Blog > Los Altos vs. Palo Alto: Prices, Lots, Trains, Taxes and Zoning
Los Altos and Palo Alto are next-door cities in Santa Clara County, and buyers often shop both. On the ground, the differences come down to trains, utilities, closing costs, zoning and which school district an address falls in. Here’s how they compare, with 12 months of house sales measured side by side.
The numbers: houses sold in the last 12 months
Houses only (no condos or townhomes), sold October 27, 2025 to October 26, 2026. Los Altos here means sales with Los Altos as the MLS city; Los Altos Hills is a separate town and isn’t included.
| Palo Alto | Los Altos | |
|---|---|---|
| Houses sold | 370 | 252 |
| Median sale price | $4M | $4.9M |
| Median price per sq ft | $2,126 | $1,965 |
| Median house size | 1,923 sq ft | 2,495 sq ft |
| Median lot | 7,069 sq ft | 10,800 sq ft |
| Lots of 10,000 sq ft or more | 17% | 77% |
| Sold over asking | 69% | 72% |
| Median sale vs. list price | 5.6% over | 5.1% over |
| Sold under $3 million | 17% | 5% |
| Sold for $5 million or more | 30% | 49% |
What the numbers say
- Los Altos costs more per house; Palo Alto costs more per square foot. The median Los Altos house sold for $4.9M, 23% more than Palo Alto’s $4M. Per square foot it’s the other way round: Palo Alto’s median was $2,126, 8% above Los Altos’s $1,965.
- Los Altos buyers get more land and more house. The median Los Altos lot was 10,800 sq ft against 7,069 in Palo Alto, and 77% of Los Altos sales sat on lots of 10,000 sq ft or more (Palo Alto: 17%). The median Los Altos house was also bigger, 2,495 sq ft against 1,923.
- Most houses in both cities sold over asking. 69% of Palo Alto houses and 72% of Los Altos houses sold over the list price; the median sale was 5.6% over in Palo Alto and 5.1% over in Los Altos. Just over a third sold 10% or more over list (Palo Alto 35%, Los Altos 36%).
- Price ranges. 17% of Palo Alto house sales were under $3 million, against 5% in Los Altos. At the top, 49% of Los Altos sales were $5 million or more (Palo Alto: 30%).
- Against the year before. Palo Alto’s median house price is up 5% from $3.81M a year earlier; Los Altos’s is up 2% from $4.81M.
- Spring is the busy season in both. Sales that closed from April to June 2026 were 36% of the year’s house sales in Palo Alto (132 of 370) and 37% in Los Altos (92 of 252).
Same size, different answer
Palo Alto’s higher price per square foot is partly its mix of houses. 29% of its house sales were under 1,500 sq ft, against 9% in Los Altos, and in both cities smaller houses sell for more per square foot. Compare houses of the same size, and under 2,000 sq ft Los Altos is higher per square foot too.
| House size | Palo Alto median | Los Altos median | Palo Alto $/sq ft | Los Altos $/sq ft | Sales (Palo Alto / Los Altos) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 1,500 sq ft | $3.01M | $3.98M | $2,413 | $3,066 | 106 / 22 |
| 1,500 to 1,999 sq ft | $3.56M | $4.13M | $2,085 | $2,298 | 87 / 44 |
| 2,000 to 2,499 sq ft | $4.4M | $4.45M | $2,012 | $1,974 | 69 / 61 |
| 2,500 to 3,499 sq ft | $5.95M | $5.37M | $1,981 | $1,789 | 63 / 84 |
| 3,500 sq ft or more | $8M | $7.5M | $1,937 | $1,702 | 45 / 41 |
- Under 2,000 sq ft, Los Altos costs more, per house and per square foot. Under 1,500 sq ft the medians were $3.98M in Los Altos and $3.01M in Palo Alto.
- From 2,000 to 2,499 sq ft the two are close: $4.45M in Los Altos, $4.4M in Palo Alto.
- At 2,500 sq ft and up, Palo Alto costs more: $5.95M against $5.37M from 2,500 to 3,499 sq ft, and $8M against $7.5M at 3,500 sq ft or more.
Land is part of it. Under 1,500 sq ft, the median Los Altos lot was 10,109 sq ft against 6,313 in Palo Alto, so a small Los Altos house usually comes with more yard. The 22 Los Altos sales under 1,500 sq ft are a small sample.
Sales by price band
How the year’s house sales spread across price bands. Under $3.5 million there were 132 Palo Alto sales (36%) and 20 in Los Altos (8%). Percentages are rounded.
| Sale price | Palo Alto | Los Altos |
|---|---|---|
| Under $2.5 million | 23 (6%) | 3 (1%) |
| $2.5M to under $3.5M | 109 (29%) | 17 (7%) |
| $3.5M to under $4.5M | 96 (26%) | 78 (31%) |
| $4.5M to under $6M | 69 (19%) | 92 (37%) |
| $6 million or more | 73 (20%) | 62 (25%) |
By ZIP code
ZIP codes with 10 or more house sales. ZIP 94303 also covers East Palo Alto; only sales with Palo Alto as the city are counted. 6 Palo Alto sales in other ZIP codes are left out of this table.
