Pros and Cons of Life in Irvine

Amongst the sprawling metropolitan of Los Angeles sits the master-planned city of Irvine. In the last two decades, the city has nearly doubled its population, and for good reason. With its great weather, fantastic jobs, and all around safety, Irvine can be a great place to call home—but these things do come with a price.

To help those deciding if Irvine is the place to call home, here is a quick breakdown of the benefits and costs of life in Irvine

Pros of living in Irvine

The jobs – Irvine is home to a number of top names in various industries, including Blizzard Entertainment, Taco Bell, and Vizio as well as international businesses such as Kia and Samsung. With such industry leaders, it’s no surprise that the median home income in Irvine is more than $95,000.

Furthermore, the City of Irvine has been recognized as No. 1 for fiscal strength by Truth in Accounting, having a surplus of $4,400 per taxpayer in 2019 alone.

Safe for the whole family – While the median age of Irvine is about 34 years old, the city itself is long recognized for its safety for the whole family. For instance, in the past two years, Irvine has been recognized among the best cities to raise a family by WalletHub, the best city to live in in Orange County, and as America’s safest city overall.

The outdoors – The City of Irvine provides everyone a chance to enjoy its amazing year-round weather and low humidity. For instance, The Trust for Public Land ranked Irvine among the top ten best park systems. Over 80% of all residents live within a 10 minute walk to a park, and more than a quarter of the city’s land makes up 127 parks. Heritage Park in particular was named the best park in Orange County with multiple playgrounds, a splash pad, and picnicking areas across 35 acres.

This may come from the city’s overall value of the environment too, as WalletHub earned the No. 3 spot for greenest cities in America.

Cons of living in Irvine

The high cost of living – Really, the overall con of life in Irvine is the high price tag it comes with. According to BestPlaces, the cost of living score for Irvine is 187.1, with 100 being the national average. Some of the key areas that will cost you more include groceries and transportation, but the biggest expense without a doubt is housing, which scored 373.9 (that’s more than three times the national score.)

The median home cost in Irvine is north of $864,000, and the average studio apartment can be found for the cheap, cheap rate of about $1,700 a month. For some, this cost of living is worth all of the benefits, and if that’s you, then we can help you still enjoy this amazing city with all the space you need.

A storage unit in Irvine can provide you a relatively affordable place to store any or all of your belongings, whether that’s to help you move to the area or not have to sacrifice your belongings to keep an affordable apartment.

Click here to learn more about Irvine self storage and how it can help you.