Warm-summer Mediterranean
Palo Alto, California
Santa Clara County, California · Population 67k · 256 ft elevation
Living in Palo Alto
Palo Alto has a warm-summer mediterranean climate: pleasantly warm summers (July highs around 79°F) and mild winters (January lows around 38°F).
Precipitation is dry at about 15″ a year, and it essentially never sees snow.
Skies are exceptionally sunny (81% of possible sunshine). It never gets truly muggy.
Air quality is moderate: a median AQI of 47, with about 1 unhealthy-air day in the latest year.
There is plenty to explore outdoors around Palo Alto: about 9% of the land within 30 miles is public (parks, national forest and the like), and the terrain rises and falls about 2,500 ft around town.
Palo Alto at a glance
- Population
- 67k
- Elevation
- 256 ft
- Average daily high
- 69°F60th percentile
- Average daily low
- 46°F52th percentile
- Annual precipitation
- 15″9th percentile
- Annual snowfall
- 0″0th percentile
- Sunshine hours per year
- 3,664 hrs94th percentile
- Median AQI
- 4776th percentile
- Median home value
- $2M99th percentile
- Median rent
- $3,328/mo99th percentile
- Median household income
- $220k99th percentile
- Property tax rate
- 0.50%9th percentile
- Top state income-tax rate
- 13.3%
- Sales tax (state + local)
- 8.8%
- Unemployment rate
- 3.7%
- Homes with broadband
- 96%82th percentile
- Walkability index
- 14.996th percentile
- Average commute
- 23 min
- Math proficiency (8th grade)
- 83%95th percentile
- Reading proficiency (8th grade)
- 88%
- Violent crime rate
- 159 per 100k46th percentile
- Property crime rate
- 2,882 per 100k
- Overall natural-hazard risk
- 10093th percentile
- Outdoor access
- 8584th percentile
- Public land within 10 miles
- 15%
- Public land within 30 miles
- 9%
- Mountain relief within 30 miles
- 2,526 ft
Climate by month
| Month | High | Low | Precipitation | Snow | Sunshine |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 57°F | 38°F | 3.0″ | — | 193 hrs |
| Feb | 60°F | 41°F | 3.2″ | — | 207 hrs |
| Mar | 65°F | 43°F | 2.2″ | — | 268 hrs |
| Apr | 69°F | 45°F | 1.0″ | — | 308 hrs |
| May | 73°F | 49°F | 0.4″ | — | 377 hrs |
| Jun | 78°F | 52°F | 0.1″ | — | 412 hrs |
| Jul | 79°F | 55°F | 0.0″ | — | 431 hrs |
| Aug | 78°F | 55°F | 0.0″ | — | 402 hrs |
| Sep | 79°F | 52°F | 0.1″ | — | 346 hrs |
| Oct | 73°F | 48°F | 0.6″ | — | 302 hrs |
| Nov | 63°F | 42°F | 1.6″ | — | 230 hrs |
| Dec | 57°F | 38°F | 3.0″ | — | 189 hrs |
Near Palo Alto
- Los Altos Hills, CA · 8.4k
- Stanford, CA · 18k
- Los Altos, CA · 31k
- Mountain View, CA · 82k
- Loyola, CA · 3.9k
- West Menlo Park, CA · 3.4k
- East Palo Alto, CA · 29k
- Atherton, CA · 7k
Largest places in California
- Los Angeles, CA · 3.9M
- San Diego, CA · 1.4M
- San Jose, CA · 990k
- San Francisco, CA · 836k
- Fresno, CA · 544k
- Sacramento, CA · 525k
- Long Beach, CA · 458k
- Oakland, CA · 438k
Sources: NOAA climate normals, NASA POWER, EPA air quality, U.S. Census Bureau, FEMA, FBI, EPA walkability and EDFacts. Methodology