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Data on this report is based on areas within the legal city boundary, outlined in black on the map. Any additional neighborhoods shown on the map are associated with the city by name and are included for reference only.

Palo Alto, CA
Real Estate & Demographic Data





Palo Alto profile


Living in Palo Alto



Palo Alto is a larger medium-sized city located in the state of California. With a population of 66,010 people and 15 associated neighborhoods, Palo Alto is the 133rd largest community in California.

Palo Alto home prices are not only among the most expensive in California, but Palo Alto real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.

Also of interest is that Palo Alto has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

And if you like science, one thing you'll find is that Palo Alto has lots of scientists living in town - whether they be life scientists, physical scientists (like astronomers), or social scientists (like geographers!). So, if you're scientific-minded, you might like it here too.

Of important note, Palo Alto is also a city of artists. Palo Alto has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Palo Alto’s character.

Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 28.79% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

One thing noticeable about Palo Alto, although not a huge city, is that it has a large population of people who are young, single, educated, and upwardly-mobile career starters. That’s because Palo Alto is full of single people in their 20s and 30s and who have undergraduate or graduate degrees and are starting careers in professional occupations. This makes Palo Alto a pretty good place for young, educated career starters looking to find many people like themselves, with good opportunities for friendships, socializing, romance, and fun.

Do you like to read, write and learn? If you move to Palo Alto, you'll likely find that many of your neighbors like to as well. Palo Alto is one of the more educated communities in America, with a full 82.24% of its adults having a college degree or even advanced degree, compared to a national average across all communities of 21.84%.

The per capita income in Palo Alto in 2022 was $117,476, which is wealthy relative to California and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $469,904 for a family of four.

Palo Alto is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Palo Alto home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Palo Alto residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Palo Alto include English, German, Irish, Italian, and European.

In addition, Palo Alto has a lot of people living here who were born outside of the US (34.29%).

The most common language spoken in Palo Alto is English. Other important languages spoken here include Chinese and Spanish.