San Francisco

Best San Francisco suburbs for families

Ranked on a families weighting: schools at 30%, amenities within two miles at 20%, and the four poll questions about children, safety and sidewalks at 20%. Cost still counts, at 15%. The full weighting is shown at the bottom, and it is not the same as the overall score.

Updated Sep 2026·59 suburbs considered, 10 listed
1
San Carlos Train Station
San Carlos$2.00M+ median · 24.6 min commute
Schools B−Amenities A−Residents inactive
76
Family score
overall 74 B
2
Albany seen from Albany Hill
Albany$1.20M median · 30.8 min commute
Schools B+Amenities AResidents inactive
76
Family score
overall 69 B−
3
The City of Berkeley with San Francisco and the bay in the background.
Berkeley$1.41M median · 27.8 min commute
Schools BAmenities A+Residents inactive
76
Family score
overall 66 C+
4
Museum of San Ramon Valley
Danville$1.68M median · 32.5 min commute
Schools BAmenities B+Residents inactive
75
Family score
overall 70 B−
5
Burlingame Avenue
Burlingame$2.00M+ median · 30.7 min commute
Schools BAmenities A−Residents inactive
74
Family score
overall 67 C+
6
Mill Valley, CA
Mill Valley$2.00M+ median · 24.8 min commute
Schools B+Amenities BResidents inactive
73
Family score
overall 68 B−
7
Photograph made by Michael C. Berch (User:MCB) on 2005-08-07
San Mateo$1.62M median · 26.1 min commute
Schools B−Amenities AResidents inactive
73
Family score
overall 68 B−
8
Larkspur City Hall — 400 Magnolia Ave., Larkspur, Marin County, California. Contributing property of the Larkspur Downtown Historic District, and on the Nationa
Larkspur$2.00M median · 27.5 min commute
Schools BAmenities B+Residents inactive
73
Family score
overall 67 C+
9
Aerial view of Belmont from the east in September 2019
Belmont$2.00M+ median · 28.5 min commute
Schools B−Amenities B+Residents inactive
72
Family score
overall 68 B−
10
Tamalpais-Homestead Valley$1.86M median · 29.3 min commute
Schools BAmenities B−Residents inactive
72
Family score
overall 70 B−
This list's weighting
Schools 30%Amenities 20%Resident poll (Q2, Q5, Q6, Q8) 20%Cost of living 15%Housing 10%Commute 5%

Poll components only count for places with eight or more resident responses; for the others the remaining weights re-normalise to 100%.

Other San Francisco lists
Most affordable San Francisco suburbsBest San Francisco suburbs for schoolsShortest commutes to Downtown San FranciscoMost walkable San Francisco suburbsBest San Francisco suburbs for young professionalsHow we score San Francisco suburbs →

Photos from Wikimedia Commons: San Carlos (CityofSanCarlos · CC BY-SA 4.0); Albany (Das osmnezz · CC0); Berkeley (pedrik · CC BY 2.0); Danville (Agwatkin · CC BY-SA 4.0); Burlingame (Javelinca · CC BY-SA 4.0); Mill Valley (SWENOWENSON · CC BY-SA 4.0); San Mateo (The original uploader was MCB at English Wikipedia. · CC BY-SA 2.5); Larkspur (Sanfranman59 · CC BY-SA 3.0); Belmont (Pi.1415926535 · CC BY-SA 3.0).