Palos Verdes Estates, California


Palos Verdes Estates is an affluent coastal city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, situated on the Palos Verdes Peninsula and neighboring Rancho Palos Verdes and Rolling Hills Estates. The city was master-planned by the noted American landscape architect and planner Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. The city is located along the Southern California coastline of the Pacific Ocean.
The population was 13,347 at the 2020 census, a slight decrease from its 2010 population of 13,438. Palos Verdes Estates is one of the wealthiest cities in the United States, and was ranked as "California's richest suburb" in 2025. The 90274 ZIP code is considered some of the most exclusive and expensive neighborhoods in the United States. The city is also known for its high-performing school district, hiking trails, and oceanfront properties. The city is also notable for the century-old Palos Verdes Homeowners Association, which controls architectural quality within the city via the PVHA Art Jury.
WWW Official Site

History

The Tongva originally lived in the area.
Palos Verdes Estates was established as a planned community in 1923, with carved out of the former Rancho de los Palos Verdes property of over. Frank A. Vanderlip established both a land syndicate holding the Palos Verdes Peninsula, and a real estate development trust for the Palos Verdes Estates subdivision. The Commonwealth Trust Company filed the Palos Verdes Protective Restrictions in Los Angeles County in 1923. These restrictions established rules for the developer and all land owners. The developer was required to set aside half of the land for common use, including roads and parks, but also to build bridle paths, a golf course, and retain several miles of coastline free of development. No less than ninety percent of the remaining land was required to be used for single-family homes.
The designers of Palos Verdes Estates, Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. and Charles Cheney, used deed restrictions as a method of controlling development of the subdivision, even after many of the lots were sold. The deed restrictions prohibited nuisance businesses, such as polluting industries, but also bars and cemeteries. The deed restrictions also included an exclusionary racial covenant which forbade an owner from selling or renting a house to anyone who wasn't white. They were also not permitted to have African-Americans on their property with the exception of chauffeurs, gardeners, and domestic servants. The "sundown rule" was strictly in effect, and it was not until 1948 that such restrictions were declared unconstitutional. It took 20 more years until the Fair Housing Act was passed in 1968 for the reality of the civil rights protections to take hold. Under the covenants, an art jury reviewed all building plans, regulating any structure in regard to style, material, and even small details like color and the pitch of the roof. The construction of fences and hedges were subject to evaluation by the art jury.
The city's oldest building is La Venta Inn built in 1923 as a sales office for Vanderlip and his business associates. Other buildings were erected mostly around the shopping area in Malaga Cove. Palos Verdes Estates was finally incorporated in 1939. The Malaga Cove Plaza building and the Palos Verdes Public Library, were designed by Pasadena architect Myron Hunt, and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995. The Neptune fountain situated in the center of Malaga Cove Plaza is faithful replica of the original bronze Fontana del Nettuno designed by Italian artist Tommaso Laureti and erected in Bologna, Italy in 1563.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of, over 99% of it land. The city is bordered by Torrance to the north and east, Rancho Palos Verdes to the south, and Rolling Hills Estates to the southeast.

Demographics

Race / Ethnicity Pop 2000Pop 2010% 2000% 2010
White alone 10,1559,8688,54476.12%73.43%64.01%
Black or African American alone 1301561660.97%1.16%1.24%
Native American or Alaska Native alone 1414160.10%0.10%0.12%
Asian alone 2,2832,3062,71317.11%17.16%20.33%
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone 12840.09%0.06%0.03%
Other race alone 3422850.25%0.16%0.64%
Mixed race or Multiracial 3344338162.50%3.22%6.11%
Hispanic or Latino 3786311,0032.83%4.70%7.51%
Total13,34013,43813,347100.00%100.00%100.00%

2020

The 2020 United States census reported that Palos Verdes Estates had a population of 13,347. The population density was. The racial makeup of Palos Verdes Estates was 66.1% White, 1.3% African American, 0.2% Native American, 20.4% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 1.6% from other races, and 10.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.5% of the population.
The whole population lived in households. There were 5,017 households, out of which 30.0% included children under the age of 18, 67.9% were married-couple households, 2.5% were cohabiting couple households, 19.8% had a female householder with no partner present, and 9.7% had a male householder with no partner present. 17.6% of households were one person, and 12.1% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.66. There were 3,973 families.
The age distribution was 20.1% under the age of 18, 7.5% aged 18 to 24, 12.3% aged 25 to 44, 31.9% aged 45 to 64, and 28.2% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 52.4years. For every 100 females, there were 93.0 males.
There were 5,291 housing units at an average density of, of which 5,017 were occupied. Of these, 87.4% were owner-occupied, and 12.6% were occupied by renters.
In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that the median household income was $247,500, and the per capita income was $142,117. About 2.4% of families and 2.6% of the population were below the poverty line.

