Sunnyvale Ranks High Despite Housing Costs

Sunnyvale ranked No. 8 in U.S. News & World Report’s 2025-2026 list of the best places to live in California. (usnews.com) (paloaltoonline.com) The U.S. News ranking covered 161 California cities and placed Sunnyvale behind Dublin at No. 7 and ahead of Rocklin at No. 9. (usnews.com) U.S. News gave Sunnyvale an overall score of 5.7 and listed a population of 157,658, a 21-minute average commute, a median home value of $1,760,237 and median monthly rent of $2,820. (usnews.com) Palo Alto Online said Cupertino ranked No. 3 and Sunnyvale No. 8, putting two Silicon Valley cities in the state’s top 10. (paloaltoonline.com) The appeal is not hard to trace in Sunnyvale’s case. Niche says the city has 154,236 residents, many families and young professionals, and highly rated public schools. (niche.com) Niche’s housing page shows the tradeoff more starkly: a median home value of $1,801,800, median rent of $3,039, and just 12% of surveyed residents saying housing is affordable. (niche.com) That pressure fits the wider Santa Clara County market. Palo Alto Online reported in February that Santa Clara County remained one of California’s priciest housing markets even after affordability improved slightly at the end of 2025. (paloaltoonline.com) Earlier reporting from Palo Alto Online, citing an Attom study, said Sunnyvale’s typical home price was about 11.8 times local household income, based on roughly $2 million homes and $169,781 income. (paloaltoonline.com) So Sunnyvale’s top-10 finish says less about cheap living than about what buyers and renters still get for the price: short commutes, strong schools and a central Silicon Valley job base. (usnews.com) (niche.com)