Best PlacesDowntown North San Jose, Palo Alto, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Downtown North San Jose, Palo Alto, 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.
Downtown North San Jose, Palo Alto ranks 1,330th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Downtown North San Jose, Palo Alto
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.
Downtown North San Jose, Palo Alto's strengths and weaknesses
Where Downtown North San Jose, Palo Alto ranks high
- BikingBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- School gradeA+, better than 98% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- Air qualityBetter than 96% of neighborhoods
- Nice weatherabout 243 pleasant days a year, better than 93% of neighborhoods
Where Downtown North San Jose, Palo Alto ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,106 a month, better than only 4% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 8% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
- Crime safetyBetter than only 14% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Downtown North San Jose, Palo Alto
A household needs to earn about $500,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Downtown North San Jose, Palo Alto home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $128,348, 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 Downtown North San Jose, Palo Alto'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 Downtown North San Jose, Palo Alto
Downtown North San Jose, Palo Alto runs older 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 Downtown North San Jose, Palo Alto.
Who works in Downtown North San Jose, Palo Alto, and how
Work in Downtown North San Jose, Palo Alto centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 42%
- Work from home 35%
- Transit, walk, or bike 23%
Life in Downtown North San Jose, Palo Alto
Downtown North San Jose, Palo Alto has more restaurants and bars per resident than 92% of neighborhoods and more late-night spots per resident than 88% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 26 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Downtown North San Jose, Palo Alto and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Downtown North San Jose, Palo Alto, month by month
Downtown North San Jose, Palo Alto sees roughly 243 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 75 degrees. January highs sit near 59, with lows near 45. The comfortable stretch runs February through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59° | 53° | 45° |
| April | 68° | 60° | 49° |
| July | 75° | 68° | 60° |
| October | 74° | 65° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Downtown North San Jose, Palo Alto
Norman Y Mineta San Jose International sits about 14 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 Downtown North San Jose, Palo Alto
Schools across Downtown North San Jose, Palo Alto average an A+, better than 98% of neighborhoods.
Top middle schools
- Frank S. Greene Jr. MiddleA+ · 76% proficient
Top high schools
- Palo Alto HighA+ · 85% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Downtown North San Jose, Palo Alto school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Downtown North San Jose, Palo Alto 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 Downtown North San Jose, Palo Alto against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Downtown North San Jose, Palo Alto
Is Downtown North San Jose, Palo Alto a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Downtown North San Jose, Palo Alto ranks 1,330th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on biking, good schools, and cell coverage, 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 Downtown North San Jose, Palo Alto expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,911,805. The overall cost of living runs about 135% above the national average. Set against a $128,348 median income, cost of living beats 21% of neighborhoods.
Is Downtown North San Jose, Palo Alto safe?
Downtown North San Jose, Palo Alto is safer than 14% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $870 per resident a year.
Compare Downtown North San Jose, Palo Alto with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Downtown North San Jose, Palo Alto. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Downtown North San Jose, Palo Alto 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.
Downtown North San Jose, Palo Alto detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Downtown North San Jose, Palo Alto: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Downtown North San Jose, Palo Alto: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Downtown North San Jose, Palo Alto: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Downtown North San Jose, Palo Alto: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Downtown North San Jose, Palo Alto 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.