Best PlacesSan Carlos, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around San Carlos, 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.
San Carlos ranks 59th 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 San Carlos
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.
San Carlos' strengths and weaknesses
Where San Carlos ranks high
- Household income$227,300 median, better than 99% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than 96% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 234 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of cities
Where San Carlos ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,233 a month, better than only 1% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 12% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than only 13% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 13% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in San Carlos
A household needs to earn about $503,000 a year to comfortably buy the median San Carlos home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $227,300, 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 San Carlos' effective rate of 0.66%, 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 San Carlos
San Carlos runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for San Carlos.
Who works in San Carlos, and how
Work in San Carlos centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 57%
- Work from home 35%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in San Carlos
San Carlos has more restaurants and bars per resident than 86% of cities and more parkland per resident than 85% of cities. The coast is about 18 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of San Carlos and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in San Carlos, month by month
San Carlos sees roughly 234 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 San Carlos
San Francisco International sits about 10 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 San Carlos
Schools across San Carlos average an A, better than 91% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- White Oaks ElementaryA+ · 88% proficient
- Arundel ElementaryA+ · 85% proficient
- Heather ElementaryA+ · 73% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ralston IntermediateA+ · 77% proficient
- Central MiddleA+ · 68% proficient
- Tierra Linda MiddleA · 65% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every San Carlos school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
San Carlos 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 San Carlos against the other 2,097 cities.
Who San Carlos suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 91% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 35% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 94% of cities and health care access beats 82%.
Common questions about living in San Carlos
Is San Carlos a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, San Carlos ranks 59th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on high incomes, an educated workforce, and clean air, and lowest on childcare costs and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is San Carlos expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,963,873. The overall cost of living runs about 71% above the national average. Set against a $227,300 median income, cost of living beats 91% of cities.
Is San Carlos safe?
San Carlos is safer than 13% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $497 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in San Carlos?
July highs average about 77 degrees, and January highs near 59 with lows near 45. That works out to about 234 pleasant days a year, more than 94% of cities.
Is San Carlos good for families?
Schools beat 91% of cities, crime safety beats 13%, and childcare runs $2,233 a month.
Compare San Carlos with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to San Carlos. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in San Carlos 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.
San Carlos detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for San Carlos: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in San Carlos: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of San Carlos: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in San Carlos: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
San Carlos 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.