Best Places94038, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 94038, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
94038 ranks 4,408th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 94038
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
94038's strengths and weaknesses
Where 94038 ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 185 pleasant days a year, better than 96% of zip codes
- Household income$148,507 median, better than 96% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 94% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 90% of zip codes
Where 94038 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,233 a month, better than only 1% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 16% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 20% of zip codes
- Short commute31.5 minutes each way, better than only 22% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 94038
A household needs to earn about $358,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 94038 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $148,507, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 94038's effective rate of 0.55%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in 94038
94038 runs older than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 94038.
Who works in 94038, and how
Work in 94038 centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 61%
- Work from home 33%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in 94038
The coast is about 0 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 94038, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 94038, month by month
94038 sees roughly 185 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 62 degrees. January highs sit near 59, with lows near 45. The comfortable stretch runs June through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59° | 52° | 45° |
| April | 59° | 53° | 47° |
| July | 62° | 57° | 54° |
| October | 67° | 57° | 49° |
Flying in and out of 94038
San Francisco International sits about 10 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 26.5 million passengers in 2025, with 193 nonstop destinations.
94038 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 94038 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 94038
Is 94038 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 94038 ranks 4,408th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on the weather, high incomes, and big-city access, and lowest on childcare costs and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 94038 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,418,267. The overall cost of living runs about 58% above the national average. Set against a $148,507 median income, cost of living beats 66% of zip codes.
Is 94038 safe?
94038 is safer than 26% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $449 per resident a year.
Compare 94038 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 94038. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 94038 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
94038 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 94038: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 94038: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 94038: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 94038: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
94038 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.