The 10 Richest Cities In California For 2024


The richest cities in California are Atherton and Los Altos Hills for 2024 based on Saturday Night Science.

You have to be either a trust fund baby, married to a Kardashian, super good at a sport, or a famous movie producer to live in our top ten richest cities in California for 2024.

You can stop searching if you’re looking for safe cities and neighborhoods, excellent schools, large green spaces, grand swimming pools, good food, and high-end shopping with a paycheck to match. We found the cities with the highest home prices and incomes in California.

Cities like Palos Verdes Estates and Pleasanton grace the Pacific Coast. And cities like San Ramon and Mill Valley are the playground to San Francisco.


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


Richest Cities In California Map

To narrow down the richest cities in California, we looked at median household income and home prices for all cities also with a population of at least 3,000. This filter left us with 446 cities.

What is the richest city in California? The richest city in California for 2024 is Atherton.

To take a closer look at the wealthiest cities in California for 2024, warm up your yacht, head to the sunny side of Half Moon Beach, and read on.

Rich people not your cup of tea? Feel free to check out some more reading about California:

The 10 Richest Cities In California For 2024

1. Atherton

Atherton, CA

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 7,124
Median Income: $250,001
Median Home Values: $7,732,900
More on Atherton: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

2. Los Altos Hills

Los Altos Hills, CA

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

10
/10

Population: 8,441
Median Income: $250,001
Median Home Values: $5,525,121
More on Los Altos Hills: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

3. Hillsborough

Hillsborough, CA

Source: Wikipedia User Sanfranman59 | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

10
/10

Population: 11,258
Median Income: $250,001
Median Home Values: $5,101,758
More on Hillsborough: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

4. Los Altos

Los Altos, CA

Source: Wikipedia User User:Kelly | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

10
/10

Population: 31,133
Median Income: $250,001
Median Home Values: $4,060,663
More on Los Altos: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

5. Monte Sereno

Monte Sereno, CA

Source: Wikipedia User Jack_Tramiel.jpg: Alex Handy from Oakland, Nmibia Cropped and brightened by Ubcule | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

10
/10

Population: 3,444
Median Income: $250,001
Median Home Values: $3,980,200
More on Monte Sereno: Data | Crime | Real Estate

6. Portola Valley

Portola Valley, CA

Source: Wikipedia User | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 4,397
Median Income: $250,001
Median Home Values: $3,841,103
More on Portola Valley: Data | Real Estate

7. Woodside

Woodside, CA

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

7.5
/10

Population: 5,256
Median Income: $250,001
Median Home Values: $3,633,237
More on Woodside: Data | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

8. Saratoga

Saratoga, CA

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

10
/10

Population: 30,771
Median Income: $237,730
Median Home Values: $3,602,379
More on Saratoga: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

9. Palo Alto

Palo Alto, CA

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

9.5
/10

Population: 67,901
Median Income: $214,118
Median Home Values: $3,220,174
More on Palo Alto: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

10. Piedmont

Piedmont, CA

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

9.5
/10

Population: 11,161
Median Income: $250,001
Median Home Values: $2,521,288
More on Piedmont: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Methodology: How We Determined The Richest Places In California For 2024

Map Of The Richest Places To Live In California
The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the richest places is simply identifying personal incomes. After all, rich people have really high salaries.

However, we don’t believe that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the “richest places.” So we looked at this set of criteria from the newly released 2018-2022 American Community Survey and applied Saturday Night Science:

  • Median Home Values
  • Median Household Income

Median household income is the most digestible way to understand how rich a place is. And home values are a measure of wealth. The two combine to define a “Rich City.”

After we collected the data for all 446 places with more than 3,000 people in California, we ranked each place from 1 to 446 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the richest.

We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a “Rich Score,” with the place having the lowest overall Rich Score, Atherton, crowned the “Richest City In California For 2024.”

The data has been updated for 2024. This is our tenth time ranking the wealthiest cities in California.

You can skip to the end to see the rankings for all 446 places.

Summary: The Wealthiest Places In California For 2024

Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the richest places in California, we weren’t sure what we’d encounter, but it ended up being some of the best places to live in California.

The richest cities in California are Atherton, Los Altos Hills, Hillsborough, Los Altos, Monte Sereno, Portola Valley, Woodside, Saratoga, Palo Alto, and Piedmont.

When you look at the data, the cities and places mentioned above meet the criteria for being at the very top of the income ladder for everyone that lives there.

If you’re curious enough, here are the poorest cities in California, according to data:

Poorest: Needles
2nd Poorest: Clearlake
3rd Poorest: Orange Cove

For more California reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Richest Cities In California

