Relocating to Anaheim

Celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2007, the City of Anaheim is one of the nation's premier municipalities and California's 10th most populous city. Located in Orange County, California, 28 miles southeast of Los Angeles, Anaheim covers 50 square miles with more than 342,000 residents and 2,177 employees. The municipal corporation's annual budget is $1.297 billion. Anaheim supports a thriving business community with companies such as CKE Restaurants, Inc., L-3 Communications, Pacific Sunwear, and Disneyland Resort. Successful sports franchises call Anaheim home, including Angels Baseball, Anaheim Ducks, Anaheim Arsenal, and the USA Men's National Volleyball Team. Anaheim also boasts world-class meeting and entertainment venues with the Anaheim Convention Center, the largest on the west coast, Honda Center, The Grove of Anaheim, and Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Anaheim is ranked one of the safest cities in the nation and annually welcomes millions of visitors to the city, truly making it where the world comes to live, work and play.

Tourism is a considerable element of the city, especially Disneyland tourism. The city’s transient occupancy tax “puts money into city coffers exceeding $150 million a year” and this extra income “pays for many vital services including fire protection, police protection, first responders, and all the other amenities that are needed in a major city.”

A big perk of this sunny SoCal city is how well-connected it is for home buyers. “Anaheim might have the finest freeway accessibility in the state, ” Paul says. Surrounded by four freeways (the 55, the 591, the 22, and above the hills, the 55) and sporting the Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center (a.k.a the ARCTIC), a mecca for catching taxis, rail, buses, and other transportation services — it’s easy to get wherever you’re going.

Benefits of Living in Anaheim

• Weather: It might be a cliché, but Southern California weather is tough to beat. And that definitely applies to Anaheim. It’s sunny, gorgeous, and temperate year-round!
• Robust economy: According to the Labor Market Information Division, Orange County’s unemployment rate is only 2.4% to 2.7%, compared to the state average of 3.9%.
• Tons of activities: There’s an endless list of things to do – from Anaheim Convention Center to Disneyland to Downtown Anaheim to Anaheim Packing District to Yorba Regional Park and much more!
• Diversity & lifestyle: Home to a wide variety of ethnicities and cultures, Anaheim is unified by a carefree lifestyle that encapsulates all the elements that make SoCal such a great place to live.
• Coastline & beaches: The city may not be directly along the Pacific Coast, but it offers quick access to top California beaches such as Newport, Long Beach, and Huntington Beach.
• Central location: Need to commute or take a day trip? Anaheim offers convenient driving times of about 30 minutes to Santa Ana, Newport Beach, and L.A.

Tax Rates

• Property tax: According to the Overview of Property Taxes by smartasset.com, the average county tax rate is 0.684%. The average property tax bill is $1,710 compared to the US average of $2,700.
• Sales tax: The state of California levies a base sales tax rate of 7.25%. Combined with city and county taxes, the Anaheim minimum sales tax rate is 7.75%, a bit lower than the state average of 8.66%.
• State income tax: California currently has ten separate tax brackets, which range from 1% to 13.3%. Your income tax rate depends on your income and filing status (single or married).

Housing Market

The housing market in Anaheim is highly competitive. According to Redfin’s Anaheim Housing Market Insights, homes tend to sell at 1% above listing price in about 27 days and around 1% lower than listing price in less than 50 days. Sellers typically go into contract after one offer.

As of January 2020, the median home value was $626,512, and the median list price was $619.000. Compared to the United States median home value of $244,000, these prices can be shocking. However, Anaheim offers relatively affordable housing compared to Los Angeles, with a current listing price of $850,000.

About half of Anaheim residents, 49.8%, rent their homes. According to apartmentlist.com’s Apartment List National Rent Report, Anaheim has a median rent price of $1,677 per month for a one-bedroom apartment and $2,154 per month for a two-bedroom apartment. Housing is cheapest in neighborhoods like Northwest Anaheim, West Anaheim, Anaheim Resort, Southwest Anaheim, and Southeast Anaheim.

Cost of Living

According to the Cost of Living in Anaheim by bestplaces.com, Anaheim’s cost of living index is 152.2. This index is quite a bit higher than the nationwide average of 100.

Here are examples of individual costs comparing Anaheim to California’s overall costs: Groceries, 102.5 vs. 105.1; Health, 95.9 vs. 92.4; Housing, 257.1 vs. 239.1; Utilities, 97.4 vs. 102.4; and Transportation, 118 vs. 133.1. The median household income in Anaheim is currently $59,707 annually. This income level is slightly lower than the United States median of approximately $63,000 per year.

Average monthly living expenses in the Anaheim metro area for a family of four include Housing, $1,876; Food, $845; Childcare, $1,331; Transportation, $1,277; Health Care, $890; Other necessities, $1,098; and Taxes, $1,282. A family of two adults and two children will need to earn $8,598 per month or $103,174 per year to live a moderately comfortable lifestyle in Anaheim.