Best suburbs of San Francisco

We scored all 66 towns and communities of 10,000+ people in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro area on what most people weigh when they pick a suburb: what homes cost compared with local pay, household income, poverty, commute times, education, homeownership and how many families with kids live there. Tamalpais-Homestead Valley, Hillsborough and Danville come out on top.

top 10 upper half lower half San Francisco. Dot size shows population.

The top 25

#	Place	Score	Population	Median home	Home vs income	Household income	Commute	Poverty	Miles away
1	Tamalpais-Homestead Valley, CA	79	12,085	$1,863,900	7.7×	$243,227	29.3 min	3.3%	29
2	Hillsborough, CA	79	11,206	$2,000,000+	8.0×	$250,000+	27.1 min	5.0%	39
3	Danville, CA	75	43,302	$1,681,700	7.2×	$232,216	32.5 min	3.8%	58
4	Orinda, CA	75	19,507	$1,863,200	7.5×	$250,000+	36.1 min	2.2%	48
5	Alamo, CA	74	14,488	$2,000,000+	8.0×	$250,000+	29.2 min	2.1%	56
6	Piedmont, CA	73	10,642	$2,000,000+	8.0×	$250,000+	31.7 min	4.3%	44
7	Lafayette, CA	72	25,313	$2,000,000+	8.8×	$228,250	29.3 min	2.9%	51
8	Corte Madera, CA	72	9,929	$1,755,200	7.5×	$232,763	30.9 min	4.6%	32
9	Dublin, CA	70	71,602	$1,317,100	6.1×	$214,385	35.9 min	4.5%	62
10	San Carlos, CA	70	29,261	$2,000,000+	8.4×	$237,470	24.6 min	3.3%	45
11	Clayton, CA	69	10,842	$1,055,200	6.0×	$175,707	35.5 min	2.5%	62
12	Newark, CA	68	47,895	$1,142,800	6.8×	$169,064	30.6 min	4.3%	57
13	San Ramon, CA	66	86,209	$1,509,500	7.7×	$196,161	34.7 min	4.4%	60
14	Livermore, CA	64	83,457	$1,105,600	6.9×	$160,775	30.1 min	4.9%	70
15	Moraga, CA	64	16,322	$1,663,200	7.7×	$216,193	30.6 min	7.3%	50
16	Fremont, CA	63	226,442	$1,403,800	7.7×	$181,506	30.3 min	5.2%	62
17	Fairview, CA	59	10,745	$963,300	6.5×	$148,667	35.0 min	4.4%	54
18	Oakley, CA	58	47,583	$660,200	4.8×	$137,677	40.3 min	6.1%	75
19	Mill Valley, CA	57	13,799	$2,000,000+	9.7×	$206,212	24.8 min	5.9%	30
20	Blackhawk, CA	57	10,137	$2,000,000+	8.2×	$245,208	36.1 min	5.6%	61
21	Brentwood, CA	56	66,607	$836,600	5.9×	$142,494	40.0 min	8.3%	73
22	Martinez, CA	56	36,849	$859,800	6.8×	$127,355	28.4 min	6.3%	53
23	Menlo Park, CA	56	32,713	$2,000,000+	9.5×	$210,025	23.9 min	5.8%	51
24	Foster City, CA	56	32,411	$1,838,200	9.2×	$199,143	29.4 min	4.1%	44
25	Pleasanton, CA	55	74,556	$1,537,100	8.1×	$190,124	34.3 min	5.3%	63

