San Jose

Best San Jose suburbs for schools

Ranked almost entirely on the Schools category — within-state proficiency, student–teacher ratio, graduation rate and schools nearby — with the two poll questions about children and teenagers at 20% once a place has enough responses.

Updated Sep 2026·16 suburbs considered, 10 listed
1
The photograph is of the front exterior of the Stanford Post Office as viewed from the southwest. Photograph taken on 2019-03-15T20:43:14Z.
Stanford$2.00M+ median · 14.6 min commute
Schools A−Cost of living A−Residents inactive
86
Schools score
overall 68 B−
2
w:National Register of Historic Places listings in Santa Clara County, California Ramona Street Architectural District, Hamilton Buildings (aka Medico-Dental Bu
Palo Alto$2.00M+ median · 21.4 min commute
Schools A−Cost of living CResidents inactive
85
Schools score
overall 74 B
3
These unique entrance ornaments are placed on or next to all major thoroughfares to greet visitors to Los Altos. This particular one is located in Lincoln Park,
Los Altos$2.00M+ median · 22.3 min commute
Schools B+Cost of living BResidents inactive
82
Schools score
overall 77 B
4
Cali Mill Plaza, Cupertino City Center, at the intersection of De Anza and Stevens Creek Boulevards in Cupertino.
Cupertino$2.00M+ median · 23.6 min commute
Schools B+Cost of living BResidents inactive
80
Schools score
overall 75 B
5
This is a photo of a place or building that is listed on the California Historical Landmark listing in the United States. Its reference number is
Saratoga$2.00M+ median · 25.1 min commute
Schools B+Cost of living BResidents inactive
79
Schools score
overall 71 B−
6
City Hall of Mountain View
Mountain View$1.93M median · 23.3 min commute
Schools BCost of living B−Residents inactive
77
Schools score
overall 74 B
7
La Cañada Building, Los Gatos. Year 2016
Los Gatos$2.00M+ median · 27.6 min commute
Schools BCost of living C−Residents inactive
75
Schools score
overall 66 C+
8
Historic Murphy Avenue in Downtown Sunnyvale, California
Sunnyvale$1.80M median · 23.0 min commute
Schools BCost of living B−Residents inactive
74
Schools score
overall 73 B
9
Milpitas, CA City Hall
Milpitas$1.25M median · 25.8 min commute
Schools B−Cost of living C+Residents inactive
72
Schools score
overall 68 B−
10
Mission Santa Clara de Asís, on the campus of Santa Clara University in California.
Santa Clara$1.58M median · 22.6 min commute
Schools B−Cost of living BResidents inactive
69
Schools score
overall 70 B−
This list's weighting
Schools 80%Resident poll (Q5, Q6) 20%

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

Other San Jose lists
Best San Jose suburbs for familiesMost affordable San Jose suburbsShortest commutes to Downtown San JoseMost walkable San Jose suburbsBest San Jose suburbs for young professionalsHow we score San Jose suburbs →

Photos from Wikimedia Commons: Stanford (Steven Baltakatei Sandoval · CC BY-SA 4.0); Palo Alto (Sanfranman59 · CC BY-SA 3.0); Los Altos (Coolcaesar at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0); Cupertino (Coolcaesar at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0); Saratoga (LPS.1 · CC0); Mountain View (Aleh Haiko · CC BY-SA 3.0); Los Gatos (Ramkumar Menon · CC BY-SA 4.0); Sunnyvale (The Sands of Time 0 · CC BY-SA 4.0); Milpitas (Dmitriy Grigoryev · CC BY-SA 3.0); Santa Clara (JaGa · CC BY-SA 3.0).