Best Places94521, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 94521, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
94521 ranks 6,317th 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 94521
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.
94521's strengths and weaknesses
Where 94521 ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 176 pleasant days a year, better than 95% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Household income$135,508 median, better than 94% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than 93% of zip codes
Where 94521 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,942 a month, better than only 1% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- Short commute34.0 minutes each way, better than only 13% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 20% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 94521
A household needs to earn about $214,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 94521 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $135,508, 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 94521's effective rate of 0.73%, 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 94521
94521 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 94521.
Who works in 94521, and how
Work in 94521 centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 68%
- Work from home 23%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in 94521
94521 has more parkland per resident than 77% of zip codes. The coast is about 33 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of 94521 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 94521, month by month
94521 sees roughly 176 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 41. The comfortable stretch runs March through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 51° | 41° |
| April | 75° | 60° | 48° |
| July | 92° | 72° | 58° |
| October | 82° | 65° | 52° |
Flying in and out of 94521
San Francisco Bay Oakland International sits about 21 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.5 million passengers in 2025, with 64 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around 94521
Schools across 94521 average a C, better than 36% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Mt. Diablo ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- Highlands ElementaryB+ · 51% proficient
- Silverwood ElementaryC+ · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Foothill MiddleA · 63% proficient
- Diablo View MiddleB+ · 47% proficient
- Pine Hollow MiddleC · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- Clayton Valley Charter HighA+ · 80% proficient
- Northgate HighA · 70% proficient
- Concord HighC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 94521 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
94521 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 94521 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 94521 suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 81% of zip codes, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 23% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 95% of zip codes and health care access beats 59%.
Common questions about living in 94521
Is 94521 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 94521 ranks 6,317th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on the weather, clean air, and high incomes, 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 94521 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $828,214. The overall cost of living runs about 27% above the national average. Set against a $135,508 median income, cost of living beats 81% of zip codes.
Is 94521 safe?
94521 is safer than 26% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $457 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 94521?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 61 with lows near 41. That works out to about 176 pleasant days a year, more than 95% of zip codes.
Is 94521 good for families?
Schools beat 36% of zip codes, crime safety beats 26%, and childcare runs $1,942 a month.
Compare 94521 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 94521. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 94521 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.
94521 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 94521: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 94521: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 94521: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 94521: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
94521 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.