Show all 66 places

#	Place	Score	Population	Median home	Home vs income	Household income	Commute	Poverty	Miles away
26	Pacifica, CA	55	36,890	$1,249,800	7.8×	$160,523	27.2 min	5.8%	31
27	Hercules, CA	55	26,326	$769,400	5.9×	$129,397	37.6 min	5.6%	45
28	Belmont, CA	54	28,752	$2,000,000+	9.7×	$205,297	28.5 min	6.9%	43
29	Pleasant Hill, CA	52	34,017	$1,077,100	7.4×	$145,029	30.2 min	7.3%	54
30	Castro Valley, CA	50	65,001	$1,104,600	7.7×	$142,779	32.7 min	6.7%	53
31	San Lorenzo, CA	50	29,171	$847,100	7.5×	$112,660	31.0 min	4.6%	49
32	Discovery Bay, CA	50	14,911	$832,000	5.7×	$147,117	44.1 min	7.4%	79
33	San Anselmo, CA	50	12,555	$1,576,700	9.1×	$173,641	30.2 min	7.4%	31
34	San Bruno, CA	48	42,305	$1,207,500	8.5×	$141,272	23.7 min	6.0%	34
35	Walnut Creek, CA	47	70,012	$1,057,300	8.1×	$130,432	30.6 min	6.4%	55
36	Albany, CA	47	19,195	$1,202,200	8.3×	$144,107	30.8 min	6.8%	41
37	Pinole, CA	47	18,543	$718,600	5.6×	$127,717	35.0 min	6.9%	43
38	Emeryville, CA	47	13,251	$604,800	5.2×	$117,092	28.9 min	13.8%	41
39	Half Moon Bay, CA	47	11,287	$1,549,500	9.8×	$157,884	29.3 min	5.6%	37
40	South San Francisco, CA	45	64,941	$1,188,800	8.7×	$136,578	25.6 min	6.7%	36
41	Millbrae, CA	45	22,869	$1,934,900	11.8×	$163,476	28.6 min	6.0%	36
42	Redwood City, CA	44	82,178	$1,801,700	11.4×	$157,814	24.3 min	6.3%	47
43	El Sobrante, CA	42	16,294	$758,800	6.6×	$114,853	33.8 min	11.4%	43
44	Pittsburg, CA	41	77,542	$597,900	6.0×	$99,861	38.0 min	11.2%	65
45	Burlingame, CA	41	31,929	$2,000,000+	11.5×	$174,000	30.7 min	7.1%	38
46	Antioch, CA	39	118,958	$629,700	6.5×	$97,465	42.0 min	11.4%	70
47	San Mateo, CA	39	103,337	$1,618,700	10.5×	$153,504	26.1 min	8.2%	41
48	Alameda, CA	39	76,876	$1,235,700	9.0×	$137,697	31.6 min	7.2%	42
49	Concord, CA	38	123,261	$797,600	7.3×	$108,709	32.6 min	8.2%	59
50	Union City, CA	38	65,282	$1,104,900	8.3×	$133,715	31.9 min	7.2%	56
51	Novato, CA	38	51,947	$1,032,500	8.9×	$115,736	28.1 min	9.6%	36
52	Hayward, CA	37	157,113	$854,400	7.5×	$113,318	32.3 min	9.6%	51
53	El Cerrito, CA	37	26,121	$1,124,400	8.8×	$127,876	33.3 min	6.9%	42
54	San Pablo, CA	35	31,678	$551,700	6.9×	$79,478	32.3 min	12.6%	41
55	Bay Point, CA	35	24,231	$525,000	6.4×	$82,565	36.1 min	14.4%	62
56	Larkspur, CA	35	12,620	$1,996,600	14.2×	$140,417	27.5 min	7.0%	31
57	Daly City, CA	34	101,261	$1,115,000	9.0×	$123,547	28.8 min	7.7%	31
58	Richmond, CA	32	114,861	$668,200	7.0×	$95,391	34.2 min	13.5%	40
59	East Palo Alto, CA	32	28,872	$1,102,600	9.7×	$113,493	23.7 min	10.3%	52
60	San Rafael, CA	31	59,410	$1,355,600	11.4×	$119,435	25.3 min	11.7%	34
61	North Fair Oaks, CA	31	13,100	$1,276,900	12.2×	$104,884	22.1 min	13.0%	49
62	Cherryland, CA	30	14,143	$668,800	7.7×	$86,418	31.0 min	9.7%	51
63	San Leandro, CA	27	85,353	$844,200	8.3×	$101,420	31.2 min	8.3%	48
64	Oakland, CA	26	440,838	$929,900	9.2×	$101,600	29.8 min	13.4%	44
65	Berkeley, CA	26	121,911	$1,413,900	13.1×	$108,092	27.8 min	17.3%	41
66	Ashland, CA	19	22,210	$775,800	9.5×	$81,702	32.7 min	16.4%	50

Most affordable homes

Oakley 4.8 years of income, $660,200
Emeryville 5.2 years of income, $604,800
Pinole 5.6 years of income, $718,600
Discovery Bay 5.7 years of income, $832,000
Brentwood 5.9 years of income, $836,600

Most families with kids

Piedmont 47.6% of households
Bay Point 47.2% of households
Dublin 45.4% of households
Brentwood 43.9% of households
San Ramon 43.8% of households

How the score works

For each measure we rank the 66 places from worst to best within this metro area, then combine the ranks with these weights: home value compared with household income (20%), household income (15%), poverty rate (15%), average commute (15%), share of adults with a bachelor's degree (10%), homeownership (10%), households with children (10%) and population growth since 2020 (5%). Unincorporated communities have no official growth estimate, so they get the middle value for that part. A score of 100 would mean first on every measure.

Everything comes from the Census Bureau: the American Community Survey 2020-2024 and the 2025 population estimates. We leave out crime and school ratings because comparable official data for every town does not exist; check local school district and police data for the places on your shortlist.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best suburbs of San Francisco?

On our data-only score, Tamalpais-Homestead Valley, Hillsborough and Danville rank highest among 66 places of 10,000+ people in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro area.

What is the most affordable suburb of San Francisco?

Oakley has the lowest ratio of median home value to household income (4.8 years), with a median home of $660,200.

Which San Francisco suburb has the shortest commute?

North Fair Oaks, where the average commute is 22.1 minutes each way.

Back to the San Francisco city profile, or see the best suburbs of other big cities.

Places are incorporated cities, towns and villages plus census-designated places with 10,000 or more residents, assigned to the metro area by county (OMB 2023 delineations). Distances are straight lines from the center of San Francisco. The Census Bureau caps published medians at $250,000 for income and $2,000,000 for home values, shown with a plus sign.