Best PlacesSan Jose, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the San Jose area, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Photo by Don Ramey Logan, CC BY 4.0, via commons
San Jose ranks 1st of 387 U.S. metro areas on the BestNeighborhood index, the highest of any. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $167,060, wages outrun the cost of living, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are childcare costs, noise, and taxes.
The best neighborhoods in the San Jose metro
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 San Jose
The parts of San Jose, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
Cupertino & Saratoga
Sunnyvale, Mountain View & Palo Alto
Los Gatos
Monte Sereno
Milpitas & Santa Clara
Downtown San Jose
Gilroy, Hollister & Morgan Hill
Alum Rock
San Jose shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 11% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
San Jose's strengths and weaknesses
San Jose ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. High incomes, population health, and biking are the strongest pieces.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Childcare costs, noise, and taxes hold the score down. The detail is below, and the map is where it turns into a choice of neighborhood rather than just a place.
Where San Jose ranks high
- Household income$167,060 median, better than 100% of metro areas
- Health outlookBetter than 100% of metro areas
- BikingBetter than 100% of metro areas
- Nice weatherabout 214 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of metro areas
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of metro areas
Where San Jose ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,083 a month, better than only 0% of metro areas
- QuietBetter than only 1% of metro areas
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of metro areas
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 8% of metro areas
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 9% of metro areas
What it costs to buy a home in San Jose
A household needs to earn about $363,000 a year to comfortably buy the median San Jose home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $167,060, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment and a 6.8% 30-year fixed rate. The rate updates weekly from Freddie Mac; property tax uses San Jose's effective rate against the median home value.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first ten 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 Jose
San Jose's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for San Jose.
Who works in San Jose, and how
Work in San Jose 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 69%
- Work from home 23%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in San Jose
San Jose has less parkland per resident than most metro areas. The coast is about 30 minutes away. The map and measures below show how they vary by area.
Is San Jose growing, and who is moving in?
San Jose has grown about 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from San Francisco, CA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving San Jose go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in San Jose, month by month
San Jose sees roughly 214 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 44. Spring and fall carry most of the comfortable stretch.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 54° | 44° |
| April | 71° | 62° | 50° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 60° |
| October | 78° | 68° | 54° |
Flying in and out of San Jose
Norman Y Mineta San Jose International sits about 5 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 San Jose
Schools across San Jose average a B+, better than 88% of metro areas.
Top elementary schools
- William Faria ElementaryA+ · 93% proficient
- Bullis CharterA+ · 88% proficient
- Herbert Hoover ElementaryA+ · 88% proficient
Top middle schools
- Joaquin Miller MiddleA+ · 88% proficient
- John F. Kennedy MiddleA+ · 83% proficient
- Redwood MiddleA+ · 83% proficient
Top high schools
- Lynbrook HighA+ · 98% proficient
- Cupertino HighA+ · 98% proficient
- Monta Vista HighA+ · 95% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every San Jose school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
San Jose 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 Jose against the other 386 metro areas.
Who San Jose suits
Families
Schools beat 88% of the country and crime runs low. Compare neighborhoods on the map for the best fit.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 82% of metro areas, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 23% already work from home.
Common questions about living in San Jose
Is San Jose a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, San Jose ranks 1st of 387 metro areas. It scores highest on high incomes, population health, and biking, 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 San Jose expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,378,769. The overall cost of living runs about 68% above the national average. Set against a $167,060 median income, cost of living beats 82% of metro areas.
Is San Jose safe?
Yes, San Jose is safer than 76% of metro areas. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $294 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in San Jose?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 61 with lows near 44. The area gets its pleasant stretches in spring and fall.
What are the best neighborhoods in San Jose?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Cupertino & Saratoga, Sunnyvale, Mountain View & Palo Alto, and Los Gatos. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is San Jose good for families?
Schools beat 88% of metro areas, and safety is best away from the urban core. Home prices are usually the catch in the strongest school areas.
Is San Jose good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 82% of metro areas, and internet is widely advertised, so a big-employer salary stretches further here.
Compare San Jose with other metro areas
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to San Jose. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in San Jose 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 Jose detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for San Jose: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in San Jose: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of San Jose: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in San Jose: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
San Jose 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.