Tarzana

The short version

Median price

$1.17M–$1.23M

ZIP codes

91356

Region

Southern San Fernando Valley

County

Los Angeles County

Schools covered

5 rated

Read this one carefully — the public sources disagree, and the gap is about what each is measuring. Zillow puts the Tarzana typical home value at roughly $1.17M, essentially flat year over year. Redfin's median SALE price across all property types ran about $1.23M in spring 2026. Movoto's median LIST price in August 2026 was far higher at about $1.73M. List is not sale, and an all-property-types median folds $400K condos on the boulevard in with $7M hillside estates, so a single headline number hides more than it tells. Price by tier and by pocket, not by the neighborhood median.

About Tarzana

Tarzana sits between Encino and Woodland Hills in the southern San Fernando Valley, and it is named — genuinely — for Tarzan: Edgar Rice Burroughs bought a ranch here in 1919 and the neighborhood took the name of his character. What makes Tarzana unusual is how much range fits inside one ZIP code. ZIP 91356 covers the Ventura Boulevard commercial spine, extends north into flat family neighborhoods toward Victory Boulevard, and climbs south into the Santa Monica Mountains, where custom hillside estates look back across the Valley. Four gated communities — Mulholland Park, Silver Hawk Ridge, Monte Verde Estates, and Braemar Country Club Estates — anchor the luxury end, while Melody Acres north of the boulevard keeps acre-plus equestrian ranch properties that are close to impossible to find elsewhere in the Valley. Roughly 28,500 people live here, many of them for decades; the source guide describes 40-to-50-year owner tenures as common, which is the practical reason good inventory turns over slowly.

Where Locals Actually Eat

Hidden gems and city-specific favorites — no chains.

• Sushi Iki — the omakase anchor at 18663 Ventura Blvd; founder Eddie retired after 23 years and chef Ryota Okumura now runs the counter. Dinner Friday through Sunday only — reserve.
• Hummus Bar & Grill — Israeli grill and mezze at 18743 Ventura Blvd in Tarzana Village; big patio, easy parking, open from 9am daily.
• Fabrocini's Italian Kitchen — family-run old-school Italian at 18608 Ventura Blvd — the neighborhood lasagna-and-pizza standby, not a special-occasion room.
• Bea's Bakery & Mort's Deli — the pair at 18450 and 18452 Clark St in Tarzana Square — Bea's has been a Valley Jewish bakery since 1968 and is one of the last full-service ones left in LA; Mort's is the old-school deli next door, and it runs on Bea's bagels. Bea's opens at 6:30am, Mort's at 8am.
• VIP's Cafe — the breakfast-and-brunch counter at 18345 Ventura Blvd; 8am to 3pm, seven days, and busy on weekends.
• Orchid Grill & Kabob — Persian kabobs, stews and rice at 19649 Ventura Blvd; family owned and operated since 1995.
• Apey Kade — Sri Lankan at 19662 Ventura Blvd, run by a husband-and-wife team and one of very few of its kind in LA. Closed Mondays.

Just Opened

New to Tarzana — restaurants, businesses, and entertainment that weren't here last year.

• Flavez Burger — independent made-to-order burger counter at 6120 Reseda Blvd, opened in spring 2026; rotating "flavor drops" bring new items in monthly.
• POM Grill — Persian and Mediterranean kabobs at 19535 Ventura Blvd — a recent arrival on the boulevard, now open for dine-in and delivery.

Openings verified as of September 2026.

Top-Rated Schools

• Tarzana Elementary School — K-5 LAUSD at 5726 Topeka Dr; small, at roughly 244 students and about a 17:1 student-teacher ratio.
• Gaspar de Portola Charter Middle — 6-8 at 18720 Linnet St — now a charter middle school, with a gifted and talented magnet program.
• Reseda Charter High School — a 6-12 span school at 18230 Kittridge St bordering northern Tarzana; became a charter in 2018.
• Taft Charter High School — 9-12 at Ventura Blvd and Winnetka Ave in Woodland Hills, serving western and southern Tarzana; affiliated charter since 2013-14.
• Academy for Enriched Sciences — LAUSD elementary science magnet — worth knowing it sits at 17551 Miranda St in Encino and is application-based, not an address assignment.

Fun Places & Local Character

• Braemar Country Club — private 27-hole club at 4001 Reseda Blvd, in the middle of the neighborhood; some Braemar Country Club Estates homes back directly onto the fairways.
• Topanga State Park — the Santa Monica Mountains hiking access south of the boulevard. Most of the park reopened by June 2026 after the January 2025 Palisades Fire, though Rogers Road, Bent Arrow, Rustic Canyon and Temescal Canyon trails and the Lower Topanga day-use area remain closed.
• Tarzana Recreation Center — the city rec center at 5655 Vanalden Ave — fields, playgrounds, pickleball, and LAUSD-aligned day camps for ages 5-13.
• Melody Acres — the equestrian pocket north of Ventura Boulevard; acre-plus lots, horses permitted, and a genuinely rural feel minutes from the 101.
• The Ventura Boulevard corridor — the walkable spine through Tarzana Village Walk and Tarzana Square — restaurants, boutiques and professional services, signposted as the Tarzana Safari Walk.

What's Coming & What to Watch

The Braemar Country Club course rebuild — the club is partway through a multimillion-dollar renovation of its 27 holes, originally designed by Ted Robinson Sr. The US Open course is complete, the Western course is in progress, and the Masters course follows. Worth asking about if you are buying on or near the fairways.

19333 Ventura Boulevard — the LA City Planning Commission approved entitlements in March 2026 for a six-story, 46-unit mixed-use building with about 2,500 square feet of ground-floor retail, on the strip between Ventura Boulevard and the 101. Six units are reserved at the very-low-income level under a density bonus. No construction timeline has been confirmed.

Measure ULA applies here — unlike Calabasas, Beverly Hills or Santa Monica, Tarzana is inside the City of Los Angeles, so the ULA transfer tax is in play. Thresholds rose with inflation on July 1, 2026 to 4% above $5.4M and 5.5% at or above $10.9M. That only reaches the top of the hillside estate market, but it does reach it.

Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana — the hospital's five-story, 200,000 sq ft Friese Family Tower opened back in October 2023, adding 150 private rooms and doubling emergency department capacity. The wider "Tarzana Reimagined" campus program is still underway, and the medical centre remains a real employment and demand anchor for central Tarzana.