Best PlacesPleasanton, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Pleasanton, 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.
Pleasanton ranks 230th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on high incomes by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Pleasanton
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.
Pleasanton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Pleasanton ranks high
- Household income$193,915 median, better than 99% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than 98% of cities
- BikingBetter than 96% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than 96% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 90% of cities
Where Pleasanton ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,082 a month, better than only 2% of cities
- Short commute34.3 minutes each way, better than only 8% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 9% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 19% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Pleasanton
A household needs to earn about $391,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Pleasanton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $193,915, 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 Pleasanton's effective rate of 0.68%, 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 Pleasanton
Pleasanton runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Pleasanton.
Who works in Pleasanton, and how
Work in Pleasanton centers on professional & technical and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 60%
- Work from home 29%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Pleasanton
Pleasanton has more restaurants and bars per resident than 84% of cities and more parkland per resident than 88% of cities. The coast is about 39 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Pleasanton and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Pleasanton, month by month
Pleasanton sees roughly 168 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 49° | 38° |
| April | 73° | 57° | 45° |
| July | 92° | 71° | 57° |
| October | 82° | 64° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Pleasanton
San Francisco Bay Oakland International sits about 19 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 Pleasanton
Schools across Pleasanton average an A, better than 85% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Altamont Creek ElementaryA · 68% proficient
Top middle schools
- William Mendenhall MiddleA · 63% proficient
Top high schools
- Monte Vista HighA · 75% proficient
- Livermore HighA · 67% proficient
- James Logan HighA− · 59% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Pleasanton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Pleasanton 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 Pleasanton against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Pleasanton suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 85% of cities and 29% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 87% of cities and health care access beats 71%.
Common questions about living in Pleasanton
Is Pleasanton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Pleasanton ranks 230th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on high incomes, population health, and biking, and lowest on childcare costs and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Pleasanton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,522,132. The overall cost of living runs about 51% above the national average. Set against a $193,915 median income, cost of living beats 85% of cities.
Is Pleasanton safe?
Yes, Pleasanton is safer than 61% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $310 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Pleasanton?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 61 with lows near 38. That works out to about 168 pleasant days a year, more than 87% of cities.
Is Pleasanton good for families?
Schools beat 85% of cities, crime safety beats 61%, and childcare runs $2,082 a month.
Compare Pleasanton with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Pleasanton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Pleasanton 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.
Pleasanton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Pleasanton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Pleasanton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Pleasanton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Pleasanton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Pleasanton 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.