Best PlacesOld Palo Alto, Palo Alto, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Old Palo Alto, 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.
Old Palo Alto, Palo Alto ranks 101st 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 Old Palo Alto, 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.
Old Palo Alto, Palo Alto's strengths and weaknesses
Where Old Palo Alto, Palo Alto ranks high
- BikingBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- School gradeA+, better than 98% of neighborhoods
- Household income$250,001 median, better than 98% of neighborhoods
- Healthcare accessBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
Where Old Palo Alto, Palo Alto ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,106 a month, better than only 4% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than only 18% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than only 20% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 20% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Old Palo Alto, Palo Alto
A household needs to earn about $504,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Old Palo Alto, Palo Alto home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $250,001, 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 Old Palo Alto, Palo Alto's effective rate of 0.54%, 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 Old Palo Alto, Palo Alto
Old Palo Alto, 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 Old Palo Alto, Palo Alto.
Who works in Old Palo Alto, Palo Alto, and how
Work in Old Palo Alto, Palo Alto 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 45%
- Work from home 40%
- Transit, walk, or bike 16%
Life in Old Palo Alto, Palo Alto
The coast is about 26 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Old Palo Alto, Palo Alto, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Old Palo Alto, Palo Alto, month by month
Old Palo Alto, Palo Alto sees roughly 244 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 Old Palo Alto, 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 Old Palo Alto, Palo Alto
Schools across Old Palo Alto, 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 Old Palo Alto, Palo Alto school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Old Palo Alto, 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 Old Palo Alto, Palo Alto against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Old Palo Alto, Palo Alto
Is Old Palo Alto, Palo Alto a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Old Palo Alto, Palo Alto ranks 101st of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on biking, an educated workforce, and good schools, 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 Old Palo Alto, Palo Alto expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $2,000,001. The overall cost of living runs about 146% above the national average. Set against a $250,001 median income, cost of living beats 82% of neighborhoods.
Is Old Palo Alto, Palo Alto safe?
Yes, Old Palo Alto, Palo Alto is safer than 69% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $370 per resident a year.
Compare Old Palo Alto, Palo Alto with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Old Palo Alto, Palo Alto. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Old Palo Alto, 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.
Old Palo Alto, Palo Alto detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Old Palo Alto, Palo Alto: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Old Palo Alto, Palo Alto: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Old Palo Alto, Palo Alto: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Old Palo Alto, Palo Alto: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Old Palo Alto, 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.