Published fit 43 uses default walkable weights and a $2,500 ACS rent budget — the same number as the San Diego table. Your current weights score this 41.
Data period. ACS 2024 5-year (2020-2024) · SDPD Oct 2025 – Sep 2026 · OSM Oct 2026. ACS and SDPD retrieved 2026-10-14; OSM retrieved 2026-10-14. Editorial copy last revised Sep 2026.
Highest income in this set, $199,791, and the highest rent, $3,374. Violent Part I is 0.4 per 1,000, the lowest here. Property is 5.7, also the lowest. Bachelor's share is 83%. OSM transit stops in or near the plan: 4. Houses and a drive. This is not the coast village.
Default walkable weights, $2,500 ACS rent budget. Same axes as the city table and the FAQ.
Safety
100
12 violent · 177 property · 6.1 per 1k (Oct 2025 – Sep 2026)+50 vs city set
Schools
50
Limited school data0 vs city set
Walk
13
OSM: 8 groceries · 15 cafes · 4 transit · 104 parks-11 vs city set
Cost
74
$3,374 ACS median vs published $2,500 rent budget-22 vs city set
Vibe
19
OSM: 15 cafes · 54 restaurants · 4 bars · 104 parks-2 vs city set
Commute to work
From Carmel Valley, a typical weekday is 32 min to Downtown, 10 min to UTC, 22 min to Mission Valley. Not live traffic.
UTC is the fastest of these three job centers from here.
Downtown
32 min
Civic Center, Gaslamp · +15 min vs the city-set median
UTC
10 min
University City, the campus · -9 min vs the city-set median · fastest of these three
Mission Valley
22 min
Malls, the stadium · +7 min vs 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 $3,374 — every occupied rental mixed together, not the 1-bed in the window.
That is 20% of median household income — under the 30% HUD line. A household at this area’s median income ($200K) could “afford” about $4,995 a month at 30% of pay.
39% of households rent. Median home value is $1,556,207.
ACS median rent
$3,374
30% income budget
$4,995
Rent / income
20%
Median home
$1,556,207
Rent since 2014
ACS 5-year median gross rent for San Diego city. Up 70% since 2014. Carmel Valley is 46% 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 community planning area: 8 groceries, 15 cafes, 104 parks, and 4 transit stops.
Daily errands and coffee are realistic on foot. Parks are close — 104 mapped parks in that radius. Transit is present (4 stops or stations).
15 cafes and 54 restaurants make this one of the busier food pockets in the San Diego set.
OpenStreetMap, 800 meters. Not a Walk Score license. More groceries than 9 of the other 19 areas in this city.
Population
31,288
Median age
40.2
Median income
$200K
Renters
39%
Bachelor+
83%
Violent / 1k
0.4
Property / 1k
5.7
ACS 2024 5-year (2020-2024) · 8 census tracts · SDPD Oct 2025 – Sep 2026 · OSM 2026-10-14
Family streets
Crime is SDPD 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.
Highest income in this set, $199,791, and the highest rent, $3,374. Violent Part I is 0.4 per 1,000, the lowest here. Property is 5.7, also the lowest. Bachelor's share is 83%. OSM transit stops in or near the plan: 4. Houses and a drive. This is not the coast village.
Scores on this page stay inside San Diego. Carmel Valley is the official community planning area; other names are searches, not extra polygons. School ratings are not in this snapshot. A neighbor on the schematic map is not a shared fence. SDPD counts are the department's FBI violent and property flags — Part I homicide, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault, plus burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft. Arson is not in those flags. Police beats are not this map.
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, Philadelphia neighborhood writing, Portland neighborhood writing, Washington neighborhood-cluster writing, San Diego community-plan writing, and local writing, 2025–2026. Editorial — not part of the fit score.
On Reddit
Public posts from r/sandiego that mention this neighborhood. Not Nextdoor, not people on this block, and not part of the fit score.
No r/sandiego posts in this snapshot mentioned Carmel Valley.
Carmel Valley sits on the quieter side of this San Diego map (safety 100 vs city 50). SDPD logged 0.4 violent and 5.7 property incidents per 1,000 residents — 6.1 combined. Visitors count in those numbers. This is not a judgment of who lives here.
What is rent in Carmel Valley?+−
ACS median rent is $3,374 — studios through large apartments mixed together. About 39% of households rent. Median home value is $1,556,207. Survey medians, not a listing you can message tonight.
Is Carmel Valley walkable?+−
Walk is 13 here vs 24 for the San Diego set — you will likely drive or ride for a weekly shop. Inside 800 meters: 8 groceries, 15 cafes, 4 transit stops, 104 parks. Not a Walk Score license.
Is Carmel Valley good for families?+−
The scores lean family relative to this city set. Nearby school rating is thin in this dataset. Median age is 40.2. That rating is not your assigned campus.
How long is the commute from Carmel Valley?+−
32 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 Carmel Valley?+−
About 31,288 people. Median income $200K. 83% have a bachelor's or higher.
What neighborhoods are next to Carmel Valley?+−
La Jolla, University, Pacific Beach sit closest on this map. If you are choosing between two official community planning areas, start with Carmel Valley vs La Jolla.
Next door
Closest on this schematic map, scored with the same published walkable weights as the San Diego table. Distances here are not street geography.
UTC and University City are the searches. UCSD sits in this plan, not in the coast village. The official name is University. Median age is 31.7, so this is not a dorm census. Bachelor's share is 76% and rent is $2,728. Cafes are 51 and bars are 3. Property Part I is 22.3 per 1,000 — the malls and the offices write a lot of that. The park count is canyon and campus pieces, not a shop on every block. Violent is 1.5.
A north-inland plan of 77,845 people. Rent is $2,756. Violent Part I is 1.7 per 1,000 and property is 9.6. Income is $132,721. It is houses and errands, not a beach night. The coast is a drive.
The official plan is Clairemont Mesa. 78,255 people, houses and canyons, 42% renters. Rent is $2,312. Violent Part I is 2.1 per 1,000. It is a drive to the water and a shorter hop to the valley offices.
Prospect and the coves. Oldest median age in this set, 52.2, and only 29% of households rent. The home median is $1,908,428. Violent Part I is 1.6 per 1,000. Property is 16.9, which is the shops as much as the side streets. The inland campus is a different plan.
Garnet Avenue is the search. The official plan is Pacific Beach. Rent is $2,427 and the home median is $1,372,211. Violent Part I is 4.5 per 1,000. Property is 18.2. Garnet is the night. The bay side of the same plan is quieter.