Montclair, CA — Momentum Score, Home Values & Best-For

San Bernardino County · Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario · population 37,650

Montclair, CA
Image: Wikipedia · Montclair, California
View watchlist →
59
Stable
Momentum score · 0–100

Where Montclair stands

Steady, no major recent move.

Median home $662,248
1-year -1.3%
5-yr CAGR +5.0%
vs 5-yr peak -2.8%
Population -0.1%/yr

Home value trajectory · last 10 years

Zillow ZHVI · monthly
peak 2025-01$662k$303k$439k$574k$709k201620182020202220242026

Lifestyle scores

🚶
Walkability
32/100
Very car-dependent
Estimated from population density. Higher = denser, more amenities within walking distance.
🚉
Public transit
22/100
Transit limited
Curated list of major US transit systems + population-based estimate. Higher = real subway/rail/bus options.
💻
Remote work fit
67/100
Strong remote-work fit
Composite of city size, housing cost, state tax structure, and region's remote-work track record.

Scores are heuristic estimates from population density, state, and known transit/walkable cities. Not based on a paid Walk Score / Transit Score API — see methodology for the formula.

Rent trajectory · last 5 years

Zillow ZORI · monthly
$2,565/mo$1,691$2,205$2,719202220242026

Home value vs rent · indexed to 100

Both rebased at first month of ZORI data (~2015)
Home valueRent127143100120140202220242026

Rent vs buy

Price-to-rent ratio: 21.5
Lean rent

At a 21.5 price-to-rent ratio, the math is starting to lean toward renting in Montclair. Owner-occupier ROI requires longer holds and the assumption that prices keep appreciating roughly at the rate of rent.

How the momentum score breaks down

methodology →
Home YoY
44 · w22%
Home 5-yr CAGR
65 · w22%
Distance from peak
73 · w18%
Population growth
43 · w16%
Rent YoY
67 · w12%
Home 10-yr CAGR
75 · w10%
Long thesis

Montclair has held up across the cycle: home values at $662,248 with +5.0% 5-year CAGR. The bull case is structural — population, location, employer base — and holds even if next year's print is soft.

Short thesis

Montclair's bear case is the boring one: the cycle is real and any market that's run hard can stall. Watch for slowing population growth, rising days-on-market, or builder discounts as the early warning signals.

About Montclair

Montclair is a city in San Bernardino County, California, with an estimated population of 37,650. It anchors the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metro area. The median home value in Montclair is $662,248 as of 2026-04, down 1.3% over the last 12 months. Over the last five years, home values have averaged +5.0% annual growth (-2.8% from the 5-year peak). Rents in Montclair average $2,565 per month, up 3.4% year-over-year. The composite momentum score is 59 of 100 (Stable). Conditions are neither hot nor cold, so the local fit matters more than market timing.

Bull case

Held the highs: currently -2.8% from the 5-year peak — this market refused to give back gains.
The data is the data: Montclair has at least 5 years of Zillow tracking, full Census identification, and is included in the 2-criteria momentum score on this page.

Bear case

Local nuance: city-level data smooths over neighborhood differences. School zones, HOA rules, and street-level character matter — visit before deciding.

About Montclair (Wikipedia)

Montclair is a city in the Pomona Valley, in southwestern San Bernardino County, California, 30 miles (48 km) east of Los Angeles. The population was 37,865 in the 2020 United States census.

Source: Wikipedia · this summary is contributed and licensed under CC-BY-SA.

Playbook

Buyer

Lifestyle fit matters more than market timing in a Stable market. Take your time on the home and neighborhood; the macro trend isn't urgent. Negotiate normally.

Seller

Price competitively from day one or risk a 60+ day listing. Staging, photography, and presentation matter more in Stable markets than in Hot ones.

Investor

Stable cap rates, no big appreciation story to lean on. Underwrite this as a pure cash-flow play — the math has to work on rent alone.

Local safety & alerts

No active National Weather Service alerts for San Bernardino County right now.

Public-safety links are official .gov sources, not curated by us. San Bernardino County routes NWS alerts; check the state EM portal for non-weather emergencies.

Cities like Montclair

Sources: Zillow ZHVI (home values), Zillow ZORI (rents), US Census ACS + place population. Updated when source agencies publish revisions.

Climate & natural-disaster risk

Winter (Jan)
60° / 41°
avg high / low
Summer (Jul)
82° / 60°
avg high / low
Sunny days/yr
258
~71% of year
Annual precip
22″ rain
8″ snow
Disaster risk (1=very low, 5=very high)
Hurricane
Very low
Tornado
Very low
Wildfire
Very high
Earthquake
Very high
Flood
Moderate

State-level averages from NOAA Climate Normals (1991-2020) and FEMA National Risk Index. City-level conditions can vary significantly within a state.

Local sports teams

Major professional teams the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario area cheers for. Detailed stats, schedules, and player pages on intherafters.com.

Current weather

Loading current conditions…

7-day forecast on weather.gov →

Find rentals & listings

Open current Montclair listings on the major real-estate sites.

Links open the live search on the destination site — results are always current.

Local news & community

Updated 2026-05-21 from Google News + Reddit RSS. Headlines link to original sources.

Local economy & environment

Humidity
65%
Moderate climate
Median household income
$91,500
California state median
Top industries (state-level)
TechEntertainmentAgriculture

Humidity is annual average relative humidity (NOAA). Income is Census ACS 5-year estimate. Industries are largest employment sectors statewide (BLS); the local mix in a given city may vary.

Cities similar to Montclair

Explore other places with comparable momentum or affordability.

See all California cities →    Browse best-of lists →