This Norwalk is in southeast Los Angeles County, not Connecticut, and it is a dense residential city of about 97,000 rather than a place people visit. Its biggest advantage is location. It has a Metro C Line station for getting into the city, and Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm are about 15 to 20 minutes by car.
Life here is suburban and family oriented. Most homes are single family and owner occupied, with parks like Sproul and Excelsior, summer concerts in the park, a Christmas parade and a Cinco de Mayo celebration. The population is mostly Latino, with Filipino, Korean, Chinese and Vietnamese communities too. Cerritos College and the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts are close. The big tradeoff is cost. It is expensive, with home prices far above the national median and pricey rents. Crime is near or a bit below the LA-area average, though vehicle and package theft happen and some older strips along Firestone Boulevard see more trouble. Expect summer heat, smog on some days and earthquake risk.
Cities with a similar character, anywhere on the site.
Out of 10. Open any score to see how it’s worked out. “Data-based” scores come from published figures; “Hey! En Route estimate” scores are worked out from what we know about the city; “Hey! En Route rating” scores were set by our editors.
- Known as
- City of Norwalk in Southeast Los Angeles County; Home of Cerritos College adjacent; Site of Norwalk Regional Metro station on the Green Line (C Line)
- Founded
- 1868 area settled (Norwalk settlement); 1957 incorporated
- Languages
- English; Spanish; Tagalog; Chinese; Korean; Vietnamese
- Airports
- Long Beach Airport (LGB), about 12 miles southwest; Los Angeles International (LAX), about 22 miles northwest; John Wayne Airport (SNA), about 20 miles southeast; Ontario International (ONT), about 35 miles northeast; Fullerton Municipal, general aviation, about 10 miles
- Tipping
- Restaurants 18-20%; bars $1-2 per drink; taxis and rideshare 15-20%; hotel housekeeping $3-5 per night; bellhops $2-5 per bag; delivery 15-20%; counter service optional
About this data
Population 97,104 (July 1, 2025), land area 9.71 sq mi, median value and rent are from Census QuickFacts (ACS 2020-2024). Metro figure 12,844,441 is the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim MSA as specified. Norwalk has no tourism bureau found, so visitor_website and event_calendar use the city Recreation and Park Services special events page seen in search results. Elevation, coordinates, founding, event months, hotel ranges, tipping, crime rate, cost index and distances are approximate or from general knowledge; lower confidence. URLs not load-tested.
