The San Jose–Sunnyvale–Santa Clara metro has 2.0M residents (per 2024 ACS 5-year Estimates ), a 2024 median household income of $162K, median home value of $1.4M, median age of 38, and a 55% bachelor's-degree share among adults 25 and older. The analysis below clusters neighborhoods within the metro's urbanized areas, covering 1.8M of those 2.0M residents. The western foothills around Los Altos Hills, Los Altos, and Palo Alto lead on home values, incomes, age, and education at once, while the San Jose valley floor and the southern Gilroy end sit at the bottom.
Median home value
Home values top out at the $2.0M ceiling across a broad band of the western foothills. The area east of Los Altos Hills — a town whose one-acre minimum lot size and ban on multifamily housing keep supply tight — and the area east of Los Altos both reach $2.0M, joined by north Palo Alto, the area east of Cupertino, and the area west of Los Gatos, all at $2.0M. The lowest values sit on the San Jose valley floor: the area in west San Jose bottoms the metro at $693K, followed by the area north of Santa Clara at $799K, another west San Jose area at $815K, north San Jose at $824K, and south San Jose at $867K. The floor here is unusually high — the metro's cheapest neighborhood at $693K still sits well above the metro-wide median in most of this series.
Median household income
The highest incomes share the western foothills with the highest home values. The area east of Los Altos Hills and the area east of Los Altos both top the metro at the $250K ceiling, with a south San Jose area at $245K, the area south of Sunnyvale at $241K, and the area east of Mountain View at $235K. The lowest incomes are on the valley floor and the southern end: north San Jose at $95K, the area north of Gilroy at $95K, a west San Jose area at $102K, another north San Jose area at $103K, and a west San Jose area at $105K. Even the metro's lowest-income neighborhoods clear $95K, above the metro-wide median in much of this series.
Median age
The oldest neighborhoods are the established southern and western suburbs. The area east of Saratoga tops the metro at 49, with the area east of Los Altos Hills and a south San Jose area both at 48, and the area east of Los Altos and east San Jose both at 46. The youngest neighborhoods cluster on the valley floor and around Stanford: the area west of San Jose at 30, the area west of Stanford and a west San Jose area both at 32, another area west of San Jose at 33, and south Gilroy at 34. Most of the metro sits in the 38–44 range.
Adults with a bachelor's degree
Education peaks in the same northwestern foothills, anchored by the area west of Stanford at 89%. The area east of Los Altos follows at 88%, the area east of Los Altos Hills at 87%, and north Palo Alto and the area east of Palo Alto both at 81%. The lowest shares are on the valley floor and the southern end: the area north of Gilroy at 18%, north San Jose at 19%, another north San Jose area at 20%, south Gilroy at 23%, and a north-of-San-Jose area at 24%. The ≥80% tier follows the northwestern foothills; the under-25% tier covers north San Jose and the Gilroy end.
Where the metrics overlap
The western foothills sit at the top of home value, income, age, and education all at once — the area east of Los Altos Hills and the area east of Los Altos both hit the $2.0M home-value and $250K income ceilings while posting bachelor's shares of 87% and 88%. The San Jose valley floor forms the opposite corner: north San Jose bottoms home value at $824K, income at $95K, and education at 19% together, and the Gilroy end pairs a $95K income with an 18% bachelor's share. The split that stands out, though, is the height of the floor — the metro's lowest home value ($693K) and lowest incomes ($95K) would rank as middle or upper tiers in most of the mainland metros in this series.
Key Takeaways
- Across the metro, the median home value is $1.4M, median household income is $162K, median age is 38, and the bachelor's-degree share is 55%.
- The area east of Los Altos Hills and the area east of Los Altos both top home value at $2.0M and income at $250K.
- The area west of Stanford tops education at 89%.
- North San Jose sits at the bottom of home value ($824K), income ($95K), and education (19%) together.
- The metro's cheapest neighborhood still clears $693K, and its lowest incomes hold at $95K.