The 10 Best Fremont Suburbs To Live In For 2026

The best Fremont suburbs are Piedmont and Saratoga for 2026 based on Saturday Night Science.

Fremont has plenty to offer, but the price of admission usually comes with traffic, sky-high rent, and a calendar that fills itself.

If you want the upside of Fremont without the daily grind, the answer is almost always a good suburb. The catch: not every suburb is worth the move.

So we ranked them. Using Saturday Night Science, we pulled the numbers on every place within commuting distance of Fremont: incomes, home prices, unemployment, schools, the works. The result is a no-nonsense ranking of where you actually want to live.


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table


What’s the best suburb of Fremont? Piedmont ranks as the best suburb of Fremont for 2026 based on the most recent Census and FBI data. If you happen to be a resident of Piedmont, you’re probably not too surprised to find it on the top our list.

We’ll tell you what makes each of these 10 Fremont ‘burbs better than the rest–but first, a bit about our methodology.

Feel free to check out some more reading about California:

The 10 Best Fremont Suburbs To Live For 2026

Piedmont, CA

Source: Wikipedia User Sam Pullara | CC BY 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

9.5
/10

Population: 10,945
Median Income: $250,001
Unemployment Rate: 1.5%
Poverty Rate: 4.3%
More on Piedmont: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

Piedmont is always mentioned as one of the best suburbs in the Fremont area. We’ll tell you the good about “Awesome Piedmont.”

Everyone here is rich; families average $250,001 a year, which is the 5th highest in the Fremont region. And only 1.53% are out of work. Homes average more than $2,459,056 each.

Saratoga, CA

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

10
/10

Population: 30,319
Median Income: $250,001
Unemployment Rate: 4.0%
Poverty Rate: 3.3%
More on Saratoga: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

Saratoga is the second best ‘burb we looked at near Fremont for 2026.

It ranks 5th for incomes in the area and only 0.91% of residents lack insurance, good for 6th best.

Los Altos, CA

Source: Wikipedia User User:Kelly | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

10
/10

Population: 30,698
Median Income: $250,001
Unemployment Rate: 4.8%
Poverty Rate: 3.2%
More on Los Altos: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

Here in Los Altos, it’s really safe, and residents are just about as rich as you’ll see in the Fremont metro area.

The bad side? Schools are more crowded, and the cost of living puts a large part of the city out of reach for most families.

But price is based on demand and a lot of people want to live in Los Altos.

Woodside, CA

Source: Wikipedia User Users Jawed, Jawed on en.wikipedia | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

7.5
/10

Population: 5,126
Median Income: $250,001
Unemployment Rate: 2.5%
Poverty Rate: 4.5%
More on Woodside: Data | Cost Of Living | Movers

Woodside ranks as the 4th best suburb of Fremont for 2026.

You won’t find many better places to raise your kids in the region than in Woodside and the schools are some of the best around.

Orinda, CA

Source: Wikipedia User Andwhatsnext at English Wikipedia | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

10
/10

Population: 19,514
Median Income: $250,001
Unemployment Rate: 3.4%
Poverty Rate: 2.2%
More on Orinda: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

Coming in as the fifth best is Orinda.

Orinda gets kudos for having the 20th most expensive homes in the Fremont area, where houses sell for an average of $1,985,116. However, the cost of living here is among the highest in the area.

Cupertino, CA

Source: Wikipedia User Coolcaesar at en.wikipedia | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

10
/10

Population: 58,566
Median Income: $234,707
Unemployment Rate: 4.0%
Poverty Rate: 4.1%
More on Cupertino: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

Cupertino is proud of its 6th place finish on this list. And here’s why.

Most residents have great jobs and the unemployment rate sits at 4.03%.

According to online reports, Cupertino is quickly becoming one of the more affluent suburbs in the Fremont area, meaning you need to get in soon.

San Carlos, CA

Source: Wikipedia User Coolcaesar at English Wikipedia | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

7.5
/10

Population: 29,614
Median Income: $237,470
Unemployment Rate: 5.0%
Poverty Rate: 3.3%
More on San Carlos: Data | Cost Of Living | Movers

The 7th best suburb on our list goes to San Carlos.

San Carlos schools are some of the best in the region, and crime is really low. The cost of living makes it a lot more desirable for many families, especially first-time home buyers.

And, it’s only 17.8 miles to downtown, which is a good thing.

Atherton, CA

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 6,993
Median Income: $250,001
Unemployment Rate: 3.2%
Poverty Rate: 5.3%
More on Atherton: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

Atherton is growing quickly, and for a good reason. Crime is far below average, and most residents are gainfully employed. Even the cost of living is reasonable.

A solid 1.74% of people lack insurance, good for 16th in the area.

Los Altos Hills, CA

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

10
/10

Population: 8,377
Median Income: $250,001
Unemployment Rate: 3.5%
Poverty Rate: 7.3%
More on Los Altos Hills: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

Is ‘Everything Better In Los Altos Hills?’

Almost.

