Los Altos neighborhoods compared
Los Altos does not split neighborhood values the way larger cities do. Zillow publishes a typical home value for the city ($4,591,005 in September 2026, up 8.4% in a year), for its two ZIP codes, and for one neighborhood, Loyola, which sits just outside the city line. So this page compares areas with the measures that do exist for each one: Walk Score's neighborhood ratings, Census tract figures on housing type and age (ACS 2020-2024), the ZIP code and the elementary school district on Census maps.
Our area names follow Walk Score's six Los Altos neighborhoods, plus three areas readers search for by name. The Census tracts are statistical areas, not neighborhood boundaries, so the tract columns describe the housing around each area rather than inside an exact line.
| Area | ZIP | Walk Score | Detached houses (Census tract) | Median year built (tract) | Elementary district |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Old Los Altos (downtown) | 94022 | 62 | 57% | 1968 | Los Altos School District |
| North Los Altos | 94022 | 56 | 70% to 77% | 1968 to 1982 | Los Altos School District |
| El Camino Real edge | 94022 | n/a | 70% | 1982 | Los Altos School District |
| Central Los Altos | 94024 | 42 | 99.9% | 1959 | Los Altos School District |
| Fremont Avenue and Rancho | 94024 | n/a | 99.9% | 1959 | Los Altos School District |
| Loyola Corners | 94024 | 56 | 97% | 1960 | Los Altos School District |
| South Los Altos | 94024 | 36 | 97% | 1960 | Los Altos School District |
| Woodland Acres and the Highlands | 94024 | 31 | 91% to 98% | 1959 to 1964 | Cupertino Union |
| Loyola (unincorporated) | 94024 | n/a | 97% | 1968 | Check by address |
For the city as a whole, 82% of the 11,781 housing units counted by the Census are detached houses, the median home was built in 1964 and the median home has 6.8 rooms. About 41% of the city's land is in ZIP 94022 and 58% in 94024, and about 76% is in the Los Altos School District, with the southeastern 24% in Cupertino Union, on our overlay of the Census Bureau's TIGERweb boundaries.
Los Altos neighborhoods one by one
Old Los Altos: the downtown village and the most walkable streets
Old Los Altos covers the downtown triangle and the streets around it. Walk Score gives it 62, the highest of any Los Altos neighborhood, with a Bike Score of 81. Draeger's and Safeway both sit on First Street, City Hall is at 1 North San Antonio Road, the Los Altos Library is at 13 South San Antonio Road and the Los Altos Community Center is at 97 Hillview Avenue, beside Hillview Park and the civic center orchard. The 1913 craftsman train station still stands at 288 First Street, a reminder that Foothill Expressway was built on the old Southern Pacific line after service ended in 1964.
The housing is the most mixed in the city. In the Census tract around downtown, only 57% of homes are detached houses and the median home has 5.3 rooms, against 6.8 citywide, because apartments and condos cluster near the commercial blocks. Shoup Park at 400 University Avenue and the 5.9-acre Redwood Grove nature preserve along Adobe Creek are a short walk south. All of this area uses ZIP 94022.
North Los Altos: Los Altos High and the Almond Avenue schools
North Los Altos runs from downtown toward El Camino Real. Walk Score rates it 56 for walking and 35 for transit, the best transit score in the city, and puts about 11,000 residents in it, which makes it the largest of Walk Score's six areas. Los Altos High School is at 201 Almond Avenue, Almond Elementary is nearby, Egan Junior High is at 100 West Portola Avenue with Bullis Charter School mapped beside it, and Santa Rita Elementary is in the northwest corner.
The two Census tracts here have a later housing stock than the rest of Los Altos. In the northwest tract, around Santa Rita, 77% of homes are detached and a quarter were built in 2000 or later, many of them rebuilds on older lots. Expect a mix of older single-story houses, two-story replacements and some multi-unit buildings. All of North Los Altos is in ZIP 94022.
El Camino Real edge: most of the city's condos and townhomes
Los Altos limits commercial zoning to downtown and the strips along Foothill Expressway and El Camino Real, so the multi-unit buildings that exist sit mostly near those roads. In the northern tract that includes Los Altos High School, the median home was built in 1982, the newest median of any Los Altos tract, only 70% of homes are detached houses and 36% of all homes went up in 2000 or later. Village Court and a Whole Foods at 4800 El Camino Real are the nearest shopping. This is where to look first if a detached house is out of budget, though condos in 94022 still sold at a median above $1.5 million.