2010

[Image:PalosVerdesMalagaCovePlaza2.jpg|thumb|right|Malaga Cove Plaza was built in a Spanish Renaissance style in 1925.]
The 2010 United States census reported that Palos Verdes Estates had a population of 13,438. The population density was. The racial makeup of Palos Verdes Estates was 10,346 White, 161 African American, 21 Native American, 2,322 Asian, 8 Pacific Islander, 94 from other races, and 486 from two or more races. There were 631 people of Hispanic or Latino origin, of any race.
The Census reported that 13,421 people lived in households, 17 lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 were institutionalized.
There were 5,066 households, out of which 1,686 had children under the age of 18 living in them, 3,649 were opposite-sex married couples living together, 296 had a female householder with no husband present, 138 had a male householder with no wife present. There were 91 unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 26 same-sex married couples or partnerships. 848 households were made up of individuals, and 534 had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65. There were 4,083 families ; the average family size was 2.97.
[Image:Neptune Fountain Malaga Cove.jpg|thumb|right|Neptune Fountain, Malaga Cove Plaza]
The population was spread out, with 3,113 people under the age of 18, 588 people aged 18 to 24, 1,787 people aged 25 to 44, 4,702 people aged 45 to 64, and 3,248 people who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 49.9 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.0 males.
There were 5,283 housing units at an average density of, of which 4,496 were owner-occupied, and 570 were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.7%; the rental vacancy rate was 5.6%. 11,958 people lived in owner-occupied housing units and 1,463 people lived in rental housing units.
According to the 2010-2014 U.S. Census, the median income for a household in Palos Verdes Estates was $171,328. The per capita income for the city was $87,408.

Mapping L.A.

Mapping L.A. reported that in 2000, English and German were the most common ancestries. Taiwan and Japan were the most common foreign places of birth.

Government and infrastructure

Public safety

Palos Verdes Estates is the only city on the Palos Verdes Peninsula to have its own police department. The department currently has 25 officers. These officers are assigned to different divisions such as traffic, patrol and detectives. The city also has its own dispatch center and jail. Both are staffed 24 hours a day. The current Police Chief is Luke Hellinga.
Fire prevention and paramedic response services are provided by the Los Angeles County Fire Department with engine company firehouse facilities located within the city limits.
The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services operates the Torrance Health Center in Harbor Gateway, [Los Angeles, California|Harbor Gateway], Los Angeles, near Torrance and serving Palos Verdes Estates.
Starting around 1990, the Palos Verdes Estates Police Department was criticized for not taking steps to stop harassment by the Lunada Bay Boys group of surfers. Palos Verdes Estates Police Chief Jeff Kepley has acknowledged that officers in his department "may have relationships with surfers accused of tormenting outsiders". In March 2016, lawsuits were filed by several non-local surfers against the city of Palos Verdes Estates, alleging that the city police ignored the harassment and never investigated or punished the perpetrators. In September 2024, the city settled the lawsuit and agreed to, among other things, have the police department begin investigating claims of harassment. The city also agreed to pay the plaintiff's attorney fees, estimated at between $1M and $4M.

County, state, and federal representation

In the state legislature Palos Verdes Estates is located in, and in.
In the United States House of Representatives, Palos Verdes Estates is in.
The United States Postal Service Palos Verdes Estates Post Office is located in Suite 102 at 2516 Via Tejon.

Politics

Palos Verdes Estates was a mostly Republican jurisdiction in the 20th century and early 21st century, but voted for Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris in the 2016, 2020, and 2024 presidential elections.

Education

Primary and secondary schools

Public schools

The city is served by the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District. A previous The Washington Post study ranked the nearby Palos Verdes Peninsula High School as the #8 best among public and private high schools in the United States. U.S. News & World Report recently academically ranked it #89 among 18,500 U.S. high schools, and Newsweek ranked it #146. In 2014, thedailybeast.com ranked the two area high schools as the 44th and 121st best high schools in the country.
Palos Verdes Peninsula High School also annually honors the largest collection of National Merit Scholar recipients enrolled in a U.S. high school in any year. In any given year there is routinely a dozen-way or more tie for the valedictorian honors in the graduating class. The smaller enrollment Palos Verdes High School achieved the same API score as Palos Verdes Peninsula High School. Both schools' students and faculties in science and computer science curricula are participants in national robotic engineering advancement, and have competed against universities and defense contractor firms in government-sponsored robotic science application challenges.

Private schools

Chadwick School is another well known school in the area. It is a K-12 independent, nonsectarian school which was established in 1935.
In 1992 the International Bilingual School, a Japanese preparatory school for grades K-9, moved to Palos Verdes Estates. By 2002 the PVUSD had filed suit to force the International Bilingual School to leave the property that the school was located in. The PVUSD owned the school building.

Public libraries

The Palos Verdes Library District operates the Malaga Cove Library in Palos Verdes Estates.

Notable people