk
0.8%
Public transit
0.3%

Climate

Summers are hot and humid, with highs regularly hitting 94°F, and winters are mild, with lows rarely dropping below 43°F. It's a dry climate with limited rainfall.

Average month

High °FLow °FPrecip (in)
30°50°70°90°110°5"Jan: 3.73" precipitationFeb: 4.62" precipitationMar: 2.66" precipitationApr: 0.80" precipitationMay: 0.36" precipitationJun: 0.06" precipitationJul: 0.04" precipitationAug: 0.00" precipitationSep: 0.09" precipitationOct: 0.56" precipitationNov: 0.83" precipitationDec: 2.66" precipitationJJan: high 70°F, low 43°FFFeb: high 70°F, low 44°FMMar: high 74°F, low 46°FAApr: high 78°F, low 48°FMMay: high 82°F, low 53°FJJun: high 89°F, low 57°FJJul: high 95°F, low 61°F97°AAug: high 97°F, low 61°FSSep: high 94°F, low 59°FOOct: high 85°F, low 53°FNNov: high 76°F, low 46°F42°DDec: high 69°F, low 42°F

30-year averages, 1991–2020

Education & workforce▲ 75% above US

63% 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. The student-to-teacher ratio is 24:1, above the national average of 16:1.

Parks & recreation

The nearest national park or historic site is Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (6 miles away). There are 4 national parks and sites within a day's drive.

Bottom line

Oak Park'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 ($3,149/mo) equals 23% of the median household income here, about the same as the 21% typical nationwide. It tends to suit remote workers (31% of workers here already work from home) and college-educated professionals. It may be a harder fit for renters on a tight budget.

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