It placed 9th on our list thanks to the fact that it’s really expensive to live here, but the schools are great, so you get what you pay for in that regard.

Portola Valley, CA

Source: Wikipedia User | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 4,305
Median Income: $250,001
Unemployment Rate: 3.1%
Poverty Rate: 6.2%
More on Portola Valley: Data | Movers

And rounding out the top ten for 2026 is Portola Valley.

This city is far above average in every category, and the best part? It’s far more affordable than the other cities listed above. So, you get a big bang for your buck here.

Methodology: How We Determined The Best Suburbs Around Fremont for 2026

Figuring out the best suburbs around Fremont was simple. We used Saturday Night Science to find things people like about living in the suburbs and then locate the suburbs with those things.

We analyzed the newest American Community Survey data for 2020-2024 to research each suburb. We decided upon the following criteria:

  • Low unemployment rate
  • High median household incomes
  • Population density (lots of things to do)
  • High home values
  • A lot of college-educated people
  • Low poverty
  • High rate of insured families

We defined a suburb as being within 30 miles of Fremont.

Additionally, we limited the analysis to places that have over 3,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 44 suburbs to evaluate around Fremont.

We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 44 in each category, where 1 was the “best.

Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a quality-of-life index.

Finally, we crowned the city with the best quality of life index, the “Best Suburb near Fremont.” We’re lookin’ at you, Piedmont.

This result may differ from our state-wide data as we did not include commute times and crime for this analysis to allow for a more extensive selection of suburbs.

We updated the data for 2026. This report is our eleventh time ranking the best Fremont suburbs. Skip to the end to see the list of all the suburbs ranked from best to worst.

Summary: Welcome to the Best Fremont ‘Burbs of 2026

We said it once, and we’ll say it again–life in the big city isn’t for everyone. At least not all the time.

The best suburbs of Fremont are .

So if you’re craving the amenities of a larger city like Fremont but don’t want to deal with the drawbacks, one of these suburbs might be for you.

For more California reading, check out:

Table: Best Fremont Suburbs

Rank City Population Median Income Average Home Price
1 Piedmont, CA 10,945 $250,001 $2,459,056
2 Saratoga, CA 30,319 $250,001 $4,189,622
3 Los Altos, CA 30,698 $250,001 $4,713,314
4 Woodside, CA 5,126 $250,001 $3,891,384
5 Orinda, CA 19,514 $250,001 $1,985,116
6 Cupertino, CA 58,566 $234,707 $3,189,451
7 San Carlos, CA 29,614 $237,470 $2,459,877
8 Atherton, CA 6,993 $250,001 $7,890,840
9 Los Altos Hills, CA 8,377 $250,001 $6,102,344
10 Portola Valley, CA 4,305 $250,001 $4,275,092
11 Lafayette, CA 25,285 $228,250 $1,934,580
12 Hillsborough, CA 11,099 $250,001 $5,279,135
13 Monte Sereno, CA 3,461 $250,001 $2,108,567
14 Los Gatos, CA 32,786 $217,554 $2,705,289
15 Danville, CA 43,401 $232,216 $1,908,520
16 Palo Alto, CA 67,237 $231,101 $3,722,200
17 Dublin, CA 70,803 $214,385 $1,305,295
18 Mountain View, CA 83,732 $189,917 $2,037,086
19 Sunnyvale, CA 154,236 $186,170 $2,168,909
20 San Ramon, CA 85,993 $196,161 $1,543,534
21 Menlo Park, CA 32,727 $210,025 $2,865,158
22 Pleasanton, CA 76,960 $190,124 $1,601,646
23 Livermore, CA 85,522 $160,775 $1,122,822
24 Belmont, CA 27,337 $205,297 $2,332,686
25 Moraga, CA 16,769 $216,193 $1,666,829
26 Campbell, CA 42,781 $145,268 $1,977,422
27 Burlingame, CA 30,525 $174,000 $2,761,629
28 Millbrae, CA 22,689 $163,476 $2,082,464
29 Milpitas, CA 78,578 $178,798 $1,502,890
30 San Mateo, CA 103,105 $153,504 $1,686,905
31 South San Francisco, CA 64,305 $136,578 $1,242,213
32 Newark, CA 46,903 $169,064 $1,260,997
33 Morgan Hill, CA 45,425 $163,920 $1,356,869
34 Half Moon Bay, CA 11,391 $157,884 $1,573,307
35 Santa Clara, CA 130,256 $178,958 $1,782,191
36 Alameda, CA 77,238 $137,697 $1,155,483
37 San Bruno, CA 42,307 $141,272 $1,327,402
38 Walnut Creek, CA 70,088 $130,432 $1,045,017
39 San Jose, CA 990,138 $146,427 $1,463,614
40 Brisbane, CA 4,692 $156,169 $1,159,532
41 East Palo Alto, CA 29,069 $113,493 $1,034,440
42 San Leandro, CA 87,826 $101,420 $817,480
43 Oakland, CA 439,418 $101,600 $716,248
44 Hayward, CA 158,801 $113,318 $848,427
Chris Kolmar
About the author

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.

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