The blend of business and residential areas anchored by a vibrant downtown defines Palo Alto’s unique character. At the same time, Palo Alto, known as “Birthplace of the Silicon Valley,” is recognized worldwide as a leader in cutting-edge technological development. Proximity to Stanford University with its cultural and educational offerings add to the vibrancy, innate charm and beauty of Palo Alto. Distinctive in every way, Palo Alto, with a population of approximately 59,000 residents, offers its business community a diverse and exciting environment in which to work and live.

Palo Alto is home to numerous company headquarters for world class technology companies, such as Hewlett-Packard, VMWare, and SAP. Many of these firms are located in the renowned Stanford Research Park on Page Mill Road, and many of the local giant technology firms (e.g. Google and Facebook) started in the park but relocated due to space constraints. Google has only recently re-established a presence in the park to get a foothold back in Palo Alto. The research park is credited with creating an ecosystem where companies can grow and have close access to local law firms and access to venture capital from the firms on Sand Hill Road.

Residents moving to Palo Alto are often trying to access the incredible public school system and provide their children with an experience that combines excellent teachers and low student-teacher ratios. The schools in the Palo Alto Unified School District are consistently ranked as the top in the State, and local Gunn and Palo Alto High often appear in national rankings for the quality of their education and admittance rates to top universities. For parents looking for private schools there are numerous options available; some that offer bilingual immersion opportunities, some that are focused on the whole child, and some that are strictly focused on college preparation.

Palo Alto to the North of Oregon Expressway has primarily older Craftsman and California Colonial homes that date back to the late 1900's. South of Oregon Expressway, homes were built in the 1950's and 1960's and include ranch style homes along with Eichler or Eichler-like homes. The areas to the North and closer to the downtown typically command premium pricing, and the overall cost of housing in the entire city is some of the highest in the State on a per square foot basis.

There are three zip codes that serve the majority of the residences in Palo Alto: 94301, 94303 and 94306. The 94306 zip code is shared with East Palo Alto, but East Palo Alto is a separate city. Below is the historical market data for the city separated by zip code.

Note:  You can find our Sereno Group Palo Alto office on High Street!