Rancho Palos Verdes is a medium-sized coastal city (ie. on the ocean or tidally-influenced rivers) located in the state of California. With a population of 41,301 people and six constituent neighborhoods, Rancho Palos Verdes is the 189th largest community in California.

Rancho Palos Verdes is a decidedly white-collar city, with fully 91.87% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Rancho Palos Verdes is a city of professionals, managers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Rancho Palos Verdes who work in management occupations (21.48%), sales jobs (13.33%), and office and administrative support jobs (10.62%).

Also of interest is that Rancho Palos Verdes has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

In addition, Rancho Palos Verdes is home to many people who could be described as "urban sophisticates," which are people who are not only wealthy and employed in professional occupations, but highly educated to boot. Urban sophisticates have urbane tastes - whether they reside in a big or small city, a suburb, or a little town. Urban sophisticates support bookstores, quality clothing stores, enjoy luxury travel, and in big cities, they are truly the patrons of the arts, attending and supporting institutions such as opera, symphony, ballet, and theatre.

Rancho Palos Verdes is a good choice for families with children because of several factors. Many other families with children live here, making it a place where both parents and children are more likely to develop social ties with other families. The city's good public school district and large population of college-educated adults provide an environment conducive to academic success. Many people own their own single-family homes, providing areas for children to play and stability in the community. Finally, Rancho Palos Verdes's overall crime rate is lower than average for the country.

The city is also nautical, which means that parts of Rancho Palos Verdes are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and tidal rivers. Quite often, nautical areas such as these attract visitors and locals who come to enjoy the scenery and various waterfront activities.

One downside of living in Rancho Palos Verdes, however, is that residents on average have to contend with a long commute, spending on average 33.14 minutes every day commuting to work.

"If you live in Rancho Palos Verdes, you are going to have to drive to get to work," say area residents. At least that is what most Rancho Palos Verdes residents do (97.7%). Rancho Palos Verdes is primarily built for cars, and driving around town will bare this out. Shopping centers, parking lots, strip malls, and wide streets are what you'll find. Sidewalks? Sure. But not everywhere, and walking to most places can be downright scary.

The city of Rancho Palos Verdes is a decent size, but despite this, it doesn't have a viable public transit system that people can use to get to work.

Rancho Palos Verdes Information and Demographics

Do you have a 4-year college degree or graduate degree? If so, you may feel right at home in Rancho Palos Verdes. 57.99% of adults here have a 4-year degree or graduate degree, whereas the national average for all cities and towns is just 14.96%.

The per capita income in Rancho Palos Verdes in 2000 was $46,250, which is wealthy relative to California and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $185,000 for a family of four. However, Rancho Palos Verdes contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Rancho Palos Verdes is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Rancho Palos Verdes home come from a variety of different races and ancestries. The most prevalent race in Rancho Palos Verdes is White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Rancho Palos Verdes include English, German, Irish, Italian, and Iranian.

Rancho Palos Verdes also has a high percentage of its population that was born in another country: 26.84%.

The languages spoken by people in Rancho Palos Verdes are also diverse. These are tabulated as the languages people preferentially speak when they are at home with their families. The most common language spoken in Rancho Palos Verdes is English. Other important languages spoken here include Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Spanish, and Persian.