Best PlacesCupertino, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cupertino, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Cupertino ranks 26th of 2,098 U.S. cities 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 Cupertino
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.
The best areas in Cupertino
The parts of Cupertino, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
Calabazas North
Rancho Rinconada & West San Jose
Sunnyvale West
Scores across Cupertino run from about the 88th to the 100th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Cupertino's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cupertino ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of cities
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of cities
- Household income$220,872 median, better than 99% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of cities
- BikingBetter than 97% of cities
Where Cupertino ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,106 a month, better than only 2% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 14% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 21% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than only 24% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Cupertino
A household needs to earn about $493,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cupertino home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $220,872, 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 Cupertino's effective rate of 0.60%, 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 Cupertino
Cupertino's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Cupertino.
Who works in Cupertino, and how
Work in Cupertino centers on professional & technical and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 62%
- Work from home 32%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Cupertino
Cupertino has more restaurants and bars per resident than 80% of cities and more parkland per resident than 83% of cities. The coast is about 30 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Cupertino and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Cupertino, month by month
Cupertino sees roughly 225 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 76 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 44. The comfortable stretch runs March through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 51° | 44° |
| April | 70° | 58° | 49° |
| July | 76° | 66° | 59° |
| October | 74° | 63° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Cupertino
Norman Y Mineta San Jose International sits about 7 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 Cupertino
Schools across Cupertino average an A+, better than 99% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- William Faria ElementaryA+ · 93% proficient
- Murdock-portal ElementaryA+ · 86% proficient
- Stevens Creek ElementaryA+ · 85% proficient
Top middle schools
- Joaquin Miller MiddleA+ · 88% proficient
- John F. Kennedy MiddleA+ · 83% proficient
- Redwood MiddleA+ · 83% proficient
Top high schools
- Lynbrook HighA+ · 98% proficient
- Cupertino HighA+ · 98% proficient
- Monta Vista HighA+ · 95% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cupertino school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cupertino 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 Cupertino against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Cupertino suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 71% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 32% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 93% of cities and health care access beats 74%.
Common questions about living in Cupertino
Is Cupertino a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cupertino ranks 26th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on population health, good schools, and high incomes, 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 Cupertino expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,937,719. The overall cost of living runs about 101% above the national average. Set against a $220,872 median income, cost of living beats 71% of cities.
Is Cupertino safe?
Yes, Cupertino is safer than 73% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $261 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Cupertino?
July highs average about 76 degrees, and January highs near 60 with lows near 44. That works out to about 225 pleasant days a year, more than 93% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Cupertino?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Calabazas North, Rancho Rinconada & West San Jose, and Sunnyvale West. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Cupertino with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cupertino. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cupertino 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.
Cupertino detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cupertino: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cupertino: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cupertino: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cupertino: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cupertino 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.