City safety & data profile

South El MonteCA

South El Monte, CA is a 21K-resident city in Los Angeles County with a median household income of $72,990.

Los Angeles County, California. Federal health, economic, and safety indicators for South El Monte, drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, CDC PLACES, and CMS Hospital Compare. South El Monte has a population larger than 46% of the 4,640 U.S. cities Areazine tracks, a median home value of $601,000, and 1 hospital serving the surrounding area.

Data updated 2026-09-03

21K
Population (place)
Bottom 47%
By size
$72,990
Median income (place)
$601,000
Median home (place)
20.9%
Poverty rate (place)
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The read on South El Monte

South El Monte posts a median household income higher than 41% of U.S. cities Areazine tracks, where 1 hospital serves the South El Monte area.

Bottom 42%
by median income, US cities
1
hospital in & near South El Monte

Where South El Monte income ranks nationally

Median household income vs. every place Areazine profiles (place-level ACS)

$72,990 Bottom 41% higher than 41% of 3,889 places Areazine profiles

South El Monte $0 $260,000 every profiled place, bucketed by value

Each bar is a $20K-wide band; taller bars hold more places Areazine profiles. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) · 2024 ACS 5-year

Largest cities in CA

Population among 482 CA places with 10,000+ residents and ACS income on Areazine. Tooltip shows the income rank in the same pool.

residents

What this shows Los Angeles is the largest CA city on this list; Alamo leads median income.

Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) As of 2024 ACS 5-year

Highest median incomes in CA

Median household income among the same 482-city pool. Tooltip shows the population rank.

median

What this shows Alamo posts the highest place-level median income in CA; Los Angeles is largest by headcount.

Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) As of 2024 ACS 5-year

The quick read

Reading South El Monte, CA beyond the headline numbers

South El Monte sits inside Los Angeles County, California, at roughly 34.05°N, -118.05°W. Population 20,878, $72,990 median household income. Median home value $601,000, median rent $1,752. Poverty rate 20.9%, read against that income figure since two cities on the same median can differ underneath it.

1 hospital in/around South El Monte, 2/5 avg rating, 0 with an ER.

20.9% of South El Monte, CA residents live below the poverty line, placing it in the hardest-hit quarter of reporting cities. Read every median on this page against that: half the households are above it, and a large minority are far below.

The median home in South El Monte costs around 8.2 times what a median household earns in a year -- the most expensive quarter of reporting cities, and far enough ahead of local pay that ownership is largely closed to median earners.

Only 6.7% of South El Monte workers report working from home, the lowest quarter of reporting cities -- an economy still built around showing up somewhere.

Among the CDC measures on this page, lack of health insurance departs furthest from its peer median: 23.9% in South El Monte, the highest-prevalence quarter of the 3,759 cities reporting that measure.

3% of South El Monte workers commute by public transit, a larger share than at least three quarters of reporting cities.

Sources: U.S. Census ACS, CDC PLACES, CMS Hospital Compare, plus live alerts for South El Monte from FEMA, NOAA, FDA, and CPSC. Economic comparison bars use the unweighted average across tracked Census places with a reported value, not a household-weighted national median.

Population (place)
20,878
South El Monte · Census Place
Median Income (place)
$72,990
-18% vs avg
Median Home Value (place)
$601,000
+45% vs avg
Median Age (place)
37.2
years · ACS place

10-Year Trends 2013–2024

County-level trend (Los Angeles County): South El Monte's own historical series isn't separately published by the Census Bureau, so these year-over-year figures track the surrounding county, not the city alone.

20132024
Population
9.8M-1%
Median Income
$90,112+61%
Median Home Value
$834,200+99%
Poverty Rate
13.7%-23%
Unemployment
7.3%-36%

Economics

Economics indicators for South El Monte, CA
IndicatorValue
Median Rent
$1,752/mo
Poverty Rate
20.9% +69% vs avg
Unemployment 7.4%
Bachelor's Degree+ 10.5%
Work From Home 6.7%
Public Transit 3%

Population

White 10.7%
African American 0.9%
Asian 20.5%

Health Profile 15 measures

Health Indicators

Physical Inactivity
39.5%
Short Sleep Duration
39%
High Blood Pressure
32%
Obesity
30.4%
Lack of Health Insurance
23.9%
Frequent Physical Distress
19.1%
Frequent Mental Distress
18.5%
Diabetes
17.1%
Current Smoking
15.5%
Binge Drinking
13.4%

Preventive Care

Dental Visit 45.6%
Annual Checkup 68.4%

Other Measures

Current Asthma
8.9%
Coronary Heart Disease
6.6%
Stroke
4%

Hospitals 1 total

Rating Distribution
★★★★★
0
★★★★
0
★★★
0
★★
1
★
0
Average Rating
2/5
Total Hospitals
1
With ER
0
GREATER EL MONTE COMMUNITY HOSPITAL
SOUTH EL MONTE · Acute Care Hospitals
★★☆☆☆

What alerts and safety updates affect South El Monte?

