Best PlacesKensington-San Francisco, Berkeley, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kensington-San Francisco, 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.
Kensington-San Francisco, Berkeley ranks 566th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Kensington-San Francisco, 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.
Kensington-San Francisco, Berkeley's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kensington-San Francisco, Berkeley ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- Household income$216,272 median, better than 98% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 96% of neighborhoods
Where Kensington-San Francisco, Berkeley ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$1,952 a month, better than only 8% of neighborhoods
- Short commute32.9 minutes each way, better than only 10% of neighborhoods
- Local economyBetter than only 13% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 15% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Kensington-San Francisco, Berkeley
A household needs to earn about $389,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kensington-San Francisco, Berkeley home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $216,272, 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 Kensington-San Francisco, Berkeley's effective rate of 0.77%, 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 Kensington-San Francisco, Berkeley
Kensington-San Francisco, Berkeley 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 Kensington-San Francisco, Berkeley.
Who works in Kensington-San Francisco, Berkeley, and how
Work in Kensington-San Francisco, Berkeley centers on professional & technical and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 38%
- Work from home 48%
- Transit, walk, or bike 15%
Life in Kensington-San Francisco, Berkeley
Kensington-San Francisco, Berkeley has more parkland per resident than 90% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 20 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Kensington-San Francisco, Berkeley and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Kensington-San Francisco, Berkeley, month by month
Kensington-San Francisco, Berkeley sees roughly 199 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 Kensington-San Francisco, Berkeley
San Francisco Bay Oakland International sits about 13 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 Kensington-San Francisco, Berkeley
Schools across Kensington-San Francisco, Berkeley average a B+, better than 84% of neighborhoods.
Top high schools
- Berkeley HighA+ · 84% proficient
- Miramonte HighA+ · 82% proficient
- Middle College HighA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kensington-San Francisco, Berkeley school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kensington-San Francisco, 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 Kensington-San Francisco, Berkeley against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Kensington-San Francisco, Berkeley
Is Kensington-San Francisco, Berkeley a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kensington-San Francisco, Berkeley ranks 566th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on health care access, an educated workforce, and high incomes, 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 Kensington-San Francisco, Berkeley expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,493,491. The overall cost of living runs about 46% above the national average. Set against a $216,272 median income, cost of living beats 96% of neighborhoods.
Is Kensington-San Francisco, Berkeley safe?
Kensington-San Francisco, Berkeley is safer than 23% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $702 per resident a year.
Compare Kensington-San Francisco, Berkeley with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kensington-San Francisco, Berkeley. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kensington-San Francisco, 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.
Kensington-San Francisco, Berkeley detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kensington-San Francisco, Berkeley: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kensington-San Francisco, Berkeley: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kensington-San Francisco, Berkeley: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kensington-San Francisco, Berkeley: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kensington-San Francisco, 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.