Best Places94301, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 94301, 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.
94301 ranks 393rd of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 94301
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.
94301's strengths and weaknesses
Where 94301 ranks high
- BikingBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Household income$211,144 median, better than 99% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 244 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 98% of zip codes
Where 94301 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,106 a month, better than only 1% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 11% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 11% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 18% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 94301
A household needs to earn about $507,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 94301 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $211,144, 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 94301's effective rate of 0.64%, 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 94301
94301 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 94301.
Who works in 94301, and how
Work in 94301 centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 41%
- Work from home 43%
- Transit, walk, or bike 16%
Life in 94301
94301 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 91% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 67% of zip codes. The coast is about 26 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 94301 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 94301, month by month
94301 sees roughly 244 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 75 degrees. January highs sit near 59, with lows near 45. The comfortable stretch runs February through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59° | 53° | 45° |
| April | 68° | 60° | 49° |
| July | 75° | 68° | 60° |
| October | 74° | 65° | 53° |
Flying in and out of 94301
Norman Y Mineta San Jose International sits about 14 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 5.3 million passengers in 2025, with 67 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around 94301
Schools across 94301 average an A+, better than 97% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Addison ElementaryA+ · 73% proficient
- Walter Hays ElementaryA · 70% proficient
Top middle schools
- Jane Lathrop Stanford MiddleA+ · 83% proficient
- Ellen Fletcher MiddleA+ · 83% proficient
- Frank S. Greene Jr. MiddleA+ · 76% proficient
Top high schools
- Henry M. Gunn HighA+ · 89% proficient
- Palo Alto HighA+ · 85% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 94301 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
94301 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 94301 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 94301
Is 94301 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 94301 ranks 393rd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on biking, high incomes, and the weather, 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 94301 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,982,069. The overall cost of living runs about 142% above the national average. Set against a $211,144 median income, cost of living beats 68% of zip codes.
Is 94301 safe?
94301 is safer than 21% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $608 per resident a year.
Compare 94301 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 94301. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 94301 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.
94301 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 94301: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 94301: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 94301: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 94301: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
94301 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.