Best Places94949, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 94949, 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.
94949 ranks 7,576th 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 94949
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.
94949's strengths and weaknesses
Where 94949 ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 165 pleasant days a year, better than 93% of zip codes
- Household income$131,741 median, better than 93% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 89% of zip codes
Where 94949 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,211 a month, better than only 1% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 13% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 19% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 20% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 94949
A household needs to earn about $279,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 94949 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $131,741, 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 94949's effective rate of 0.88%, 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 94949
94949 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 94949.
Who works in 94949, and how
Work in 94949 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 24%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in 94949
The coast is about 17 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 94949, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 94949, month by month
94949 sees roughly 165 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 42. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 50° | 42° |
| April | 71° | 57° | 46° |
| July | 87° | 66° | 52° |
| October | 79° | 61° | 47° |
Flying in and out of 94949
San Francisco Bay Oakland International sits about 29 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 94949
Schools across 94949 average a C+, better than 47% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Novato CharterA− · 58% proficient
- Loma Verde ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
- Hamilton Meadow ParkD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- San Jose IntermediateB− · 41% proficient
Top high schools
- Novato HighB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 94949 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
94949 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 94949 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 94949
Is 94949 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 94949 ranks 7,576th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on the weather, high incomes, and biking, 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 94949 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,057,401. The overall cost of living runs about 35% above the national average. Set against a $131,741 median income, cost of living beats 76% of zip codes.
Is 94949 safe?
94949 is safer than 31% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $412 per resident a year.
Compare 94949 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 94949. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 94949 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.
94949 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 94949: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 94949: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 94949: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 94949: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
94949 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.