San Jose

Best San Jose suburbs for young professionals

Ranked on employment and income at 25%, amenities at 25%, commute at 20%, median rent at 15% (lower is better) and cost of living at 15%. Schools are not counted.

Updated Sep 2026·16 suburbs considered, 10 listed
1
City Hall of Mountain View
Mountain View$1.93M median · 23.3 min commute
Employment BAmenities A+Commute A−
77
Score
overall 74 B
2
Historic Murphy Avenue in Downtown Sunnyvale, California
Sunnyvale$1.80M median · 23.0 min commute
Employment B−Amenities A+Commute A−
76
Score
overall 73 B
3
Mission Santa Clara de Asís, on the campus of Santa Clara University in California.
Santa Clara$1.58M median · 22.6 min commute
Employment C+Amenities A+Commute B+
74
Score
overall 70 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
Employment B−Amenities A+Commute B+
72
Score
overall 75 B
5
The sign welcoming visitors to the historic downtown area of the city of Campbell.
Campbell$1.62M median · 23.4 min commute
Employment C−Amenities A+Commute B+
72
Score
overall 67 C+
6
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
Employment C+Amenities ACommute A−
72
Score
overall 77 B
7
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
Employment FAmenities A+Commute A+
71
Score
overall 68 B−
8
Milpitas, CA City Hall
Milpitas$1.25M median · 25.8 min commute
Employment C+Amenities A+Commute B−
70
Score
overall 68 B−
9
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
Employment B−Amenities A−Commute A
70
Score
overall 74 B
10
Valencia Hotel, Santana Row
San Jose$1.23M median · 27.3 min commute
Employment C−Amenities ACommute C
67
Score
overall 60 C
This list's weighting
Employment 25%Amenities 25%Commute 20%Median rent (lower is better) 15%Cost of living 15%
Other San Jose lists
Best San Jose suburbs for familiesMost affordable San Jose suburbsBest San Jose suburbs for schoolsShortest commutes to Downtown San JoseMost walkable San Jose suburbsHow we score San Jose suburbs →

Photos from Wikimedia Commons: Mountain View (Aleh Haiko · CC BY-SA 3.0); Sunnyvale (The Sands of Time 0 · CC BY-SA 4.0); Santa Clara (JaGa · CC BY-SA 3.0); Cupertino (Coolcaesar at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0); Campbell (Coolcaesar at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0); Los Altos (Coolcaesar at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0); Stanford (Steven Baltakatei Sandoval · CC BY-SA 4.0); Milpitas (Dmitriy Grigoryev · CC BY-SA 3.0); Palo Alto (Sanfranman59 · CC BY-SA 3.0); San Jose (Payton Chung · CC BY 2.0).