How we picked the best places to live in the Bay Area
We used the nine counties that touch San Francisco Bay: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma. Within them, we took every city or community in Redfin's three-month figures to September 2026 with 60 or more sales and 20,000 or more residents. That gave us 59 places to compare.
The score, out of 100, weighs two things equally. The first is price per square foot, ranked across the 59 places: a home-size-neutral measure of what buyers will pay to live in each place, which takes in the commute, the views, the districts and everything else that sets one address apart. The second is the heat of the market, averaged from three ranks: how far over or under list homes sold, how many days they sat, and what share went pending within two weeks.
Places that cost a lot and still draw multiple offers score highest. What the score does not include: school results, crime and personal taste. Those vary by street and need official lookups, which we list at the end. Zillow figures appear only alongside Redfin's, labeled, never compared with them.
A note on scale: some well-known towns, such as Mill Valley, Piedmont, Orinda and Tiburon, had too few sales or residents to score. We list their figures in the county sections so you can compare them.
Bay Area counties compared, September 2026
Before the city ranking, here is how the nine counties compare in Redfin's September 2026 monthly figures. These are single-month numbers and may be revised as late sales are recorded.
| County | Median sale price | 1-year change | Homes sold | Median days on market | Sale-to-list |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Mateo County | $1,727,384 | +5.3% | 434 | 14 | 104.2% |
| San Francisco County | $1,661,282 | +18.9% | 476 | 14 | 119.3% |
| Santa Clara County | $1,568,490 | -4.7% | 1045 | 19 | 102.3% |
| Marin County | $1,496,651 | -1.5% | 255 | 25 | 102.7% |
| Alameda County | $1,059,130 | +0.8% | 897 | 18 | 107.3% |
| Napa County | $848,102 | -5.8% | 79 | 54 | 97.1% |
| Sonoma County | $808,191 | +6.6% | 386 | 45 | 100.3% |
| Contra Costa County | $778,258 | -0.2% | 846 | 28 | 101.7% |
| Solano County | $563,738 | -6.8% | 322 | 48 | 99.1% |
The spread is wide: a median San Mateo County home cost about three times a median Solano County home. Every county except Napa sold homes in under 50 days, and in San Francisco and Alameda counties the typical home sold well above its list price.
The 20 best places to live in the Bay Area
Redfin rolling three-month figures to September 2026. "County" is where the city sits.
| Rank | Place | County | Score | Median sale price | 1-year change | Price per sq ft | Days on market | Sale-to-list |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Palo Alto | Santa Clara | 97 | $3,608,282 | +0.9% | $2,021 | 13 | 107.1% |
| 2 | Los Altos | Santa Clara | 97 | $4,617,801 | +11.9% | $1,970 | 9 | 106.3% |
| 3 | Cupertino | Santa Clara | 93 | $2,848,643 | -6.9% | $1,597 | 13 | 105.4% |
| 4 | San Carlos | San Mateo | 91 | $2,478,820 | +11.4% | $1,374 | 10 | 106.8% |
| 5 | Burlingame | San Mateo | 90 | $2,658,734 | -3.0% | $1,510 | 14 | 107.0% |
| 6 | Mountain View | Santa Clara | 85 | $1,836,625 | +9.7% | $1,095 | 12 | 105.1% |
| 7 | Redwood City | San Mateo | 84 | $1,949,072 | +8.3% | $1,183 | 14 | 105.1% |
| 8 | San Francisco | San Francisco | 83 | $1,579,248 | +14.8% | $1,103 | 17 | 115.0% |
| 9 | San Mateo | San Mateo | 83 | $1,574,250 | -1.3% | $1,059 | 14 | 104.9% |
| 10 | Menlo Park | San Mateo | 82 | $2,948,596 | +4.5% | $1,413 | 16 | 102.4% |
| 11 | Sunnyvale | Santa Clara | 82 | $1,884,103 | +4.1% | $1,229 | 16 | 104.1% |
| 12 | Saratoga | Santa Clara | 82 | $3,863,160 | -2.5% | $1,489 | 18 | 101.5% |
| 13 | Berkeley | Alameda | 77 | $1,411,328 | +0.8% | $923 | 15 | 126.6% |
| 14 | San Bruno | San Mateo | 74 | $1,206,925 | -5.5% | $849 | 15 | 103.7% |
| 15 | South San Francisco | San Mateo | 72 | $1,232,413 | +7.2% | $839 | 16 | 108.3% |
| 16 | Santa Clara | Santa Clara | 71 | $1,643,717 | -0.7% | $1,030 | 20 | 103.0% |
| 17 | Lafayette | Contra Costa | 66 | $1,926,583 | +1.9% | $866 | 17 | 101.4% |
| 18 | Los Gatos | Santa Clara | 66 | $2,438,839 | -3.4% | $1,209 | 26 | 102.4% |
| 19 | Daly City | San Mateo | 65 | $1,117,968 | +1.6% | $753 | 18 | 107.1% |
| 20 | Pacifica | San Mateo | 65 | $1,279,391 | +0.5% | $897 | 19 | 102.8% |
San Mateo County takes 9 of the top 20 places and Santa Clara County 8. The first East Bay place is Berkeley, at 13.
