A typical home in each town, bought with 20% down at 6.3% for 30 years, plus property tax at the town’s own rate and insurance. Change the numbers to fit you.

Down paymentRate%

Mountain View$10,970/mo

Typical home $1.93M (Zillow) · tax rate 0.52%+ · or rent about $3,062/mo · Housing →

Redondo Beach$8,540/mo

Typical home $1.47M (Zillow) · tax rate 0.67% · or rent about $2,691/mo · Housing →

The difference: $2,420 a month, about $29,100 a year, between Mountain View and Redondo Beach.

Estimates, not a quote: your price, rate, tax bill and insurance will differ. Tax rate = the Census median tax bill over the median home value; “+” means the Census top-codes that town’s bill at $10,000, so its real rate is higher.

Report cards

Mountain View places higher on 19 of 26 CA lists

Our letter grades for safety, schools and health, then every California ranking list both towns are on. A grade is one measure; read the page behind it.

Safety

C−Mountain ViewSafer than 20% of U.S. towns C−Redondo BeachSafer than 22% of U.S. towns

Schools

A−Mountain ViewBetter than 76% of districts in the state B+Redondo BeachBetter than 74% of districts in the state

Health

A+Mountain ViewHealthier than 99% of U.S. towns A+Redondo BeachHealthier than 98% of U.S. towns

19Mountain View

7Redondo Beach

Lists won, of 26 where both are ranked. Ties go to nobody.

Best schoolsSchools · 574 towns #5#526 Highest graduation rateSchools · 720 towns #712#102 Most trailsOutdoors · 677 towns #261#604 Best libraries for kidsLibraries · 117 towns #13#62 Most library borrowingLibraries · 117 towns #14#58 Most new homesHousing · 438 towns #46#203 Most conserved landOutdoors · 777 towns #262#538 Most walkableOutdoors · 841 towns #198#398

Left end = #1 in California. Showing the lists where the towns are furthest apart. All of Mountain View’s rankings →

Life in each

What daily life feels like in each

The weather, the land, the history and the people, row by row. None of it is a grade: more snow is a plus to a skier.

Seasons

Mountain ViewRedondo Beach

Snow a year0″0″

January low39°F —

July high79°F —

Growing season (days)310d —

Hazard risk (U.S. pctl)88th 90th

Outdoors & history

Mountain ViewRedondo Beach

Trails17 mi 4 mi

Conserved land9.4%2.1%

National Register places2 5

Archive photos18 6

Famous people born here60 49

Community

Mountain ViewRedondo Beach

Library hours a week62 hrs 46 hrs

Posts this month0 0

Neighbors joined0 1

A dot marks the most on each row. Climate: NOAA 1991–2020 normals at the nearest station. Hazard risk: FEMA National Risk Index, expected yearly damage vs U.S. towns.

Where they are

321 miles apart

Straight-line miles between town centers.

Mountain ViewCA Redondo BeachCA

Mountain View ↔ Redondo Beach321 miles apart

Everything, side by side

What matters to you?

Pick a few. Those rows jump to the top and the best fit on each is marked. There’s no overall score: what matters is up to you.

Only big differences vs California average

Mountain ViewRedondo Beach

People

Population 83,732Highest 69,291Lowest

Growth since 20102010 → 2020 census +11.2%Highest CA: +6.1% +7.2%Lowest CA: +6.1%

Median age 35.5±0.6Lowest 6% below CA 41.1±1Highest 8% above CA

Kids under 18 19.9%±1.4Lowest CA: 22% 22.6%±1.7Highest CA: 22%

Redondo Beach and Mountain View are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Age 65+ 12%±0.9Lowest CA: 15.7% 15.8%±1.2Highest CA: 15.7%

Bachelor’s degree+adults 25+ 75%Highest CA: 37.1% 67%Lowest CA: 37.1%

Enrolled in collegeshare of residents 5.8%±0.7Highest CA: 7.6% 4.4%±0.7Lowest CA: 7.6%

Mountain View and Redondo Beach are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Cost of living