Central Los Altos: Covington Road and large single-family lots
Central Los Altos, with about 7,500 residents on Walk Score's count, is almost entirely detached houses. In the main tract here, 1,661 of 1,663 homes are single-family detached, 91.5% are owner-occupied, and the median home has 7.5 rooms. Covington Elementary and Rosita Park are in the middle of the area, and Pinewood School has its campuses on Fremont Avenue. The median home was built in 1959, but a fifth of homes date from 2000 or later, the highest rebuild share in the southern half of the city. Walk Score is 42, so most errands need a car or bike.
Fremont Avenue and the Rancho Shopping Center
The Rancho Shopping Center, with Andronico's at 690 Fremont Avenue, is the daily shopping stop for the middle of town. McKenzie Park is close by, and Loyola Elementary is a few blocks south. The streets around Rancho share the housing profile of Central Los Altos: large detached houses on lots set by the city's quarter-acre minimum for most homes, and quiet streets with dirt shoulders and few sidewalks. The area is in ZIP 94024.
Loyola Corners: a small commercial node near Foothill Expressway
Loyola Corners is the smallest neighborhood Walk Score rates in Los Altos, with about 530 residents, and it ties North Los Altos at 56 for walking thanks to its cluster of shops and restaurants. The name comes from a 1904 Jesuit plan to build a university named for Ignatius of Loyola on land that is now the golf course nearby. Heritage Oaks Park is mapped just north of the shops. The houses around Loyola Corners are inside the city limits and use ZIP 94024, so do not confuse them with the unincorporated Loyola area to the west.
South Los Altos: Blach, Oak Avenue and Marymeade Park
South Los Altos, with a Walk Score of 36, is the large residential area between Loyola Corners and the Mountain View and Sunnyvale borders. Georgina P. Blach Intermediate School is at 1120 Covington Road and Oak Avenue Elementary and Marymeade Park are in the east of the area. The Census tract here is 97% detached houses, 91% owner-occupied, with a median build year of 1960 and only about 8% of homes built in 2000 or later. That makes it one of the better places to find original mid-century houses that have not been rebuilt.
Woodland Acres and the Highlands: the Cupertino Union corner
Walk Score's Woodland Acres-the Highlands neighborhood takes in the southeastern corner of the city around Grant Road. It has the lowest Walk Score in Los Altos at 31 and a Bike Score of 46. The Woodland Branch Library is at 1975 Grant Road, Woodland Plaza and a Lucky market are on Grant Road, and Grant Park and its community center are at 1575 Holt Avenue. Montclaire Elementary and Montclaire Park share a site at 1160 Saint Joseph Avenue.
The key difference is schools. On Census district maps, this corner, about 24% of the city's land, is in the Cupertino Union School District for elementary and middle school and the Fremont Union High School District for high school, not the Los Altos and Mountain View-Los Altos districts that serve the rest of the city. The two tracts here have the fewest new homes in Los Altos, with under 4% built since 2000 in the more southern one, and the eastern one has about 8% attached single-family homes, more than any other tract in the south of the city.
Loyola: unincorporated land beside the golf course
Loyola is a Census-designated place of about 1.4 square miles between the City of Los Altos and Los Altos Hills, home to the Los Altos Golf and Country Club. It is the only area near Los Altos that Zillow tracks as a neighborhood: its typical home value was $4,963,207 in September 2026, up 7.5% in a year and about $372,000 above the city figure. Redfin's median sale price for Loyola was $5,158,793 over the three months to September 2026, but that rests on only 10 sales.
Loyola has a Los Altos mailing address and ZIP 94024, but it is unincorporated Santa Clara County land. Building permits and land use follow county rules rather than the city's, and the county sheriff, not the Los Altos Police Department, patrols it. The Census tract is 97% detached houses with a median of 7.4 rooms.
Los Altos neighborhoods by what you want
Best Los Altos neighborhoods for walkability
Old Los Altos (62), North Los Altos (56) and Loyola Corners (56) are the three Walk Score rates highest. Walk Score calls Los Altos as a whole car-dependent with an average score of 46, so even in these areas most households still drive for some errands. The downtown blocks around Main, State and First streets are the only place where groceries, a library, cafes and parks are all within a few minutes on foot.
