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

Why look at Placentia?

  • High-cost housing. Median home is $1.1M — expensive market.
  • Stable market. Home values -0.1% year-over-year — neither overheated nor falling.
  • Higher tax state. Top marginal income tax rate around 13.3% — factor into salary comparisons.
Placentia, CA
Image: Wikipedia · Placentia, California
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68
Rising
Momentum score · 0–100

Where Placentia stands

At or near all-time high.

Median home $1,115,760
1-year -0.1%
5-yr growth +7.0%
vs 5-yr peak -0.3%
Population +0.7%/yr

Home value trajectory · last 10 years

Zillow ZHVI · monthly
peak 2025-02$1116k$536k$745k$954k$1164k201620182020202220242026

Lifestyle scores

🚶
Walkability
64/100
Somewhat walkable
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
55/100
Workable for remote workers
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
$2,788/mo$2,257$2,606$2,955202220242026

Home value vs rent · indexed to 100

Both rebased at first month of ZORI data (~2015)
Home valueRent129115100120202220242026

Rent vs buy

Price-to-rent ratio: 33.4
Rent

At a 33.4 price-to-rent ratio, renting beats buying in Placentia for most shorter stays. The premium you pay to own would take many years of saved rent to recover, and that's before maintenance, taxes, and what your down payment could earn elsewhere.

How the momentum score breaks down

methodology →
Home YoY
50 · w22%
Home 5-yr growth
74 · w22%
Distance from peak
88 · w18%
Population growth
60 · w16%
Rent YoY
66 · w12%
Home 10-yr growth
73 · w10%

About Placentia (Wikipedia)

Placentia is a city in Orange County, California, United States. It is part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Placentia's population was 51,233 at the 2020 US census. The city is primarily referred to as a bedroom community.

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

City facts

MayorChad Wanke
Area6.63 sq mi
Elevation272 ft
EstablishedDecember 2, 1926Cite web
Motto"A pleasant place to live."
Density7748.49/sq mi

Extracted from the Wikipedia infobox. Values may be slightly out of date relative to the latest sources.

Local safety & alerts

No active National Weather Service alerts for Orange County right now.

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

California context

Schools

17 public schools11,965 students24.1:1 student-teacher

Placentia is served by 17 public schools enrolling about 11,965 students, with a student-teacher ratio of 24.1:1 — larger classes than the US average of ~15:1. Public-school facts are from the NCES Common Core of Data; check ratings and attendance boundaries by exact address below.

Ratings, districts & boundaries:

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 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim 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 Placentia listings on the major real-estate sites.

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

Local news & community

Latest news in Placentia

1 from local press

More on Google News →

Updated 2026-05-28 from Google News + Reddit RSS. Filtered for Placentia-specific coverage. 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.

Find more cities like Placentia

Open the matchmaker pre-filled to match Placentia’s price band, region, and size — refine to taste.

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Cities similar to Placentia

Explore other places with comparable momentum or affordability.

See all California cities →    Browse best-of lists →

Cost-of-ownership at the median

Tax burden
13.3% top marginal
~32% all-in for a $150k earner
Property tax / yr
$8k
0.71% × median home $1.1M
Climate / hazard
limited data
Plan for the local hazard profile.

Snapshot assumes a $150k single earner buying at the median home. Your real numbers depend on bracket, deductions, school district, and HOA. Use the affordability calculator and net-pay calculator for your specific case.

Schools & crime context

Schools

School quality is district-by-district and varies dramatically within a city. Check GreatSchools or your state DOE rankings for specific schools before deciding. City-level school data coming soon.

Crime

California: 499 violent crimes per 100K residents (state avg, FBI UCR). Neighborhood-level rates can vary 10× within one city — research specific areas via CrimeGrade or local police data.

Compare to where you live now

Set your current city once and we’ll show the cost delta on every city profile.

Jobs & hiring

In Placentia, unemployment sits around 5.5%, and hiring momentum has been steady. The strongest local sectors are tech, healthcare and skilled trades & manufacturing.

5.5% unemployment60/100 hiring momentum$115,929 median household income33/100 remote-work fit

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