Best Places95046, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 95046, 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.
95046 ranks 9,624th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on high incomes by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 95046
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.
95046's strengths and weaknesses
Where 95046 ranks high
- Household income$162,315 median, better than 97% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 168 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 89% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 87% of zip codes
Where 95046 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,106 a month, better than only 1% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 14% of zip codes
- Short commute33.3 minutes each way, better than only 15% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 95046
A household needs to earn about $383,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 95046 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $162,315, 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 95046's effective rate of 0.57%, 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 95046
95046 runs older than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 95046.
Who works in 95046, and how
Work in 95046 centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 64%
- Work from home 24%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in 95046
The coast is about 36 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 95046, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 95046, month by month
95046 sees roughly 168 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 41. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 49° | 41° |
| April | 72° | 57° | 46° |
| July | 87° | 68° | 56° |
| October | 80° | 63° | 49° |
Flying in and out of 95046
Norman Y Mineta San Jose International sits about 26 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 95046
Schools across 95046 average a B, better than 71% of zip codes.
Top high schools
- Ann Sobrato HighA+ · 90% proficient
- Live Oak HighA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 95046 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
95046 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 95046 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 95046
Is 95046 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 95046 ranks 9,624th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on high incomes, the weather, and clean air, 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 95046 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,512,134. The overall cost of living runs about 68% above the national average. Set against a $162,315 median income, cost of living beats 69% of zip codes.
Is 95046 safe?
95046 is safer than 39% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $383 per resident a year.
Compare 95046 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 95046. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 95046 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.
95046 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 95046: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 95046: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 95046: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 95046: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
95046 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.