Best PlacesBerkeley Hills, Berkeley, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Berkeley Hills, Berkeley, 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.
Berkeley Hills, Berkeley ranks 603rd of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on an educated workforce by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Berkeley Hills, Berkeley
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.
Berkeley Hills, Berkeley's strengths and weaknesses
Where Berkeley Hills, Berkeley ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- Household income$215,396 median, better than 98% of neighborhoods
- Healthcare accessBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 96% of neighborhoods
- Nice weatherabout 206 pleasant days a year, better than 88% of neighborhoods
Where Berkeley Hills, Berkeley ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 3% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$2,081 a month, better than only 5% of neighborhoods
- Short commute34.7 minutes each way, better than only 7% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 15% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Berkeley Hills, Berkeley
A household needs to earn about $426,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Berkeley Hills, Berkeley home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $215,396, 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 Berkeley Hills, Berkeley's effective rate of 0.80%, 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 Berkeley Hills, Berkeley
Berkeley Hills, Berkeley runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Berkeley Hills, Berkeley.
Who works in Berkeley Hills, Berkeley, and how
Work in Berkeley Hills, Berkeley centers on professional & technical and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 38%
- Work from home 45%
- Transit, walk, or bike 16%
Life in Berkeley Hills, Berkeley
The coast is about 19 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Berkeley Hills, Berkeley, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Berkeley Hills, Berkeley, month by month
Berkeley Hills, Berkeley sees roughly 206 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 74 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 43. The comfortable stretch runs March through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 52° | 43° |
| April | 68° | 57° | 49° |
| July | 74° | 63° | 56° |
| October | 76° | 63° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Berkeley Hills, Berkeley
San Francisco Bay Oakland International sits about 12 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 Berkeley Hills, Berkeley
Schools across Berkeley Hills, Berkeley average a B+, better than 86% of neighborhoods.
Top high schools
- Albany HighA+ · 87% proficient
- Berkeley HighA+ · 84% proficient
- Miramonte HighA+ · 82% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Berkeley Hills, Berkeley school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Berkeley Hills, Berkeley 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 Berkeley Hills, Berkeley against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Berkeley Hills, Berkeley
Is Berkeley Hills, Berkeley a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Berkeley Hills, Berkeley ranks 603rd of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on an educated workforce, high incomes, and health care access, and lowest on cell coverage and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Berkeley Hills, Berkeley expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,629,974. The overall cost of living runs about 48% above the national average. Set against a $215,396 median income, cost of living beats 96% of neighborhoods.
Is Berkeley Hills, Berkeley safe?
Berkeley Hills, Berkeley is safer than 22% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $713 per resident a year.
Compare Berkeley Hills, Berkeley with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Berkeley Hills, Berkeley. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Berkeley Hills, Berkeley 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.
Berkeley Hills, Berkeley detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Berkeley Hills, Berkeley: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Berkeley Hills, Berkeley: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Berkeley Hills, Berkeley: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Berkeley Hills, Berkeley: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Berkeley Hills, Berkeley 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.