60fit
Westwood
$3K median rent
UCLA at the north edge, a village that still walks, and rentals that outnumber the houses. The westside that still has a bus.
Family streetsWalk 36Safety 100
Los Angeles/Sawtelle
47fit
Sawtelle
Official neighborhood: Sawtelle
Data vintage. ACS 2024 5-year · LAPD Oct 2025 – Aug 2026 · OSM Sep 2026 · updated Sep 2026
Little Osaka, Sawtelle Boulevard, and the 405 in earshot. Westside food without Brentwood prices.
sawtelle japantownlittle osakawest lawest los angeles
Best in Los Angeles for familiesWalkable Los AngelesUnder $2,500 rent
Why this score
Safety
38
90 violent · 930 property · 25.9 per 1k (Oct 2025 – Aug 2026)-12 vs city set
Schools
57
Rating 7.0 / 10 nearby+5 vs city set
Walk
32
OSM: 26 groceries · 31 cafes · 123 transit · 16 parks+6 vs city set
Cost
90
$2,444 ACS median vs your rent budget-2 vs city set
Vibe
31
OSM: 31 cafes · 140 restaurants · 9 bars · 16 parks+6 vs city set
Commute to work
From Sawtelle, a typical weekday is 49 min to Downtown, 14 min to Westside, 25 min to Hollywood. Not live traffic.
Westside is the fastest of these three job centers from here.
Downtown
49 min
DTLA, Arts District · +12 min vs the city-set median
Westside
14 min
Westwood, Century City · -14 min vs the city-set median · fastest of these three
Hollywood
25 min
Studios, the Boulevard · at the city-set median
Minutes are baked from neighborhood geography to three job centers — not Google, not this hour’s traffic.
Cost of living
The ACS median rent is $2,444 — every occupied rental mixed together, not the 1-bed in the window.
That is 28% of median household income — under the 30% HUD line. A household at this area’s median income ($104K) could “afford” about $2,608 a month at 30% of pay.
78% of households rent. Median home value is $1,185,629.
ACS median rent
$2,444
30% income budget
$2,608
Rent / income
28%
Median home
$1,185,629
Rent since 2014
ACS 5-year median gross rent for Los Angeles city. Up 62% since 2014. Sawtelle is 26% above the 2024 city median.
Overlapping 5-year ACS windows (B25064), not asking rent. Census does not publish a rent series for each official neighborhood, so the line is the city place. The dashed mark is this area’s ACS 2024 median.
HUD treats 30% of income as the cost-burden line. We do not split ACS rent into 1-bed vs 2-bed. Method.
Within a walk
Within a short walk of this official neighborhood: 26 groceries, 31 cafes, 16 parks, and 123 transit stops.
Daily errands and coffee are realistic on foot. Parks are close — 16 mapped parks in that radius. Transit is dense (123 stops or stations).
31 cafes and 140 restaurants make this one of the busier food pockets in the Los Angeles set.
OpenStreetMap, 800 meters. Not a Walk Score license. More groceries than 17 of the other 21 areas in this city.
Population
39,428
Median age
34.6
Median income
$104K
Renters
78%
Bachelor+
68%
Violent / 1k
2.3
Property / 1k
23.6
ACS 2024 5-year (2020-2024) · 12 census tracts · LAPD Oct 2025 – Aug 2026 · OSM 2026-09-01
Crime is LAPD Part I reports per 1,000 ACS residents — not a judgment of who lives here. Home and rent figures are ACS medians, not live MLS. Read the method.
On the ground
What it is like to live here, beyond the scores.
Little Osaka, Sawtelle Boulevard, and the 405 in earshot. Westside food without Brentwood prices — Japanese restaurants that are the neighborhood, not a district overlay. Apartments and small houses. Olympic and Sawtelle is the walk.
The freeway is real. Santa Monica is west, Westwood is north. Weight walk and vibe. Palms is the renter grid to the south; Mar Vista is the bungalow grid. Come hungry. Leave if you needed a backyard and silence.
Compiled from Zillow neighborhood guides, 5280 Magazine, Chicago and San Francisco resident guides, Mpls With Love, Eastside LA reporting, Seattle Times coverage, Boston planning-neighborhood writing, and local writing, 2025–2026. Editorial — not part of the fit score.
Reported here lately
City 311 service requests in this official unit, last 14 days. This is what neighbors filed with the city — not a chat thread, and not part of the fit score.
754 reports
- Illegal Dumping Item Pickup279
- Item Pickups214
- Service Not Complete53
- Homeless Encampment31
- Illegal Dumping Item Pickup
- Illegal Dumping Item Pickup
- Item Pickups
- Illegal Dumping Item Pickup
MyLA311 2026 cases, last 14 days, mapped to Los Angeles Times neighborhoods. Method.
On Reddit
Public posts from r/LosAngeles that mention this neighborhood. Not Nextdoor, not people on this block, and not part of the fit score.
No r/LosAngeles posts in this snapshot mentioned Sawtelle.
Last 90 days, snapshot 2026-09-01. Method.
Common questions
Straight answers from the numbers on this page.
Is Sawtelle safe?
Sawtelle shows more Part I than most of this Los Angeles set (safety 38 vs city 50). LAPD logged 2.3 violent and 23.6 property incidents per 1,000 residents — 25.9 combined. Visitors count in those numbers. This is not a judgment of who lives here.
What is rent in Sawtelle?
ACS median rent is $2,444 — studios through large apartments mixed together. About 78% of households rent. Median home value is $1,185,629. Survey medians, not a listing you can message tonight.
Is Sawtelle walkable?
Walk is 32 here vs 26 for the Los Angeles set — you will likely drive or ride for a weekly shop. Inside 800 meters: 26 groceries, 31 cafes, 123 transit stops, 16 parks. Not a Walk Score license.
Is Sawtelle good for families?
Family fit depends on the school rating nearby and how much quiet you want. Nearby school rating is 7.0 / 10. Median age is 34.6. That rating is not your assigned campus.
How long is the commute from Sawtelle?
49 typical weekday minutes to Downtown. Not the app on your phone this hour. Other job centers are further down this page.
How many people live in Sawtelle?
About 39,428 people. Median income $104K. 68% have a bachelor's or higher.
What neighborhoods are next to Sawtelle?
Westwood, Mar Vista, Brentwood sit closest on this map. If you are choosing between two official neighborhoods, start with Sawtelle vs Westwood.
Next door
Adjacent on the map, ranked with your weights.
Sawtelle vs WestwoodSawtelle vs Mar VistaSawtelle vs Brentwood
52fit
Hollywood
$2K median rent
The Boulevard, the clubs, and a lot of visitors in the crime file. Nightlife is the product; the residential streets are quieter than the postcard.
NightlifeWalk 55Safety 10
50fit
Brentwood
$3K median rent
San Vicente, school runs, and a median home that assumes you already made it. Quiet westside, on purpose.
Family streetsWalk 17Safety 95
50fit
Palms
$2K median rent
Rentals, the Expo Line, and a westside zip that still has a grocery you can walk to. The practical neighbor of Mar Vista.
Family streetsWalk 22Safety 86
47fit
Mar Vista
$2K median rent
Bungalows, a farmers’ market, and the beach ten minutes south. Family westside that is not trying to be Santa Monica.
Family streetsWalk 11Safety 90