Arcadia vs San Marino: Schools, Home Prices and Which City Fits

Arcadia and San Marino share a border, a school-first buyer pool and a lot of the same search alerts. They are very different markets, though. San Marino is a single-ZIP city of large houses with no condo market. Arcadia is close to three times as busy and has a wider range of prices, and it includes a condo and townhome market. This guide puts the two side by side using closed sales from the last twelve months and the school districts' own published results.

Arcadia vs San Marino at a glance

Single-family homes only, closed October 2025 through September 2026.

	Arcadia	San Marino
Closed single-family sales	311	106
Median close price	$1.86M	$3.20M
Change vs prior 12 months	+3.6%	+8.3%
Median price per sq ft	$749	$1,086
Median days on market	19	17
Median sale-to-list price	98.6%	104.2%
Share sold over list price	34%	61%
All-cash share	39%	42%
Median living area	2,505 sq ft	3,135 sq ft
Median lot size	11,304 sq ft	12,837 sq ft
Median year built	1954	1940
Months of supply (Oct 12, 2026)	4.4	3.5
Median asking price, active listings	$2.14M	$3.38M
Condo/townhome sales	159 (median $891K)	None

Three things stand out:

• San Marino costs more per square foot, not just per house. The median San Marino home is about 25% larger than Arcadia's. Even after adjusting for size, it closed at $1,086 per square foot against $749, about 45% more.
• San Marino is still a bidding market. Arcadia isn't. Six in ten San Marino houses sold over list price, at a median 104.2% of list. In Arcadia, only a third did, and the median sale closed 1.4% under list.
• Arcadia has more inventory. At 4.4 months of supply, Arcadia buyers have more to choose from and more room to negotiate. Arcadia's active listings were asking a median $2.14M, well above the $1.86M closed median, which suggests many sellers are pricing ahead of the market.

Which city is more expensive, and by how much?

San Marino, at every level. Over the twelve months, no San Marino house closed under $1.5M, and more than half closed above $3M. Arcadia's sales spread across every price band.

Closed single-family sales by price	Arcadia	San Marino
Under $1M	25	0
$1M–1.5M	56	0
$1.5M–2M	98	12
$2M–3M	70	32
$3M and up	62	62

The bottom row surprises people. Arcadia had as many $3M-plus house sales as San Marino did: 62 each, so Arcadia's upper end competes directly with San Marino. The difference is that Arcadia also has a large middle market between $1.5M and $3M, plus condos and townhomes at a median of $891K (159 sales). San Marino had no condo or townhome sales at all.

Over the longer run, both have climbed at a similar pace. The calendar-year median for single-family homes went from $1.26M in 2019 to $1.81M in 2025 in Arcadia (+43%), and from $2.20M to $3.01M in San Marino (+37%).

Arcadia's 91006 vs 91007 split

Arcadia has two ZIP codes, and they price differently for a reason that's easy to miss.

Arcadia ZIP	Single-family sales	Median price	Median $/sq ft	Median living area	Median lot
91006	197	$1.68M	$754	2,354 sq ft	10,526 sq ft
91007	114	$2.08M	$743	2,758 sq ft	13,324 sq ft

91007 has a median nearly $400,000 higher, yet its price per square foot is almost identical. The gap comes from house and lot size, not a per-foot premium. A buyer who wants a larger lot will pay for the square footage in either ZIP. A ZIP code on its own doesn't decide value. San Marino is a single ZIP, 91108.

Does an Arcadia address mean Arcadia Unified schools?

Not always, and this is the most useful thing to know before shopping in Arcadia. The city name on a mailing address follows the postal service, not school district lines. Homes with an Arcadia address include pockets that sit in Temple City Unified, Monrovia Unified and the El Monte Union High School District.

Here are three years of Arcadia-address single-family sales (October 2023 to September 2026), grouped by the high school district recorded on the sale:

High school district	Sales	Median price	Median $/sq ft
Arcadia Unified	715	$1.96M	$763
El Monte Union High	63	$947K	$714
Monrovia Unified	47	$1.07M	$695
Temple City Unified	26	$1.20M	$731

About 84% of those sales were in Arcadia Unified and about 16% were outside it. The headline gap looks enormous: $1.96M inside the district against $0.95M to $1.2M outside. Much of that is mix, because Arcadia Unified homes tend to be much larger. On a per-square-foot basis the district premium is closer to 4–10%. That is still real money on a $2M house, and it's the number to use when you're comparing two homes on either side of a boundary.

Kelvin's take: a buyer who is moving for Arcadia Unified should confirm the district for the exact address before writing an offer, using the district's own school boundaries map. A listing's school fields are entered by the listing agent and can be blank or out of date. A buyer who doesn't need Arcadia Unified, on the other hand, can find homes with an Arcadia address priced well below the city median.

