Silicon Valley neighborhood crowned California’s best — and it’s among the Top 3 in the Nation

A low-profile Silicon Valley neighborhood is suddenly stealing the spotlight nationwide.

Evergreen Park in Palo Alto has been crowned the best place to live in California and ranked No. 3 in the entire country on Niche’s 2026 Best Places to Live list, which evaluated more than 18,000 communities.

The rankings blend hard data with real-world feedback.

Niche analyzed information from the US Census, FBI, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and CDC, along with its own research and millions of resident reviews.

Metrics include cost of living, crime rates, school quality, job opportunities, and local amenities.

With a population of about 2,700, Evergreen Park offers an urban-style lifestyle packed into a small footprint.

Residents have easy access to parks, restaurants, and coffee shops, and the area scores especially high for walkability, outdoor activities, and health and fitness.

Its public schools are also highly rated, helping the neighborhood secure an overall A+ grade.

Living there is not cheap.

The median home value sits around $1.6 million, while the average monthly rent is about $3,400, in line with Silicon Valley’s notoriously high housing costs.

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Palo Alto dominates the state rankings, claiming every spot in the top 10.

According to Niche, California’s best places to live are:

1. Evergreen Park (Palo Alto)
2. Downtown North (Palo Alto)
3. College Terrace (Palo Alto)
4. University South (Palo Alto)
5. Crescent Park (Palo Alto)
6. Old Palo Alto (Palo Alto)
7. Midtown (Palo Alto)
8. Duveneck–St. Francis (Palo Alto)
9. Community Center (Palo Alto)
10. Barron Park (Palo Alto)

If you want top-tier living in California, Palo Alto sits at the center of it all, provided you can handle the sky-high price tag.