Household incomemedian $189,917±$10kHighest 92% above CA $150,245±$9kLowest 52% above CA

Home valuemedian, owner-occupied $1,927,000±$92kHighest 162% above CA $1,279,200±$57kLowest 74% above CA

Rentmedian gross, monthly $3,062±$93Highest 50% above CA $2,691±$71Lowest 32% above CA

Property taxmedian, yearly $10,000+Highest at least 95% above CA $8,510Lowest 66% above CA

Renters paying 30%+of income on rent 38.4%±3.6Lowest CA: 55.3% 46.8%±4.8Highest CA: 55.3%

Redondo Beach and Mountain View are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Below poverty line 6%Highest CA: 12% 5.4%Lowest CA: 12%

Housing

Homeownersof occupied homes 38.6%Lowest CA: 55.9% 53.4%Highest CA: 55.9%

Typical home builtmedian year 1975Highest 1 yr older than CA 1973Lowest 3 yrs older than CA

Getting to work

Average commuteone way 23 minLowest 19% below CA 27 minHighest 6% below CA

Work from home 30.6%±2.3Highest CA: 17.2% 29.3%±2.4Lowest CA: 17.2%

Mountain View and Redondo Beach are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Work in townworking residents 16.4%Highest 8.3%Lowest

Typical commute distancemedian, straight-line 6.8 miLowest 11.3 miHighest

Jobs per working residentover 1.5 = a job hub 2.08Highest 0.86Lowest

Top workplaceoutside town San Jose (10%)Los Angeles (26%)

Between these townsresidents who work in the others Few work in Redondo BeachFew work in Mountain View

Outdoors

Conserved landshare of the town 9.4%Highest 2.1%Lowest

Trailsmapped miles 17.2 miHighest 4.3 miLowest

Trail densitymiles per sq mi 1.4 miHighest 0.3 miLowest

Parks & preservesnamed on the map 33Highest 15Lowest

Street connectivityintersections per sq mi, a walkability measure 107Highest 74.3Lowest

Schools

Public school scoresrank in state, math + reading #5 of 574 in CA #526 of 574 in CA

School district Los Altos Elementary · Mountain View WhismanRedondo Beach Unified

High school in town Mountain View HighRedondo Union High

Students per teacherat that high school 18.5Lowest 25.4Highest

California average“±” Census margin of errorACS 2020–2024

Deciding?

Ask the people who live there

The numbers stop at the town line. Neighbors can tell you about the commute at 7am, the schools, the winters and the feel of the place.

Mountain View neighborsTown Square →

Your question goes to Mountain View’s Town Square.

Redondo Beach neighborsTown Square →

1 neighbor in Redondo Beach can answer.

Add a town

Set another town beside Mountain View and Redondo Beach

One tap adds it. Up to 4 towns at once.

Bordering Mountain View

+ Compare

Palo Alto67,237 people · $2M homes

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Sunnyvale154,236 people · $1.8M homes

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Los Altos30,698 people · $2M homes

Towns like Mountain View

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Santa Clara130,256 people · $1.58M homes

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Berkeley120,257 people · $1.41M homes

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Santa Monica91,169 people · $1.76M homes

+ Compare

San Mateo103,105 people · $1.62M homes

Not sure which town to add? Find your place ranks California towns on what matters to you.Find your place →

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2010 & 2020 censuses, LEHD commute flows; Zillow Home Value Index; NCES Common Core of Data; FBI crime reporting; CDC PLACES; FEMA National Risk Index; NOAA U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020; USGS PAD-US and OpenStreetMap. “±” is the Census margin of error; differences inside it are never called. Property tax is top-coded by the Census at $10,000+. There is no overall score: which town is better depends on what matters to you.

Mountain View vs Redondo Beach

Two towns, two different strengths

Where they part ways

A typical home costs $2,420 more a month in Mountain View

Mountain View places higher on 19 of 26 CA lists

What daily life feels like in each

321 miles apart

What matters to you?

Ask the people who live there

Set another town beside Mountain View and Redondo Beach

Bordering Mountain View

Towns like Mountain View

Post to Mountain View

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