 UC-Irvine's Aldrich Park is a magnet for students - and residents too.
Long before developers embraced the idea of mixed-use communities, there was Irvine. It was born in the 1960s, when the University of California commissioned architect William Pereira to design a new campus and town. Today, its population hovers around 200,000, yet it feels much smaller thanks to its tight-knit neighborhoods and more than 16,000 acres of green space. Families say Irvine is pretty close to perfect. The school district has won national recognition for stellar test scores, innovative curriculums, year-round schedules and open-style classrooms. The university is the city's largest employer, but some two dozen companies, from Gateway to St. John's Knits, also call Irvine home. A big drawback: the cost of housing. A typical three-bedroom, two-bath house can run about $700,000, says Cesi Pagano, a realtor with Keller Williams Realty. But prices in Irvine have held up better than those elsewhere in Orange County, and foreclosures aren't nearly as widespread.
|
Median family income (per year) |
$108,206 |
$93,313 |
Family purchasing power (annual, cost-of-living adjusted) |
$63,876 |
$84,802 |
| Sales tax |
7.75% |
6.60% |
State income tax rate (highest bracket) |
9.30%I |
5.22% |
State income tax rate (lowest bracket) |
1.00%I |
2.42% |
Auto insurance premiums (Average price quotes, for the state) |
$1,793 |
$1,854 |
Job growth % (2000-2007) |
21.75% |
18.60% |
| Median home price |
$650,000 |
$293,712 |
Average property taxes (2006) |
$5,053 |
$4,072 |
| See Irvine homes for sale |
| See million-dollar homes |
Colleges, universities and professional schools (within 30 miles) |
48 |
40 |
Junior colleges and technical institutes (within 30 miles) |
41 |
20 |
Test scores reading (% above/below state average) |
66.5% |
17.3% |
Test scores math (% above/below average) |
4.9% |
16.6% |
% students attending public/private schools (located within town limits) |
95.0/3.7 |
89.5/10.5 |
Air quality index* (% of days AQI ranked as good) |
79.7% |
76.0% |
| Personal crime incidents (per 1,000) |
1 |
2 |
| Property crime incidents (per 1,000) |
15 |
25 |
Median commute time (in minutes) |
18.5 |
23.0 |
% population with commute 45 mins. or longer |
11.5% |
15.8% |
| % population walk or bike to work |
6.3% |
3.0% |
Movie theaters (within 15 miles) |
82 |
51 |
Restaurants (within 15 miles) |
6,721 |
4,141 |
Bars (within 15 miles) |
303 |
338 |
Public golf courses (within 30 miles) |
288 |
242 |
Libraries (within 15 miles) |
69 |
90 |
Museums (accredited by AAM; within 30 miles) |
6 |
11 |
| Ski resorts (within 100 miles) |
7 |
13 |
| Arts funding (Dollars per person of state funds spent on arts) |
0.1 |
1.5 |
Annual rainfall (inches) |
12.87 |
36.31 |
| % clear days in the area |
44 |
30 |
| High temp in July ° F |
80.9° |
87.8° |
| Low temp in Jan ° F |
45.8° |
22.9° |
Has health plan (% of residents) |
82.3% |
88.2% |
| Body mass index (avg. for residents) |
26 |
27 |
Diabetes rates (% of residents diagnosed) |
9.5% |
9.6% |
Hypertension rates (% of residents diagnosed) |
27.4% |
27.3% |
| Median age |
35.1 |
36.0 |
Completed at least some college (% of residents) |
84.9% |
73.6% |
| Married |
51.1% |
57.5% |
| Divorced |
8.6% |
8.3% |
Racial diversity index (100 is national average; higher numbers indicate greater diversity) |
249.0 |
104.0 |
Amount spent on vacations (domestic and foreign, household avg. per year) |
$8,433 |
$8,012 |
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From the August 2008 issue
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 Additional data and consulting services provided by Bert Sperling's bestplaces.net.
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