ZIP code 90278

ZIP 90278 is a small city in Los Angeles County, California, with 42,536 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #338 of 1,803 ranked by population — larger than 81% of them. The median age here is 38.9 years against 39.1 nationally, a slightly younger profile than the country as a whole. Places under 65,000 residents only appear in the five-year release, never the one-year file, so these values pool sixty months of responses and lag the current year by design.

Households in ZIP 90278 earn a median of $148,581 a year, 89.2% above the national figure of $78,538. Household income here is measured before tax and pooled across everyone at the address, which is why it reads higher than typical individual earnings in the same area. Poverty reaches 4.6% of residents here, less than half the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in ZIP 90278 is valued at $1,195,700, 294.1% above the national figure, while median gross rent runs $2,417 a month, 71.9% above the national figure, or roughly $29,004 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 19.5% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is cheap relative to what people here earn. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 8×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is out of reach on local earnings alone and the ownership market leans on outside income, equity or dual high earners. 57.7% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans more heavily on renters. The rent line includes utilities paid by the tenant, a definition worth remembering when comparing it against a landlord's quoted rate.

Home values sit at 8× median household income, far past the 3.9× national mark, so ownership costs here are set by something other than local wages — second homes, retirees with equity, or commuters earning elsewhere.

No figure on this page is estimated by us; each one comes straight from the published ACS tables for this area. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.

ZIP 90278 is tabulated inside Los Angeles County, California, one of 295 ZIP areas the Census publishes for that county and 1,803 across California. This is a dense urban ZIP, where a single postal boundary can hold more residents than an entire rural county. County assignment on this page follows the largest share of the ZIP's land area, which matters where a delivery route crosses a county line: mail addressed to 90278 can be handled by a post office in a neighbouring county even though the tabulation area is filed here.

Against its own county, 90278 reports a median household income of $148,581, 60% above the $92,859 county median, and 65% above the $89,916 typical CA ZIP. Owner-occupied homes are valued at a median of $1,195,700, 49% above the county figure and 90% above the statewide ZIP median. Rent is reported gross — the contract amount plus tenant-paid utilities — at $2,417 a month, which is why it reads higher than the advertised rent on a listing for the same unit.

California charges 7.25% statewide, and local governments overlapping 90278 may add county, city or special-district levies on top. We publish the state floor for this ZIP rather than guessing a combined figure, because ZIP boundaries and taxing-district boundaries were drawn for different purposes and do not line up.

Everything above comes from the Census Bureau American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates for this ZIP Code Tabulation Area, with sales tax rates traced to the state revenue agency. Five-year estimates pool sixty months of responses, so they are stable enough to compare 90278 with its neighbours but always trail the current year, and any value the Census suppressed for sample size is shown as unpublished rather than filled in with a model.