How do Arcadia Unified and San Marino Unified compare?

Both districts are small by Los Angeles standards and both score far above the state on California's standardized tests. The table below uses the 2024–25 CAASPP results (the state's Smarter Balanced tests, all tested grades) and facts each district publishes on its own website.

	Arcadia Unified	San Marino Unified
Schools	11: six elementary, three middle, one high school, one alternative	4: two elementary, one middle, one high school
Students (district-stated)	About 9,500	Over 3,000
High school	Arcadia High	San Marino High
Met or exceeded English standard, 2024–25	72.0%	85.7%
Met or exceeded math standard, 2024–25	68.3%	84.7%
State of California, same tests	48.8% English, 37.3% math	48.8% English, 37.3% math

Sources: CAASPP results for Arcadia Unified, San Marino Unified and the state; district facts from ausd.net and smusd.us.

Arcadia Unified

Arcadia Unified runs six elementary schools (Baldwin Stocker, Camino Grove, Highland Oaks, Holly Avenue, Hugo Reid and Longley Way), three middle schools (Dana, First Avenue and Foothills) and Arcadia High School. Its homepage gives enrollment as about 9,500 students in one place and nearly 10,000 in another. The district notes that Camino Grove and Longley Way were named 2025 California Distinguished Schools. Enrollment is open to residents within district boundaries. Families outside the boundaries can apply for an inter-district permit, and the district explains both on its enrollment page.

San Marino Unified

San Marino Unified is a four-school district: Valentine and Carver elementary schools, Huntington Middle School and San Marino High School. It describes itself as serving over 3,000 students and reports a 100% graduation rate for the Class of 2026, a 96.8% attendance rate and a 21:1 student-teacher ratio. The district also lists a Mandarin Dual Language Immersion program and a partnership with the Huntington Library. Residents register online, and families outside the district can apply for an inter-district permit through the enrollment and registration page.

What the school numbers mean for a home search

San Marino Unified's test results are higher, and its smaller size means every family feeds into the same middle school and high school. Arcadia Unified is larger and offers more schools and more choice within the district. Its scores are still well above the state, and its homes cost much less to get into. Every buyer should look at the specific schools for a specific address on the California School Dashboard, not just the district totals.

Who each city tends to suit

San Marino fits buyers who:

• want San Marino Unified and are budgeting well above $2M. Only 12 of 106 houses closed under $2M in the last twelve months, and most sold above $3M;
• prefer older, larger houses on generous lots (median year built 1940);
• are ready to compete. A median 104.2% of list means most good listings draw multiple offers.

Arcadia fits buyers who:

• want a highly rated district at a lower entry price, including condos and townhomes near $891K;
• want negotiating room. Sales closed at a median 98.6% of list, with 4.4 months of supply;
• are open to a somewhat newer house (median year built 1954 against 1940);
• will check the school boundary address by address.

Seller profiles differ too. About 30.5% of San Marino's residential sales were trust sales, against 11.4% in Arcadia, so San Marino buyers often deal with estates and long-held homes.

Frequently asked questions

Is San Marino more expensive than Arcadia?

Yes. San Marino single-family homes closed at a median $3.20M over the last twelve months (106 sales), against $1.86M in Arcadia (311 sales). On a per-square-foot basis, San Marino ran $1,086 against Arcadia's $749.

Which has better schools, Arcadia or San Marino?

On 2024–25 state test results, San Marino Unified scored higher: 85.7% of students met or exceeded the English standard and 84.7% the math standard, against 72.0% and 68.3% in Arcadia Unified. Both are far above the statewide 48.8% and 37.3%. Which is better for a given child depends on the specific schools and programs, so compare them school by school.

Does every Arcadia address go to Arcadia Unified?

No. Over the last three years, about 16% of Arcadia-address house sales with a recorded district were in Temple City Unified, Monrovia Unified or the El Monte Union High School District. Check the address on the district's boundary map.

Are there condos in San Marino?

No condo or townhome sales closed in San Marino in the twelve months. For a lower-cost entry near San Marino, Arcadia's condo and townhome median was $891K across 159 sales.

Is it easier to negotiate in Arcadia or San Marino?

Arcadia, based on the last twelve months. Only 34% of Arcadia houses sold over list against 61% in San Marino, and Arcadia had 4.4 months of supply against 3.5.

Sources

• Arcadia Unified School District
• Arcadia Unified enrollment and permits
• Arcadia Unified school boundaries map
• San Marino Unified School District
• San Marino Unified enrollment and registration
• CAASPP 2024–25 results, Arcadia Unified
• CAASPP 2024–25 results, San Marino Unified
• CAASPP 2024–25 results, State of California
• California School Dashboard
• Market figures: Kelvin Huang's analysis of closed residential sales, October 2025 – September 2026