Midtown Santa Monica is bounded by Olympic Blvd to the south, 14th Street to the west, Wilshire Blvd to the north, and Centinela Avenue to the east. Centinela Avenue represents the eastern boundary of the city of Santa Monica, separating Midtown from the Sawtelle neighborhood of West L.A.

The neighborhood is primarily multi-family residential, with commercial uses and office parks concentrated along Colorado Avenue and Olympic Blvd. The majority of low rise condominium and apartment complexes were built between 1950 and 1980. Some small single family bungalows remain and generally predate the mid-century multi-family construction. As in other areas of Santa Monica with aging housing stock, many units have been entirely or partially remodeled. A very small handful of single family homes recently rebuilt from the ground up exceed the maximum size and price ranges given in the statistics below.  

Midtown is one of the most affordable areas of Santa Monica. Despite being 1-2 miles removed from the downtown, all the amenities of Third Street Promenade and the surrounding entertainment core are accessible in minutes. Additionally, the southeastern portion of the neighborhood along Olympic Blvd is slated to see significant residential development following the arrival of the Metro Expo Line in 2016.

Two volunteer organizations - the Pico Neighborhood Association and Santa Monica Mid City Neighbors - oversee community interests in portions of Midtown Santa Monica. For maps denoting the boundary lines of these organizations please refer to the city of Santa Monica's website.