Best Places94549, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 94549, 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.
94549 ranks 949th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on an educated workforce by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 94549
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.
94549's strengths and weaknesses
Where 94549 ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Household income$214,684 median, better than 99% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 95% of zip codes
- School gradeA, better than 95% of zip codes
Where 94549 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,942 a month, better than only 1% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 17% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 20% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 94549
A household needs to earn about $457,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 94549 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $214,684, 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 94549's effective rate of 0.67%, 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 94549
94549 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 94549.
Who works in 94549, and how
Work in 94549 centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 46%
- Work from home 40%
- Transit, walk, or bike 14%
Life in 94549
94549 has more parkland per resident than 68% of zip codes. The coast is about 25 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of 94549 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 94549, month by month
94549 sees roughly 174 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 94549
San Francisco Bay Oakland International sits about 14 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 94549
Schools across 94549 average an A, better than 95% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Lafayette ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Burton Valley ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Happy Valley ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
Top middle schools
- M. H. Stanley MiddleA+ · 71% proficient
- Pleasant Hill MiddleB+ · 48% proficient
- Valley View MiddleB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Campolindo HighA+ · 84% proficient
- Acalanes HighA · 78% proficient
- Las Lomas HighA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 94549 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
94549 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 94549 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 94549 suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 97% of zip codes, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 40% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 94% of zip codes and health care access beats 94%.
Common questions about living in 94549
Is 94549 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 94549 ranks 949th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on an educated workforce, high incomes, and what local pay buys, and lowest on childcare costs and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 94549 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,782,520. The overall cost of living runs about 50% above the national average. Set against a $214,684 median income, cost of living beats 97% of zip codes.
Is 94549 safe?
94549 is safer than 34% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $424 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 94549?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 61 with lows near 41. That works out to about 174 pleasant days a year, more than 94% of zip codes.
Is 94549 good for families?
Schools beat 95% of zip codes, crime safety beats 34%, and childcare runs $1,942 a month.
Compare 94549 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 94549. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 94549 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.
94549 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 94549: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 94549: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 94549: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 94549: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
94549 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.