Hot semi-arid
Costa Mesa, California
Orange County, California · Population 111k · 108 ft elevation
Living in Costa Mesa
Costa Mesa has a hot semi-arid climate: pleasantly warm summers (July highs around 79°F) and very mild winters (January lows around 48°F).
Precipitation is very dry at about 11″ a year, and it essentially never sees snow.
Skies are exceptionally sunny (74% of possible sunshine). Summers get sticky, with about 27 muggy days a year.
Air quality is poor: a median AQI of 53, with about 13 unhealthy-air days in the latest year.
There is plenty to explore outdoors around Costa Mesa: about 13% of the land within 30 miles is public (parks, national forest and the like), and the terrain rises and falls about 2,500 ft around town.
Costa Mesa at a glance
- Population
- 111k
- Elevation
- 108 ft
- Average daily high
- 72°F67th percentile
- Average daily low
- 57°F87th percentile
- Annual precipitation
- 11″4th percentile
- Annual snowfall
- 0″0th percentile
- Sunshine hours per year
- 3,280 hrs87th percentile
- Median AQI
- 5389th percentile
- Median home value
- $1.1M97th percentile
- Median rent
- $2,395/mo94th percentile
- Median household income
- $110k80th percentile
- Property tax rate
- 0.63%19th percentile
- Top state income-tax rate
- 13.3%
- Sales tax (state + local)
- 8.8%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.9%
- Homes with broadband
- 95%76th percentile
- Walkability index
- 14.192th percentile
- Average commute
- 22 min
- Math proficiency (8th grade)
- 50%58th percentile
- Reading proficiency (8th grade)
- 55%
- Violent crime rate
- 543 per 100k90th percentile
- Property crime rate
- 2,094 per 100k
- Overall natural-hazard risk
- 10093th percentile
- Outdoor access
- 8483th percentile
- Public land within 10 miles
- 5%
- Public land within 30 miles
- 13%
- Mountain relief within 30 miles
- 2,493 ft
Climate by month
| Month | High | Low | Precipitation | Snow | Sunshine |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 67°F | 48°F | 2.6″ | — | 239 hrs |
| Feb | 67°F | 50°F | 2.6″ | — | 229 hrs |
| Mar | 68°F | 52°F | 1.6″ | — | 278 hrs |
| Apr | 70°F | 55°F | 0.5″ | — | 303 hrs |
| May | 71°F | 59°F | 0.3″ | — | 305 hrs |
| Jun | 74°F | 62°F | 0.0″ | — | 269 hrs |
| Jul | 79°F | 66°F | 0.0″ | — | 314 hrs |
| Aug | 80°F | 67°F | 0.0″ | — | 318 hrs |
| Sep | 80°F | 65°F | 0.1″ | — | 286 hrs |
| Oct | 76°F | 59°F | 0.5″ | — | 264 hrs |
| Nov | 72°F | 53°F | 0.8″ | — | 244 hrs |
| Dec | 66°F | 48°F | 2.0″ | — | 231 hrs |
Near Costa Mesa
- Fountain Valley, CA · 56k
- Newport Beach, CA · 84k
- Santa Ana, CA · 312k
- Huntington Beach, CA · 196k
- Midway City, CA · 8.1k
- Tustin, CA · 79k
- Westminster, CA · 90k
- Irvine, CA · 308k
Largest places in California
- Los Angeles, CA · 3.9M
- San Diego, CA · 1.4M
- San Jose, CA · 990k
- San Francisco, CA · 836k
- Fresno, CA · 544k
- Sacramento, CA · 525k
- Long Beach, CA · 458k
- Oakland, CA · 438k
Sources: NOAA climate normals, NASA POWER, EPA air quality, U.S. Census Bureau, FEMA, FBI, EPA walkability and EDFacts. Methodology