It’s no secret that the Bay Area is full of wealthy enclaves. But just how wealthy, compared to suburbs across California? And what does it take to buy a typical house in these communities?
To answer these questions, the Chronicle performed a data analysis ranking the 50 richest suburbs in California, and listing the average home value there. Perhaps not surprisingly, the analysis found eight out California’s 10 richest suburbs are in the Bay Area — with Los Altos taking the top spot statewide. That Silicon Valley community also had the No. 1 highest home value.
The analysis looked at U.S. census data on housing and income for California suburbs, defined as cities with at least 5,000 households that are part of a metropolitan statistical area but not the principal city (for example, cities that are near San Francisco but not San Francisco itself). We ranked the cities by estimated household mean income in 2023. (Which still won’t make you “rich” in a lot of these places.) Home value data came from Zillow, and is for 2025…