Best PlacesSunnyvale, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Sunnyvale 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.
Sunnyvale ranks 7th of 445 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $187,489, wages outrun the cost of living, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are childcare costs, taxes, and disaster risk.
The best neighborhoods in Sunnyvale
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 Sunnyvale
The parts of Sunnyvale, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
South Los Altos
Sunnyvale West
Gavello Glen & Raynor Park
Heritage District & Lowlanders
Ponderosa Park & Birdland Neighbors
Snail
Lakewood & San Miguel
Scores across Sunnyvale run from about the 58th to the 100th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Sunnyvale's strengths and weaknesses
Sunnyvale ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Population health, high incomes, and an educated workforce are the strongest pieces.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Childcare costs, taxes, and disaster risk 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 Sunnyvale ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 100% of cities
- Household income$187,489 median, better than 100% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of cities
- BikingBetter than 97% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 94% of cities
Where Sunnyvale ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,106 a month, better than only 2% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 15% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 16% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 18% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 19% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Sunnyvale
A household needs to earn about $414,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sunnyvale home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $187,489, 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 Sunnyvale'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 Sunnyvale
Sunnyvale runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Sunnyvale.
Who works in Sunnyvale, and how
Work in Sunnyvale 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 63%
- Work from home 29%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Sunnyvale
Sunnyvale has more restaurants and bars per resident than 75% of cities and more parkland per resident than 80% of cities. The coast is about 32 minutes away. The map and measures below show how they vary by area.
What the weather is like in Sunnyvale, month by month
Sunnyvale sees roughly 241 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 76 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 44. Spring and fall carry most of the comfortable stretch.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 51° | 44° |
| April | 70° | 58° | 49° |
| July | 76° | 66° | 59° |
| October | 74° | 63° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Sunnyvale
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 Sunnyvale
Schools across Sunnyvale average an A+, better than 92% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- West Valley ElementaryA+ · 81% proficient
- L. P. Collins ElementaryA+ · 80% proficient
- Louis E. Stocklmeir ElementaryA+ · 77% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sam H. Lawson MiddleA+ · 82% proficient
- Cupertino MiddleA+ · 71% proficient
- Georgina P. Blach Junior HighD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Cupertino HighA+ · 98% proficient
- Homestead HighA+ · 88% proficient
- Mountain View HighA+ · 86% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sunnyvale school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sunnyvale 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 Sunnyvale against the other 444 cities.
Who Sunnyvale suits
Families
Schools beat 92% 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 cities and 29% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Sunnyvale
Is Sunnyvale a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sunnyvale ranks 7th of 445 cities. It scores highest on population health, high incomes, and an educated workforce, and lowest on childcare costs and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sunnyvale expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,603,282. The overall cost of living runs about 78% above the national average. Set against a $187,489 median income, cost of living beats 82% of cities.
Is Sunnyvale safe?
Yes, Sunnyvale is safer than 94% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $229 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Sunnyvale?
July highs average about 76 degrees, and January highs near 60 with lows near 44. The area gets its pleasant stretches in spring and fall.
What are the best neighborhoods in Sunnyvale?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are South Los Altos, Sunnyvale West, and Gavello Glen & Raynor Park. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Sunnyvale good for families?
Schools beat 92% of cities, and safety is best away from the urban core. Home prices are usually the catch in the strongest school areas.
Is Sunnyvale good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 82% of cities, and internet is widely advertised, so a big-employer salary stretches further here.
Compare Sunnyvale with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sunnyvale. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sunnyvale 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.
Sunnyvale detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sunnyvale: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sunnyvale: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sunnyvale: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sunnyvale: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sunnyvale 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.