The best places in each Bay Area county
San Mateo County: Burlingame, San Carlos and San Mateo
The Peninsula dominates the list. San Carlos was the county's top place and 4th in the Bay Area, at 91, with homes selling in 10 days. Burlingame was close behind at 5th: buyers paid $1,510 a square foot, the most of any place outside Santa Clara County, and 107.0% of list. Burlingame sits on the bay next to San Francisco International Airport and was named for the diplomat Anson Burlingame. The city of San Mateo, the county's largest, ranked 9 with a median of $1,574,250; its Central Park, with a Japanese tea garden, anchors downtown, and Census median household income across ZIPs 94401 to 94403 runs from $122,227 to $174,917.
For a lower price on the Peninsula, Daly City (median $1,117,968, 107.1% of list) borders San Francisco, and coastal Pacifica (median $1,279,391) sits between San Francisco and Half Moon Bay. Redwood City and San Carlos are covered in more depth in our Silicon Valley ranking.
San Francisco: the hottest bidding in the city ranking
San Francisco is one city and one county. It ranked 8 of 59, with 1411 sales, a median sale price of $1,579,248 and a one-year gain of +14.8%. The typical home sold for 115.0% of list, and 69% sold above it. Owners hold only 38% of occupied homes in the ZIPs in our data, so much of what sells is condos and flats, and Census median household income ranges from $60,431 to $225,000 by ZIP. San Francisco also charges its own transfer tax on sales; see our California transfer tax guide, and compare the city with the South Bay in San Jose vs San Francisco.
Santa Clara County: Palo Alto, Los Altos and Cupertino
The three highest scores in the whole Bay Area belong to Palo Alto (97), Los Altos (97) and Cupertino (93). Palo Alto's $2,021 per square foot was the region's highest, and Los Altos sold homes in a median of 9 days. Mountain View, Sunnyvale and Saratoga also made the top 20. We rank and profile every Santa Clara County city in our best places to live in Silicon Valley guide, and San Jose has its own city guide.
Alameda County: Berkeley, Alameda and Castro Valley
Berkeley ranked 13, and its buyers bid harder than anywhere else in the Bay Area: homes sold for 126.6% of list on average, and 76% went over asking. The median sale price was $1,411,328. The city has three BART stations, Amtrak's Capitol Corridor and the University of California campus. The island city of Alameda ranked 21 ($1,169,443, +9.0%); it is reached by bridges and a tube from Oakland and by ferry, and the former naval air station is being redeveloped as Alameda Point. Unincorporated Castro Valley ranked 26, with 73% of homes owner-occupied and freeway access on I-580 and I-238.
Oakland, the county's largest city, ranked 32 with a median of $772,632 and 111.6% of list, a lower price per square foot ($533) with strong bidding. Fremont ranked 23. Two small cities were below our resident or sales threshold: Piedmont (28 sales, median $2,906,116, 14 days) and Albany (28 sales, median $1,189,434, 16 days).
Contra Costa County: Lafayette, Danville and Walnut Creek
Lafayette ranked 17, the highest place east of the hills, with a median sale price of $1,926,583 and homes selling in 17 days. In ZIP 94549, Census median household income is $234,516 and 79% of homes are owner-occupied. Its Lamorinda neighbors were too small to score: Orinda (58 sales, median $1,749,167, 23 days) and Moraga (40 sales, median $1,514,279, 13 days).
