Best PlacesPalo Alto, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Palo Alto, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Distance to the water drives a lot of the difference between one part and the next. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Palo Alto ranks 56th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 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.
The best areas in Palo Alto
The parts of Palo Alto, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
Midtown-San Jose & Fairmeadow
College Terrace
Duveneck-Saint Francis & Community Center
Charleston Meadow, Ventura & Greenmeadow
University South, Downtown North San Jose & Crescent Park
Barron Park
Old Palo Alto & Evergreen Park
Scores across Palo Alto run from about the 57th to the 100th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Palo Alto's strengths and weaknesses
Where Palo Alto ranks high
- BikingBetter than 99% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of cities
- Household income$209,938 median, better than 99% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of cities
- School gradeA+, better than 98% of cities
Where Palo Alto ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,106 a month, better than only 2% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 11% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 13% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than only 17% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Palo Alto
A household needs to earn about $491,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Palo Alto home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $209,938, 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 Palo Alto's effective rate of 0.62%, 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 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 Palo Alto.
Who works in Palo Alto, and how
Work in Palo Alto centers on professional & technical and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 48%
- Work from home 35%
- Transit, walk, or bike 16%
Life in Palo Alto
Palo Alto has more restaurants and bars per resident than 86% of cities and more parkland per resident than 80% of cities. The coast is about 27 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Palo Alto and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Palo Alto, month by month
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 Palo Alto
Norman Y Mineta San Jose International sits about 12 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 Palo Alto
Schools across Palo Alto average an A+, better than 98% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Herbert Hoover ElementaryA+ · 88% proficient
- Ohlone ElementaryA+ · 81% proficient
- Lucille M. Nixon ElementaryA+ · 80% proficient
Top middle schools
- Jane Lathrop Stanford MiddleA+ · 83% proficient
- Ellen Fletcher MiddleA+ · 83% proficient
- Frank S. Greene Jr. MiddleA+ · 76% proficient
Top high schools
- Henry M. Gunn HighA+ · 89% proficient
- Palo Alto HighA+ · 85% proficient
- Los Altos HighA · 79% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Palo Alto school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
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 Palo Alto against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Palo Alto suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 35% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 95% of cities and health care access beats 82%.
Common questions about living in Palo Alto
Is Palo Alto a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Palo Alto ranks 56th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on biking, population health, 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 Palo Alto expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,927,314. The overall cost of living runs about 106% above the national average. Set against a $209,938 median income, cost of living beats 66% of cities.
Is Palo Alto safe?
Palo Alto is safer than 19% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $505 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Palo Alto?
July highs average about 75 degrees, and January highs near 59 with lows near 45. That works out to about 244 pleasant days a year, more than 95% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Palo Alto?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Midtown-San Jose & Fairmeadow, College Terrace, and Duveneck-Saint Francis & Community Center. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Palo Alto with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Palo Alto. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 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.
Palo Alto detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Palo Alto: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Palo Alto: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Palo Alto: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Palo Alto: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
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.