Living in Menlo Park, CA
Suburb in California
Menlo Park is a suburb in California, home to about 33,000 people, with 4.5 million living within 31 mi. Day to day, much of daily life is walkable. Life moves at a fast pace, and homes are mostly apartments.
Is Menlo Park a good place to live? Pros and cons
👍 Pros
- Strong healthcare: 18 top-rated (4–5★) hospitals within 31 mi
- Easy flying: SJC is 14 mi away
- Great outdoors: coast or a lake close by
- Mild summers: highs around 79°F
👎 Cons
- Pricey housing: a typical 3-bedroom home is about $2.63M, and rent is $4,600 a month
Whether it's a good place for you depends on what you value. Take the quiz to see how Menlo Park ranks against your own priorities.
Key facts
Living in Menlo Park: common questions
What is the cost of living in Menlo Park?
A typical 3-bedroom home is worth about $2.63M, and a 3-bedroom rents for about $4,600 a month including utilities. Overall living costs are above the US average (index 110, where the US is 100).
What are taxes like in Menlo Park?
California collects about $3,279 in state income tax per resident, and homeowners here pay about 0.5% of their home's value in property tax each year.
Is Menlo Park safe?
Violent crime is well below the national rate (0.4× in FBI 2019 data).
How are the schools in Menlo Park?
Public schools in Menlo Park test well above the US average in math and reading (2018–19 state tests, put on one national scale with NAEP), with about 19 students per teacher.
What is the weather like in Menlo Park?
Menlo Park has mild winters: winter days average around 59°F and summer days around 79°F.
Does Menlo Park get natural disasters?
Natural disaster risk is high, mainly from earthquakes and flooding: 7 federally declared disasters have hit the county since 2000, and FEMA expects about 2.16 deaths or injuries per 100,000 residents a year.
What is the nearest major airport to Menlo Park?
The nearest major airport is SJC, about 14 mi away.
How Menlo Park scores
Each bar compares Menlo Park with the other 1,990 places in Best Life Fit Me. A dot shows where it sits between two ends, such as major metro and small town; neither end is better. Coloured bars run from poor (red) to excellent (green).
Places like Menlo Park
These places have the most similar overall profile across all 24 aspects.
The circle is each place's all-round score out of 100: the average of its 15 quality scores, from red (poor) to green (excellent).
Nearby
See all the best places to live in California.
Is Menlo Park right for you?
Answer 27 quick questions and see how it ranks against your priorities.