Danville, in the San Ramon Valley along the Iron Horse Regional Trail, ranked 29 with a median of $1,799,143. Walnut Creek, at the junction of I-680 and SR 24 with BART service, ranked 41; its median was $847,596. Zillow's typical home values, a separate measure, were $1,907,310 for Lafayette, $1,821,427 for Danville and $990,472 for Walnut Creek. See our guides to Lafayette, Danville and Walnut Creek.
Marin County: San Rafael and Novato
Only two Marin cities passed our size thresholds. San Rafael, the county seat, ranked 30 and posted the largest one-year price gain of any place we scored, +17.9%, to $1,299,381. It grew from the 1817 Mission San Rafael Arcangel, and China Camp State Park is on its bay shore. Novato ranked 42 at $1,004,522; the Buck Institute for Research on Aging is there, along with open space preserves such as Mount Burdell.
Marin's smaller towns moved fast in the same period: Mill Valley (38 sales, median $1,849,119, 17 days), San Anselmo (30 sales, median $1,549,512, 16 days), Tiburon (40 sales, median $2,998,572, 26 days) and Sausalito (36 sales, median $1,574,250, 32 days). Read our Mill Valley and Sausalito guides.
Sonoma County: Petaluma, Rohnert Park and Santa Rosa
Petaluma was Sonoma County's top place, ranked 33, with a median of $914,564 and 53% of homes pending within two weeks. The city grew up on the Petaluma River, and Lagunitas Brewing and Clover Sonoma are based there. Rohnert Park, an early planned city near Sonoma State University, ranked 45 at $715,659. Santa Rosa, the county's largest city, ranked 49, with 423 sales at a median of $714,660; Zillow's typical home value there was $708,056. See our Santa Rosa guide, plus Healdsburg and Windsor, which were below our size cut-off.
Napa County: the city of Napa
The city of Napa was the only Napa County place large enough to score. It ranked 52, with a median sale price of $829,605 (-2.4%) and a slow 54 days on market, the longest of any Bay Area city we scored. Napa is the county seat and the main city of the Napa Valley wine country, and many local jobs are in wineries, restaurants and hotels. A slower market means more room to negotiate. Census median household income in ZIPs 94558 and 94559 is $105,188 to $113,269.
Solano County: Dixon, Vallejo, Vacaville and Benicia
Solano County has the lowest prices in the Bay Area. Dixon ranked 53 with a median of $602,213; it is on I-80 about 23 miles from Sacramento. Vallejo, on San Pablo Bay and home to the Cal Poly Maritime Academy, had the lowest median of the 59 places, $499,762. Vacaville ranked 55 at $616,207, and Benicia, which served as California's capital in 1853 and 1854, ranked 56 at $798,620, with Census median household income of $121,204 in ZIP 94510. Our Fairfield guide covers the county seat.
How to choose where to live in the Bay Area
Pick your commute line first
The Bay Area is linked by BART, Caltrain, ferries and a handful of crowded bridges. Many places in this ranking, from Berkeley and Walnut Creek to Alameda and Burlingame, are priced partly for their transit links. Pick the station or ferry you would use, then look at places along that line.
Inner Bay vs outer Bay: what the price gap buys
Price per square foot in our set ran from $324 in Fairfield to $2,021 in Palo Alto. The outer East Bay, Solano County and Sonoma County cost far less per foot, but add drive time. Weigh the yearly savings against the hours.
Fire, flood and earthquake checks
Hillside towns in Marin, the East Bay hills and Napa and Sonoma counties can fall in high fire hazard zones, and bayfront areas carry flood risk. Get an insurance quote before you bid; our wildfire zones, FAIR Plan and earthquake insurance guides explain the options.
City transfer taxes add to closing costs
Several Bay Area cities, including San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley, charge their own transfer tax on top of the county's, and the rates rise with price. Ask who pays it in your contract. Details are in our transfer tax guide.
Property tax by county
Each county sets its own bonds and special taxes on top of the 1% base. See our county guides for Contra Costa, Marin, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma counties.
Schools and safety: official sources only
Check any school on the California School Dashboard and confirm the assignment with the district. For crime, use the California DOJ's OpenJustice data by police agency, or the city police department's own maps.