Best PlacesDuveneck-Saint Francis, Palo Alto, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Duveneck-Saint Francis, Palo Alto, 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.
Duveneck-Saint Francis, Palo Alto ranks 79th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on an educated workforce by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Duveneck-Saint Francis, 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.
Duveneck-Saint Francis, Palo Alto's strengths and weaknesses
Where Duveneck-Saint Francis, Palo Alto ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- School gradeA+, better than 98% of neighborhoods
- Household income$234,392 median, better than 98% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- Air qualityBetter than 94% of neighborhoods
Where Duveneck-Saint Francis, Palo Alto ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,106 a month, better than only 4% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than only 13% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 20% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than only 22% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Duveneck-Saint Francis, Palo Alto
A household needs to earn about $501,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Duveneck-Saint Francis, Palo Alto home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $234,392, 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 Duveneck-Saint Francis, Palo Alto's effective rate of 0.50%, 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 Duveneck-Saint Francis, Palo Alto
Duveneck-Saint Francis, Palo Alto runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Duveneck-Saint Francis, Palo Alto.
Who works in Duveneck-Saint Francis, Palo Alto, and how
Work in Duveneck-Saint Francis, Palo Alto centers on professional & technical and manufacturing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 59%
- Work from home 32%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Duveneck-Saint Francis, Palo Alto
The coast is about 26 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Duveneck-Saint Francis, Palo Alto, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Duveneck-Saint Francis, Palo Alto, month by month
Duveneck-Saint Francis, Palo Alto sees roughly 245 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 Duveneck-Saint Francis, Palo Alto
Norman Y Mineta San Jose International sits about 13 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 Duveneck-Saint Francis, Palo Alto
Schools across Duveneck-Saint Francis, Palo Alto average an A+, better than 98% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Duveneck ElementaryA+ · 78% proficient
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 Duveneck-Saint Francis, Palo Alto school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Duveneck-Saint Francis, 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 Duveneck-Saint Francis, Palo Alto against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Duveneck-Saint Francis, Palo Alto
Is Duveneck-Saint Francis, Palo Alto a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Duveneck-Saint Francis, Palo Alto ranks 79th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on an educated workforce, good schools, and high incomes, and lowest on childcare costs and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Duveneck-Saint Francis, Palo Alto expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $2,000,001. The overall cost of living runs about 81% above the national average. Set against a $234,392 median income, cost of living beats 92% of neighborhoods.
Is Duveneck-Saint Francis, Palo Alto safe?
Yes, Duveneck-Saint Francis, Palo Alto is safer than 62% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $414 per resident a year.
Compare Duveneck-Saint Francis, Palo Alto with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Duveneck-Saint Francis, Palo Alto. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Duveneck-Saint Francis, 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.
Duveneck-Saint Francis, Palo Alto detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Duveneck-Saint Francis, Palo Alto: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Duveneck-Saint Francis, Palo Alto: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Duveneck-Saint Francis, Palo Alto: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Duveneck-Saint Francis, Palo Alto: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Duveneck-Saint Francis, 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.