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- Santa Ana, California
How walkable is Santa Ana, California?
By Oscar Higson-Spence. Updated
Santa Ana, California has a walkability score of 66 out of 100 across the 5 km around its center, which makes it somewhat walkable: some errands can be done on foot. It is the joint 25th most walkable of the 58 cities ranked in the United States, with 2 others.
What's within walking distance of the center
795 shops, restaurants, parks and other everyday places are mapped within a 30 minute walk of central Santa Ana, California. The nearest grocery is about 2 minutes away on foot. It earns full or nearly full points for groceries, restaurants & bars and shopping. It is weakest for parks and books & libraries.
Groceries
- Big Saver Foods, 4 min
- La Bamba Market Tobacco and Water store, 10 min
Restaurants & bars
- Peking Kitchen, 2 min
- El Cortijo Grill Seafood Bar, 3 min
Shopping
- Day-Day's Smoke Shop, 3 min
- Rug House Of Anatolia, 3 min
Coffee
- Natale Coffee, 9 min
- Cafe Bella, 18 min
Banks
- Bank of America, 10 min
- Chase Bank, 13 min
Parks
- Santiago Park, 20 min
- French Park, 20 min
Schools
- Willard Intermediate School, 8 min
- usc college prep santa ana campus, 10 min
Books & libraries
- Oc Courthouse Library Parking Structure P3, 19 min
- Orange County Public Law Library, 22 min
Culture & entertainment
- Bowers Museum, 9 min
- Symphony Hall (Michael F. Harrah Hall), 17 min
Further than usual
- The nearest park is 19 minutes from the center on foot, against 4 minutes for the median city ranked.
- The nearest library or bookshop is 19 minutes from the center on foot, against 6 minutes for the median city ranked.
Measured from the center at 33.7611, -117.8732, the point near Santa Ana, California's middle with the most places in walking range. Walking times assume 80 m per minute along an estimated street route.
Street layout
Within 800 m of the center there are about 73 street intersections per km², and blocks average 110 m long. Sparser streets or longer blocks reduce the score by 1%, since they make walks longer than the straight-line distance suggests.
How far walkability reaches
Santa Ana, California's score of 66 is the average across the 5 km around its center, the point with the most everyday places within a walk. Walkability averages 74 within 1 km of the center, 67 from 1 to 3 km out and 64 from 3 to 5 km out. 41% of the sampled area scores 70 or more, where most errands can be done on foot.
- 90+
- 70–89
- 50–69
- 25–49
- 0–24
Each hexagon is the score at a point, 1 km from its neighbours, across the 5 km around central Santa Ana, California. Rings mark 1, 3 and 5 km from the center. Gaps are water or land without streets.
| Area | Score | Scoring 70+ |
|---|---|---|
| Center | 83 | 100% |
| Within 1 km | 74 | 86% |
| 1 to 3 km out | 67 | 40% |
| 3 to 5 km out | 64 | 36% |
Nearby cities
| City | Distance | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Anaheim, California, United States | 11 km | 64 |
| Long Beach, California, United States | 30 km | 63 |
| Los Angeles, United States | 49 km | 82 |
| San Diego, United States | 132 km | 65 |
| Tijuana, Mexico | 160 km | 74 |
Questions about walking in Santa Ana, California
Is Santa Ana, California a walkable city?
Partly. Santa Ana, California has a walkability score of 66 out of 100 across the 5 km around its center, which makes it somewhat walkable: some errands can be done on foot. Its center scores 83. The score covers about 80 km² around the busiest point rather than the whole city, and suburbs further out are usually less walkable, so check a specific address on the map. It ranks joint 25th of 58 cities in the United States and joint 354th of 690 worldwide on How Walkable.
What is the most walkable city in the United States?
New York City is the most walkable of the 58 cities ranked in the United States, with a score of 93. Santa Ana, California ranks joint 25th with 66.
How does Santa Ana, California compare with nearby cities?
Santa Ana, California sits between its nearest ranked neighbours: it scores 66, against Anaheim, California (64, 11 km away), Long Beach, California (63, 30 km away) and Los Angeles (82, 49 km away).
Which part of Santa Ana, California is most walkable?
Santa Ana's most walkable area is its center, the point near the middle of the city with the most places in walking range, which scores 83. Walkability averages 74 within 1 km of it. Beyond 2.5 km, it holds up best to the south (averaging 71) and falls most to the south-east (60).
Why is Santa Ana, California's score different from its Walk Score?
Walk Score's city scores average every neighborhood within the city limits, weighted by where people live, so they count outer suburbs that the 5 km around Santa Ana, California's center leaves out, and they are usually lower. Address by address the two agree closely: across 46 addresses in the United States and Canada, How Walkable's scores were 5.9 points from Walk Score's on average, as the accuracy study at howwalkable.com/accuracy shows.
How is Santa Ana, California's walkability score calculated?
For Santa Ana, California it is the average of 90 points spaced 1 km apart within 5 km of its busiest point, leaving out water and land without streets; 37 of them score 70 or more. Each point counts groceries, restaurants, shops, cafés, banks, parks, schools, libraries and cultural venues within a 30 minute walk, gives nearer places more weight, and loses up to 20% where streets are sparse or blocks are long, using open map data from Overture Maps (release 2026-09-23.1) and OpenStreetMap. It measures what is within a walk, not what the walk is like: pavements, traffic, safety, hills and heat are not part of the score.
This page is generated from open map data with a published walkability method, explained in the methodology. Places from Overture Maps release 2026-09-23.1. City position and population from GeoNames.
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