San Jose

Most affordable San Jose suburbs

Ranked on what a household actually pays: the in-house cost-of-living index at 55%, the median home value against the metro at 25% (lower is better here), and the share of households already stretched by housing costs at 20%.

Updated Sep 2026·16 suburbs considered, 10 listed
1
Along the east side of San Benito Street at Fifth Street, Hollister, California.
Hollister$718k median · 36.6 min commute
Cost of living B+Housing FEmployment D−
69
Affordability
overall 45 D
2
Alum Rock$910k median · 27.9 min commute
Cost of living BHousing FEmployment D
65
Affordability
overall 52 D+
3
Mission Santa Clara de Asís, on the campus of Santa Clara University in California.
Santa Clara$1.58M median · 22.6 min commute
Cost of living BHousing DEmployment C+
61
Affordability
overall 70 B−
4
Milpitas, CA City Hall
Milpitas$1.25M median · 25.8 min commute
Cost of living C+Housing D+Employment C+
61
Affordability
overall 68 B−
5
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
Cost of living BHousing CEmployment B−
61
Affordability
overall 75 B
6
Montage of Morgan Hill, CaliforniaPhotos gathered from: photo a (b1) Anderson lake (own work) b2 c1 c2, d
Morgan Hill$1.21M median · 33.5 min commute
Cost of living B−Housing DEmployment C−
60
Affordability
overall 55 C−
7
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
Cost of living BHousing C+Employment C+
58
Affordability
overall 77 B
8
Historic Murphy Avenue in Downtown Sunnyvale, California
Sunnyvale$1.80M median · 23.0 min commute
Cost of living B−Housing D+Employment B−
58
Affordability
overall 73 B
9
The original Gilroy City Hall. built in 1905. 7400 Monterey Street. Gilroy, California, United States.
Gilroy$1.03M median · 33.3 min commute
Cost of living B−Housing FEmployment D
57
Affordability
overall 50 D+
10
Valencia Hotel, Santana Row
San Jose$1.23M median · 27.3 min commute
Cost of living B−Housing D−Employment C−
57
Affordability
overall 60 C
This list's weighting
Cost of living 55%Median home value (lower is better) 25%Cost-burdened households 20%
Other San Jose lists
Best San Jose suburbs for familiesBest San Jose suburbs for schoolsShortest commutes to Downtown San JoseMost walkable San Jose suburbsBest San Jose suburbs for young professionalsHow we score San Jose suburbs →

Photos from Wikimedia Commons: Hollister (BrendelSignature · CC BY-SA 3.0); Santa Clara (JaGa · CC BY-SA 3.0); Milpitas (Dmitriy Grigoryev · CC BY-SA 3.0); Cupertino (Coolcaesar at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0); Morgan Hill (Cristiano Tomás · CC BY-SA 4.0); Los Altos (Coolcaesar at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0); Sunnyvale (The Sands of Time 0 · CC BY-SA 4.0); Gilroy (Sanfranman59 · CC BY-SA 3.0); San Jose (Payton Chung · CC BY 2.0).