Best Los Altos neighborhoods for newer homes
Los Altos has little new subdivision building, so new homes here usually mean a rebuild on an existing lot. The tracts with the highest shares built since 2000 are near El Camino Real (36%), northwest Los Altos around Santa Rita (25%) and Central Los Altos (21%). Citywide, 2,092 of 11,781 homes, about 18%, were built in 2000 or later on Census estimates.
Best Los Altos neighborhoods for condos and townhomes
Attached homes are concentrated near downtown and El Camino Real in ZIP 94022. Redfin recorded 12 condo sales in 94022 in the three months to September 2026 at a median of $1,549,954, against 47 house sales at $5,718,558. In ZIP 94024, Redfin's data shows only one townhouse sale and no condo sales over the same period. Our Los Altos condos guide covers the buildings and HOA checks.
Best Los Altos neighborhoods for a lower entry price
Among the city's two ZIPs, 94024 has the lower Zillow typical value at $4,604,457 against $5,059,470 in 94022 (September 2026), though part of each ZIP lies outside the city. Within 94024, look at South Los Altos and the Woodland Acres area, where homes are older and fewer have been rebuilt, and at original houses that have not been rebuilt, which usually sell below new construction on the same street. Condos near El Camino Real are the lowest price point in the city.
Best Los Altos neighborhoods for larger homes
On Census median rooms, the largest homes are in the southern Woodland Acres tract (7.6 rooms), Central Los Altos (7.5) and Loyola (7.4), against 5.3 around downtown. For more land, look outside the city line to Loyola and to Los Altos Hills, where lots are larger again.
Best Los Altos neighborhoods for parks and open space
Old Los Altos has Shoup Park, Redwood Grove and Hillview Park within a short walk of each other. Grant Park in the southeast has the city's second community center, and McKenzie, Heritage Oaks, Rosita and Marymeade parks serve the middle and south of town.
What Los Altos neighborhoods cost to buy and own
Redfin's median sale price for the City of Los Altos was $4,617,801 in the three months to September 2026, up 12.0% from a year earlier, across 76 sales. Homes sold in a median of 9 days at an average of 106.3% of list price, and 60% sold above list. With 1.6 months of supply, sellers still held the advantage. See the Los Altos housing market page for the trend.
Houses vs condos in Los Altos ZIP codes
Price differences between areas in Los Altos come down mostly to lot size, house size and whether the house is original or rebuilt. A rebuilt two-story house in Central Los Altos and an original 1950s ranch house two doors away can sell millions apart. Compare sales by home type and square footage, not by area name. Redfin's median price per square foot in the city was $1,970 over the three months to September 2026.
Renting in Los Altos neighborhoods
Zillow's observed rent for Los Altos was $6,886 a month in September 2026, up 18.2% in a year. About 18% of occupied homes in the city are rented, on Census figures, and rentals cluster in the downtown and El Camino Real tracts, where 24% to 25% of homes are renter-occupied, against under 10% in Central and South Los Altos.
Taxes, assessments and HOA dues in Los Altos
Property tax starts at 1% of the purchase price under Prop 13, plus voter-approved school and local measures that vary by tax rate area. A buyer in the Cupertino Union corner pays different school measures from a buyer in the Los Altos School District, so ask for the seller's most recent tax bill. Our Santa Clara County property tax guide explains the rate areas. Condos and townhomes add HOA dues; ask for the budget and reserve study.
Los Altos neighborhood questions answered
What is the most expensive part of Los Altos? On Zillow's September 2026 figures, ZIP 94022, covering downtown and North Los Altos, had a typical value of $5,059,470, above 94024 at $4,604,457. The unincorporated Loyola area next to the city came in at $4,963,207.
Which Los Altos areas gained the most value? Over the year to September 2026, Zillow's typical value rose 8.4% in 94022, 7.8% in 94024 and 7.5% in Loyola. Over ten years, both ZIPs rose by close to 90%.
Where should I live in Los Altos? Start with schools by address, then budget and the home type you want. For daily life and costs, see is Los Altos a good place to live; for prices by ZIP, see Los Altos ZIP codes; for crime figures, see Los Altos crime rates; and for schools, see our Los Altos schools guide and the California School Dashboard. To work with someone who knows these streets, see our featured local agent.