Hermosa Beach Among Best Beach Cities To Live In: Study

HERMOSA BEACH, CA — Living in a California beach city, for many, is the dream. Waking up to the sound of the waves crashing and the salty ocean air is a relaxed and luxurious way to live. However, some beach towns are much more expensive and less livable than their inland counterparts.

In order to determine which beach cities are ideal for everyday living, WalletHub compared 146 beach cities across 62 key indicators of livability. They ranked each city on factors such as: quality of life, education and health, economy, affordability, safety and weather.

The study found Hermosa Beach to be one of the best beach cities in America. Hermosa Beach was ranked 16 out of 146 (the highest-ranked city in the South Bay), with an overall score of 58.66. A breakdown of Hermosa Beach's ranking is below:

• Affordability: 98
• Weather: 44
• Safety: 17
• Economy: 21
• Education and Health: 19
• Quality of Life: 36

The 10 best beach cities in the United States are:

• Naples, FL
• Lahaina, HI
• Newport Beach, CA
• Carlsbad, CA
• Boca Faton, FL
• Sarasota, FL
• North Myrtle Beach, SC
• Encinitas, CA
• Santa Monica, CA
• Venice, FL

The 10 worst beach cities in the United States are:

• Holiday, FL
• Shirley, NY
• Hampton Bays, NY
• Riviera Beach, FL
• Hull, MA
• Panama City, FL
• Apollo Beach, FL
• Essex, MD
• Dania Beach, FL
• Hilo, HI

WalletHub's Methodology:

In order to determine the best beach towns in America, WalletHub compared 192 cities across six key dimensions: 1) Affordability, 2) Weather, 3) Safety, 4) Economy, 5) Education & Health and 6) Quality of Life, splitting the sample into ocean towns and lake towns.

WalletHub evaluated those dimensions using 62 relevant metrics. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for beach-town living.

Finally, WalletHub determined each city’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its total score and used the resulting scores to rank-order their sample.

WalletHub's sample includes all cities with populations between 10,000 and 150,000 and at least one beach listed on TripAdvisor. For metrics marked with an asterisk (*), the square root of the population was used to calculate the population size in order to avoid overcompensating for minor differences across cities.

To read more about the best and worst beach towns to live in, visit WalletHub.