Best PlacesCow Hollow, San Francisco, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cow Hollow, San Francisco, 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.
Cow Hollow, San Francisco ranks 406th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on population health by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Cow Hollow, San Francisco
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.
Cow Hollow, San Francisco's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cow Hollow, San Francisco ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- Household income$223,793 median, better than 98% of neighborhoods
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than 96% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than 96% of neighborhoods
Where Cow Hollow, San Francisco ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,439 a month, better than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Crime safetyBetter than only 5% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
- Short commute31.2 minutes each way, better than only 14% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 16% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Cow Hollow, San Francisco
A household needs to earn about $506,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cow Hollow, San Francisco home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $223,793, 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 Cow Hollow, San Francisco's effective rate of 0.81%, 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 Cow Hollow, San Francisco
Cow Hollow, San Francisco runs younger than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Cow Hollow, San Francisco.
Who works in Cow Hollow, San Francisco, and how
Work in Cow Hollow, San Francisco centers on professional & technical and finance & insurance. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 27%
- Work from home 44%
- Transit, walk, or bike 29%
Life in Cow Hollow, San Francisco
Cow Hollow, San Francisco has more restaurants and bars per resident than 85% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 5 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Cow Hollow, San Francisco and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Cow Hollow, San Francisco, month by month
Cow Hollow, San Francisco sees roughly 222 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 Cow Hollow, San Francisco
San Francisco International sits about 13 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 26.5 million passengers in 2025, with 193 nonstop destinations.
Cow Hollow, San Francisco 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 Cow Hollow, San Francisco against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Cow Hollow, San Francisco
Is Cow Hollow, San Francisco a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cow Hollow, San Francisco ranks 406th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on population health, high incomes, and walkability, and lowest on childcare costs and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cow Hollow, San Francisco expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,933,504. The overall cost of living runs about 81% above the national average. Set against a $223,793 median income, cost of living beats 93% of neighborhoods.
Is Cow Hollow, San Francisco safe?
Cow Hollow, San Francisco is safer than 5% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,119 per resident a year.
Compare Cow Hollow, San Francisco with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cow Hollow, San Francisco. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cow Hollow, San Francisco 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.
Cow Hollow, San Francisco detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cow Hollow, San Francisco: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cow Hollow, San Francisco: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cow Hollow, San Francisco: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cow Hollow, San Francisco: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cow Hollow, San Francisco 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.