No area-tagged alerts are on record for South El Monte right now. New federal and counterpart-agency notices still land in the site feed as agencies publish them.

City alert dispatch desk

Sheet CA-SOUTH-EL-MONTE · South El Monte

South El Monte: no area-tagged alerts on record — state hubs carry the live CAP stream.

  • FEED-QUIET No tagged alerts
  • LEAD-NONE Feed idle
  • DESK-IDLE Awaiting feed

Counts reflect published articles tagged to South El Monte; untagged NOAA county warnings may still appear in the site feed. Browse California state hubs · Methodology

Read with this city profile

Tracking Safety Alerts in Your Area

How Areazine tags South El Monte in the CAP feed
All safety guides →

Frequently Asked Questions 6

What is the population of South El Monte, CA? ▼
South El Monte, CA has a population of 20,878 people, located in Los Angeles County, California.
What is the median household income in South El Monte? ▼
The median household income in South El Monte, CA is $72,990 per year, per the U.S. Census ACS. The poverty rate is 20.9%.
What is the median home value in South El Monte? ▼
The median home value in South El Monte, CA is $601,000. Median rent is $1,752/month.
What are the top health concerns in South El Monte? ▼
The top health indicators in South El Monte include Physical Inactivity (39.5%), Short Sleep Duration (39%), High Blood Pressure (32%). Data from CDC PLACES.
How many hospitals are in South El Monte? ▼
South El Monte has 1 hospital with an average rating of 2/5 stars. 0 have emergency departments.
What is the median age in South El Monte? ▼
The median age in South El Monte, CA is 37.2 years. 10.5% of residents have a bachelor's degree or higher.

Nationwide cities with similar poverty or income 8

Two ACS-derived peer sets for South El Monte, both outside California so the neighborhoods are not the geographic nearby list below.

Similar poverty rate

Nearest place-level ACS poverty rates outside CA (20.9% here).

Laredo, TX 20.9% Brownwood, TX 20.9% La Grande, OR 20.9% Galena Park, TX 20.9%

Similar median income

Nearest place-level ACS median household incomes outside CA ($72,990 here).

Leavenworth, KS $72,987 Reynoldsburg, OH $72,972 Crest Hill, IL $73,033 Fitchburg, MA $73,040

Compare South El Monte with another city

Pick a second U.S. city to open a side-by-side profile on population, income, health, and hospitals, the same federal datasets as this page.

Quick picks:

Nearby Cities 8

El Monte, CA 117K Rosemead, CA 55K Temple City, CA 36K Avocado Heights, CA 15K East San Gabriel, CA 15K Montebello, CA 64K San Gabriel, CA 40K Whittier, CA 87K
All cities in California → Compare South El Monte vs El Monte → All comparisons → Browse all cities

Using South El Monte's profile

Use this as a starting research checklist, not a verdict on whether to live here.

  • Check live recalls, weather and hazard alerts scoped to the South El Monte area before relying on national headlines. Check your area
  • Read the poverty rate alongside the income figure, two places with the same median can have very different realities.
  • Compare South El Monte against California peers on any ranking lens. Explore California

Population and economics (income, home value, poverty, education) are place-level U.S. Census ACS; health is CDC PLACES; hospital counts reflect facilities in and around the city. County-level trends are labeled when shown.

Data Sources

All data on this page comes from official U.S. government sources. Population and economic data from the Census Bureau American Community Survey (2024 5-year estimates, place geography). Health data from the CDC PLACES program (2023). Hospital ratings from CMS Hospital Compare (2024). Climate data from NOAA. Education data from NCES. Cost of living from Bureau of Economic Analysis. Crime statistics, where referenced on Areazine, originate from the FBI Crime Data Explorer. Housing market figures referenced on Areazine come from HUD Fair Market Rents. Census economics and population are at place geography; some health and hospital indicators are reported at the county level (Los Angeles County) where that is the smallest published unit.

Every figure on Areazine is published directly from official U.S. government sources, no number is typed in by an editor. City demographic and health figures are compiled directly from U.S. Census (place-level ACS), CDC, and CMS releases, updated quarterly within 30 days of upstream release. County-level trends are labeled when shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026.