Best PlacesRedwood City, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Redwood City, 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.
Redwood City ranks 242nd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Redwood City
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 Redwood City
The parts of Redwood City, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
Emerald Lake Hills & Farm Hills
Centennial
Oak Knoll-Redwood Park
Roosevelt-San Francisco
Woodside Plaza & Redwood Oaks
Friendly Acres, Redwood Village & Palm Park
Staumbaugh Heller
Scores across Redwood City run from about the 15th to the 100th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Redwood City's strengths and weaknesses
Where Redwood City ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of cities
- Household income$169,488 median, better than 96% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 245 pleasant days a year, better than 95% of cities
- BikingBetter than 95% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than 94% of cities
Where Redwood City ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,233 a month, better than only 1% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 12% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than only 12% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 24% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Redwood City
A household needs to earn about $412,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Redwood City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $169,488, 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 Redwood City's effective rate of 0.63%, 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 Redwood City
Redwood City's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Redwood City.
Who works in Redwood City, and how
Work in Redwood City centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 64%
- Work from home 27%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Redwood City
Redwood City has more restaurants and bars per resident than 71% of cities and more parkland per resident than 83% of cities. The coast is about 20 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Redwood City and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Redwood City, month by month
Redwood City sees roughly 245 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 77 degrees. January highs sit near 59, with lows near 45. The comfortable stretch runs April through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59° | 51° | 45° |
| April | 68° | 58° | 50° |
| July | 77° | 66° | 58° |
| October | 75° | 63° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Redwood City
San Francisco International sits about 12 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 26.5 million passengers in 2025, with 193 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Redwood City
Schools across Redwood City average a B+, better than 68% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- White Oaks ElementaryA+ · 88% proficient
- Woodside ElementaryA+ · 79% proficient
- Sandpiper ElementaryA+ · 76% proficient
Top middle schools
- Corte MaderaA+ · 77% proficient
- Ralston IntermediateA+ · 77% proficient
- Central MiddleA+ · 68% proficient
Top high schools
- Henry M. Gunn HighA+ · 89% proficient
- South San Francisco HighB− · 44% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Redwood City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Redwood City 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 Redwood City against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Redwood City suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 27% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Redwood City
Is Redwood City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Redwood City ranks 242nd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on clean air, high incomes, and the weather, and lowest on childcare costs and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Redwood City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,611,024. The overall cost of living runs about 66% above the national average. Set against a $169,488 median income, cost of living beats 64% of cities.
Is Redwood City safe?
Redwood City is safer than 12% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $514 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Redwood City?
July highs average about 77 degrees, and January highs near 59 with lows near 45. That works out to about 245 pleasant days a year, more than 95% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Redwood City?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Emerald Lake Hills & Farm Hills, Centennial, and Oak Knoll-Redwood Park. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Redwood City with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Redwood City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Redwood City 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.
Redwood City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Redwood City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Redwood City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Redwood City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Redwood City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Redwood City 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.