Across Los Angeles County, 89% of routine restaurant inspections from October 2025 through September 2026 ended in an A, but the share of B and C grades ranged from about 2% in Marina del Rey and Northridge to 40% in Monterey Park. That spread comes from our own count of 19,611 routine inspections at 16,438 restaurant locations in LA County Open Data, Environmental Health Restaurant and Market Inspections (file covering October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2026, downloaded October 24, 2026), using the county’s posted grade bands: A 90–100, B 80–89, C 70–79 and a numeric score card below 70.
The county-wide B and C share also more than doubled in two years, from 4.6% to 10.5%. Below: city and ZIP code results, how restaurant type changes the odds, and how to read one restaurant’s card against its neighbors. To look up a specific restaurant, use our LA County restaurant inspection search guide.
B and C grades by city, October 2025 to September 2026
The table lists every place name in the file with at least 120 routine restaurant inspections in the year, sorted by the share of B and C grades. The file records the mailing city, so “Los Angeles” covers many city neighborhoods, and places such as Venice, Van Nuys and North Hollywood appear under their own names.
| City in file | Routine inspections | B or C | Average score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monterey Park | 121 | 40.5% | 87.2 |
| Huntington Park | 146 | 33.6% | 87.3 |
| South Gate | 154 | 26.6% | 89.6 |
| Rosemead | 133 | 25.6% | 90.9 |
| San Gabriel | 227 | 22.9% | 90.2 |
| Alhambra | 212 | 22.6% | 90.3 |
| Rowland Heights | 127 | 22.0% | 90.4 |
| Downey | 132 | 19.7% | 90.7 |
| El Monte | 182 | 18.7% | 92.3 |
| Gardena | 172 | 16.3% | 91.8 |
| Pomona | 193 | 16.1% | 91.5 |
| Santa Clarita | 211 | 15.2% | 91.7 |
| Torrance | 270 | 14.8% | 91.6 |
| Santa Monica | 498 | 11.6% | 92.7 |
| West Covina | 305 | 11.1% | 92.7 |
| West Hollywood | 265 | 9.8% | 93.1 |
| Los Angeles | 6,254 | 9.4% | 93.4 |
| Culver City | 372 | 7.8% | 93.7 |
| Burbank | 375 | 6.7% | 94.8 |
| Arcadia | 238 | 6.3% | 94.8 |
| Glendale | 622 | 5.8% | 93.1 |
| Inglewood | 572 | 4.5% | 96.0 |
| Palmdale | 198 | 4.0% | 94.2 |
| North Hollywood | 325 | 3.7% | 94.4 |
| Venice | 195 | 3.1% | 95.3 |
| Northridge | 205 | 2.9% | 95.6 |
| Marina del Rey | 174 | 2.3% | 95.3 |
With 120 to 230 inspections, a city’s share can swing several points from one year to the next, so treat the gap between neighbors in the table as a range. The pattern holds across years: Monterey Park, San Gabriel and Alhambra were above the county-wide share in all three years in the file, and Inglewood, Glendale and Marina del Rey stayed below it.
ZIP codes with the most and fewest B and C grades
Among the 29 ZIP codes with at least 150 routine restaurant inspections in the year:
- Highest B and C share: 90280 South Gate 28.0%, 91776 San Gabriel 23.9%, 91801 Alhambra 23.3%, 91748 Rowland Heights 20.0%, 91706 Baldwin Park 13.6%, 90020 Los Angeles 13.4%.
- Lowest: 90291 Venice 2.6%, 90292 Marina del Rey 2.7%, 90045 Los Angeles 3.0%, 90037 Los Angeles 3.5%, 90015 Los Angeles 4.7%, 90301 Inglewood 4.8%.
- Busiest: 90012 Los Angeles had 410 routine restaurant inspections and an 11.5% B and C share.
How the B and C share changed from 2023 to 2026
| Area | Oct 2023–Sep 2024 | Oct 2024–Sep 2025 | Oct 2025–Sep 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| All of the county’s area | 4.6% | 6.6% | 10.5% |
| Monterey Park | 23.2% | 22.9% | 40.5% |
| Huntington Park | 12.0% | 14.5% | 33.6% |
| Alhambra | 7.3% | 12.1% | 22.6% |
| Los Angeles | 3.7% | 5.5% | 9.4% |
| Glendale | 3.0% | 2.4% | 5.8% |
| Inglewood | 2.5% | 2.1% | 4.5% |
Routine restaurant inspections recorded in the file also fell over the same period, from 30,841 to 23,887 to 19,611, and the average score slipped from 94.4 to 93.1. The dataset gives no reason for either change. For a reader, the practical point is that a B in 2026 is less rare than it was in 2024.
High-risk restaurants get more B and C grades
The county files each restaurant permit under a seat count and a risk level. In the year:
- High risk: 12,024 inspections, 13.4% B or C, average 92.0.
- Moderate risk: 5,956 inspections, 6.3% B or C, average 94.4.
- Low risk: 1,631 inspections, 3.6% B or C, average 95.9.
Within the high-risk group, restaurants with 61 to 150 seats had the highest share at 15.2%, and those with up to 30 seats the lowest at 12.1%. Cities have different mixes of restaurant types, so compare a restaurant with others of the same risk level where you can. Our most common health code violations analysis covers which findings cost the most points.
Scores bunch just above the grade lines
In the year, 2,334 routine inspections scored exactly 90 and only 19 scored 89. At the B and C line, 330 scored exactly 80 and 20 scored 79. A 90 and a 98 both earn an A card, so the number printed on the card tells you more than the letter. Our guide to what counts as a good inspection score compares LA with Austin and New York.
How current the A in the window is
The file lists 29,283 active restaurant permits. On each one’s most recent inspection, 95.2% showed an A, 4.0% a B and 0.7% a C. For 40.7% of those permits, the most recent inspection in the file was more than a year before September 30, 2026, and for 20.3% it was more than 18 months before. Check the date on the card along with the letter.
Restaurant Inspection Check tool · rules checked October 21–23, 2026
Inspection score reader
Pick the program that inspected the restaurant, then enter what the report or door sign shows. The reader explains it on that agency's own scale and tells you what usually happens next.
How to use these numbers for one restaurant
- Find the restaurant’s latest report through the county’s official search, using our LA County inspection search guide.
- Note the score and the inspection date, not only the letter.
- Compare the score with the city or ZIP code figures above and with restaurants of the same risk level.
- For a B or C, check whether a later owner-initiated inspection appears. In the county data, about half of B and C cards were followed by one within weeks, and most of those ended in an A.
- For closures and citations, use the separate records described in our LA County closure and citation guide.
What this count covers
The figures include routine inspections of restaurant permits only; markets and owner-initiated inspections are left out. The county health department’s area excludes Pasadena, Long Beach and Vernon, which run their own health departments; see our Long Beach inspection reports guide for that city. Similar counts for Chicago by ZIP code and King County by city use the same method.
LA County Environmental Health data and grading pages checked October 24, 2026.