| ZIP | Sales | Median price | Median $/sq ft | Sold over asking | Median vs. list |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 94301 (Palo Alto) | 125 | $4.6M | $2,234 | 58% | 3.1% over |
| 94303 (Palo Alto) | 90 | $3.77M | $2,139 | 79% | 6.7% over |
| 94306 (Palo Alto) | 149 | $3.51M | $2,077 | 72% | 6.7% over |
| 94022 (Los Altos) | 96 | $5.13M | $2,123 | 76% | 5.4% over |
| 94024 (Los Altos) | 156 | $4.74M | $1,877 | 69% | 4.6% over |
By bedrooms
Bedrooms as listed in the MLS. With 4 bedrooms or fewer, the Los Altos median was higher; with 5 or more, Palo Alto’s was.
| Bedrooms | Palo Alto sales | Palo Alto median | Los Altos sales | Los Altos median |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 or fewer | 167 | $3.3M | 76 | $4.13M |
| 4 | 124 | $4.29M | 101 | $5.03M |
| 5 or more | 79 | $6.7M | 75 | $5.95M |
Go deeper, city by city: Palo Alto housing market by the numbers, Los Altos housing market by the numbers, Palo Alto houses by neighborhood and Los Altos houses by neighborhood.
The basics
- Incorporated. Palo Alto in 1894, Los Altos in 1952.
- Caltrain. Palo Alto has two stations, Palo Alto (University Avenue) and California Avenue. Los Altos has no Caltrain station.
- Downtowns. Palo Alto has University Avenue and California Avenue; Los Altos has its downtown around Main and State streets. See Homes Near Downtown for homes within a short walk of each. For Palo Alto, see Is Palo Alto Walkable?
- Electricity. Palo Alto runs its own utility, which also provides gas, water, wastewater collection and fiber. Los Altos gets power from Silicon Valley Clean Energy, delivered by PG&E.
- School districts. Palo Alto is in the Palo Alto Unified School District. Most of Los Altos is in the Los Altos School District and the Mountain View–Los Altos Union High School District, with a portion in Cupertino Union and Fremont Union High. Check the district’s boundary lookup for any address.
At closing
Palo Alto adds a city transfer tax of $3.30 per $1,000 to the county’s $1.10; Los Altos adds none. On a $4 million sale that’s $17,600 in Palo Alto and $4,400 in Los Altos. See our transfer tax guide.
Homes and zoning
- Eichlers. Our index lists 29 Eichler tracts in Palo Alto and two in Los Altos, Fallen Leaf Park and San Antonio Court. See Silicon Valley Eichler tracts.
- Single-story zoning. Both cities have overlays. Palo Alto’s R-1(S) covers many Eichler tracts; Los Altos created its R1-S overlay in 2000 and has adopted it in several neighborhoods. See overlays by city.
- Next door. Los Altos Hills is a separate town with its own rules; see Los Altos vs. Los Altos Hills.
Compare the market live
Our City Match-Up puts Los Altos and Palo Alto side by side with live listings and the last 90 days of sales: median prices, price per square foot, sale-to-list and months of supply. Switch to houses only to compare like with like.
All four cities side by side, with houses vs. condos and ten years of change: Palo Alto vs. Los Altos vs. Mountain View vs. Sunnyvale.
More comparisons: Cupertino vs. Palo Alto, Saratoga vs. Los Altos, Palo Alto vs. Atherton and Los Gatos vs. Los Altos.
Our sales in both cities
Palo Alto: 34 of our sales since 2017 in MLS records (28 we listed, 6 buyer sides), on Palo Alto homes sold. Los Altos: 31 since 2012 (18 we listed, 13 buyer sides), on Los Altos homes sold, which counts Los Altos and Los Altos Hills together.
Common questions
Is Los Altos more expensive than Palo Alto?
Per house, yes: the median Los Altos house sold for $4.9M in the last 12 months, against $4M in Palo Alto. Per square foot, Palo Alto was higher ($2,126 against $1,965). For houses of the same size, Los Altos cost more under 2,000 sq ft and Palo Alto cost more from 2,500 sq ft up.
Where do you get a bigger lot?
Los Altos. Its median house lot was 10,800 sq ft against 7,069 in Palo Alto, and 77% of Los Altos house sales were on lots of 10,000 sq ft or more (Palo Alto: 17%).
Do houses sell over asking in both cities?
Most do: 69% in Palo Alto and 72% in Los Altos over the last 12 months.
Which city has Caltrain?
Palo Alto, with two stations (Palo Alto and California Avenue). Los Altos has none.
How much is the transfer tax?
Palo Alto charges $3.30 per $1,000 on top of the county’s $1.10; Los Altos adds nothing. On a $4 million sale that’s $17,600 in Palo Alto and $4,400 in Los Altos. See our transfer tax guide.
Is Los Altos Hills part of Los Altos?
No. It’s a separate town with its own rules and isn’t counted here; see Los Altos vs. Los Altos Hills.
How we counted
Closed sales of houses (MLS property type “single family home”) with a Palo Alto or Los Altos city in the MLS record, sold October 27, 2025 to October 26, 2026, read through the IDX feeds that power our home search, with repeat records of the same sale removed. Price per square foot uses sales with 400 sq ft or more; lot sizes are as reported in the listing, between 1,000 and 200,000 sq ft. House size, bedrooms and ZIP code are as listed in the MLS. “Sold over asking” compares the sale price with the final list price; the April-to-June share counts sales by closing date. Past sales aren’t a forecast or the value of any one home.
Weighing the two? Call the Boyenga Team at (408) 373-1660 or (650) 383-8606. Commissions are negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what’s included.