Best Places94109, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 94109, 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.
94109 ranks 4,309th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 94109
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.
94109's strengths and weaknesses
Where 94109 ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 99% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 219 pleasant days a year, better than 98% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 97% of zip codes
Where 94109 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,439 a month, better than only 1% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 10% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 94109
A household needs to earn about $359,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 94109 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $124,931, 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 94109's effective rate of 0.87%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 94109
94109's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 94109.
Who works in 94109, and how
Work in 94109 centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 21%
- Work from home 31%
- Transit, walk, or bike 48%
Life in 94109
94109 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 88% of zip codes and more late-night spots per resident than 95% of zip codes. The coast is about 5 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 94109 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 94109, month by month
94109 sees roughly 219 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 74 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 43. The comfortable stretch runs March through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 52° | 43° |
| April | 68° | 57° | 49° |
| July | 74° | 63° | 56° |
| October | 76° | 63° | 51° |
Flying in and out of 94109
San Francisco Bay Oakland International sits about 12 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.5 million passengers in 2025, with 64 nonstop destinations.
94109 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 94109 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 94109 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 31% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 94109
Is 94109 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 94109 ranks 4,309th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on walkability, transit, and biking, and lowest on childcare costs and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 94109 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,360,191. The overall cost of living runs about 52% above the national average. Set against a $124,931 median income, cost of living beats 64% of zip codes.
Is 94109 safe?
94109 is safer than 2% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,050 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 94109?
July highs average about 74 degrees, and January highs near 61 with lows near 43. That works out to about 219 pleasant days a year, more than 98% of zip codes.
Is 94109 good for families?
Schools beat 54% of zip codes, crime safety beats 2%, and childcare runs $2,439 a month.
Compare 94109 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 94109. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 94109 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.
94109 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 94109: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 94109: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 94109: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 94109: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
94109 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.