Rank City RichScore Median Income Average Home Price
1 Atherton 3.0 $250,001 $7,732,900
2 Los Altos Hills 3.5 $250,001 $5,525,121
3 Hillsborough 4.0 $250,001 $5,101,758
4 Los Altos 4.5 $250,001 $4,060,663
5 Monte Sereno 5.0 $250,001 $3,980,200
6 Portola Valley 5.5 $250,001 $3,841,103
7 Woodside 6.5 $250,001 $3,633,237
8 Saratoga 10.0 $237,730 $3,602,379
9 Palo Alto 13.5 $214,118 $3,220,174
10 Piedmont 13.5 $250,001 $2,521,288
11 Palos Verdes Estates 14.0 $224,766 $2,717,769
12 Cupertino 15.0 $223,667 $2,701,204
13 Tiburon 17.0 $200,886 $2,963,608
14 Orinda 19.0 $250,001 $2,000,722
15 San Carlos 19.0 $219,413 $2,206,123
16 Menlo Park 19.5 $198,273 $2,574,718
17 Malibu 20.0 $186,905 $3,392,502
18 Del Mar 20.0 $185,335 $3,618,018
19 Los Gatos 20.5 $198,117 $2,554,492
20 Manhattan Beach 21.0 $187,217 $2,990,671
21 Mill Valley 24.0 $202,986 $2,043,408
22 Lafayette 25.0 $219,250 $1,924,093
23 Danville 27.5 $209,518 $1,861,576
24 San Marino 28.5 $174,253 $2,524,471
25 Villa Park 28.5 $189,306 $2,030,498
26 Belmont 29.5 $185,944 $2,118,293
27 Corte Madera 30.0 $210,560 $1,760,932
28 Burlingame 32.0 $165,940 $2,516,360
29 Foster City 32.5 $191,267 $1,799,252
30 Newport Beach 34.0 $149,471 $3,132,424
31 Moraga 34.0 $193,707 $1,737,291
32 Rolling Hills Estates 34.0 $179,917 $1,986,586
33 Sunnyvale 36.0 $174,506 $1,875,596
34 Mountain View 38.0 $174,156 $1,845,861
35 Rancho Palos Verdes 40.0 $166,747 $1,836,118
36 Laguna Beach 40.5 $141,875 $2,817,490
37 Hermosa Beach 40.5 $149,500 $2,169,343
38 San Ramon 40.5 $190,829 $1,550,726
39 Pleasanton 43.0 $181,639 $1,582,884
40 Larkspur 43.5 $147,772 $2,123,779
41 Westlake Village 45.0 $188,681 $1,444,578
42 San Anselmo 46.0 $165,366 $1,659,899
43 Millbrae 47.5 $146,649 $1,927,421
44 Calabasas 48.5 $154,079 $1,667,987
45 Solana Beach 50.5 $137,647 $2,030,109
46 Santa Clara 51.0 $165,352 $1,524,900
47 Sausalito 51.5 $163,170 $1,538,563
48 Fremont 51.5 $169,023 $1,413,076
49 Encinitas 52.5 $142,506 $1,808,679
50 Dublin 53.5 $191,039 $1,293,624
51 Redwood City 54.0 $145,620 $1,706,486
52 Milpitas 54.5 $166,769 $1,346,828
53 La Habra Heights 57.5 $179,990 $1,294,550
54 El Segundo 58.0 $142,596 $1,606,335
55 San Mateo 58.0 $149,152 $1,510,087
56 Campbell 58.5 $141,794 $1,652,630
57 Half Moon Bay 59.0 $148,702 $1,510,034
58 St. Helena 60.5 $135,781 $1,750,362
59 Carmel-By-The-Sea 61.0 $126,406 $2,205,659
60 Coronado 61.5 $125,558 $2,474,258
61 Beverly Hills 62.0 $116,771 $3,641,358
62 Morgan Hill 65.0 $152,199 $1,310,579
63 San Clemente 67.0 $134,730 $1,564,490
64 Pacifica 70.0 $151,849 $1,246,502
65 Carlsbad 71.5 $134,139 $1,449,918
66 South Pasadena 72.5 $127,882 $1,650,214
67 Newark 73.5 $159,465 $1,189,585
68 Yorba Linda 74.0 $148,325 $1,245,181
69 Agoura Hills 74.5 $157,930 $1,186,593
70 Redondo Beach 74.5 $134,033 $1,379,761
71 San Jose 74.5 $136,010 $1,330,692
72 Laguna Niguel 77.0 $135,822 $1,312,612
73 Scotts Valley 78.5 $136,867 $1,261,441
74 San Francisco 79.5 $136,689 $1,254,436
75 Sierra Madre 80.5 $128,056 $1,347,845
76 Livermore 83.5 $152,590 $1,087,248
77 Clayton 83.5 $164,899 $1,066,247
78 Union City 83.5 $138,013 $1,190,525
79 Indian Wells 84.0 $132,479 $1,286,388
80 Dana Point 85.5 $119,632 $1,541,691
81 San Bruno 86.5 $131,669 $1,253,713
82 Brisbane 89.5 $137,583 $1,134,881
83 Irvine 90.0 $122,948 $1,331,528
84 Poway 91.5 $135,605 $1,140,886
85 Alameda 93.0 $129,917 $1,192,032
86 Fairfax 94.5 $126,034 $1,234,232
87 Mission Viejo 96.5 $136,570 $1,077,063
88 South San Francisco 97.0 $127,062 $1,191,225
89 Albany 98.5 $124,469 $1,208,704
90 Santa Monica 99.0 $106,797 $1,685,607
91 Rancho Santa Margarita 99.5 $150,146 $938,523
92 San Rafael 99.5 $113,839 $1,346,362
93 Walnut 101.0 $130,444 $1,093,688
94 Culver City 101.5 $114,429 $1,318,480
95 Pleasant Hill 102.0 $137,685 $996,672
96 Walnut Creek 103.0 $129,971 $1,086,764
97 San Juan Capistrano 104.0 $123,474 $1,177,462
98 Goleta 104.0 $113,889 $1,308,615
99 Eastvale 106.5 $151,615 $884,749
100 Lake Forest 107.5 $128,358 $1,056,345
About Chris Kolmar

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.