Manhattan Beach has been nicknamed the "Pearl of the South Bay" for its beauty and desirability. The city motto, though seldon referenced, is "Progressius, Progressius." The city is on the Pacific Ocean coast, to the south of El Segundo, and to the north of Hermosa Beach. To the east are the cities of Lawndale and Redondo Beach. It is one of the three Beach Cities in the South Bay.
In February 2006 sales of Manhattan Beach homes produced a median price of $1,925,000. In its Best Places to Live 2005 feature, Money Magazine ranked Manhattan Beach the 4th most expensive town in America. Additionally, in 2005 it ranked 2nd in California for the number of million-dollar homes sold.Forbes has also ranked the local Zip code 90266 as the 29th most expensive real estate zip code.
Manhattan Beach features 2.1 miles of ocean frontage, 40 acres of recreational beach, and a total of 59 acres of parkland in 10 parks, 1 municipal golf course, and 1 parkway, the Valley/Ardmore "Greenbelt."
Residents divide the city into several distinct neighborhoods, including the Sand Section, Hill Section, Tree Section, Gas Lamp Section, Manhattan Heights, East Manhattan Beach, Liberty Village, and El Porto.
Liberty Village is located at the north-easternmost section of Manhattan Beach. It is characterized by World War II era housing that originally serviced the employees of the then dominant local defense contractors such as Lockheed, Northrop and Hughes. Since it is considered to be among the most desirable cities in Los Angeles, and the city zoning provides for relatively lenient dwelling-to-land coverage, much of Manhattan Beach's housing stock has been remodeled from small single family houses into larger houses ranging to 4,000 square feet on lots approximating 5,000 square feet.
Manhattan Heights is located to the east of Sepulveda Boulevard. Sand Section is notable for its proximity to the beach, high density, and high rate of multifamily properties relative to the rest of the city. One of its primary streets, The Strand, features beach front homes.
As of the census of 2000, there were 33,852 people, 14,474 households, and 8,394 families residing in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 88.99% White, 0.61% African American, 0.21% Native American, 6.04% Asian, 0.12% Pacific Islander, 1.23% from other races, and 2.81% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.19% of the population.
There were 14,474 households out of which 28.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.8% were married couples living together, 5.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.0% were non-families. 29.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.98.
The median income for a household in the city was $100,750, and the median income for a family was $122,686. Males had a median income of $84,256 versus $54,142 for females. The per capita income for the city was $61,136. About 2.0% of families and 3.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.3% of those under age 18 and 4.9% of those age 65 or over.