Campbell vs. Los Gatos: Light Rail, Downtowns, Rules and the Market

Campbell and Los Gatos are next-door neighbors in Santa Clara County, about 4 miles apart center to center, and each has a downtown with older houses nearby. The clearest difference is rail: Campbell has VTA light rail, and Los Gatos has no station. Here’s the comparison, with a live-market snapshot from our City Match-Up.

The basics

• Light rail. Campbell has three VTA light rail stops: Winchester, Downtown Campbell and Hamilton. Los Gatos has no rail station. See Homes Near VTA Light Rail.
• Downtowns. Downtown Campbell runs along Campbell Avenue; downtown Los Gatos centers on North Santa Cruz Avenue and Main Street. See Homes Near Downtown for homes within a short walk of each.
• Parks and employers. Vasona Lake and the headquarters of Netflix are in Los Gatos. See Homes Near Parks.
• Electricity. Both get power from Silicon Valley Clean Energy, delivered by PG&E.
• School districts. Check the district’s boundary lookup for any address.

At closing

Neither adds a city transfer tax, so a $2 million sale carries only the county’s $2,200 in either place. See our transfer tax guide.

Homes and rules

• Victorians. Downtown Campbell has Queen Anne cottages from the 1890s. Los Gatos has design guidelines for five historic districts: Almond Grove, Broadway, Fairview Plaza, University-Edelen and Downtown. See Los Gatos Victorian and Edwardian homes and our Downtown Campbell guide.
• Eichlers. Neither has an Eichler tract. Nearby, Monte Sereno has Sereno Foothills, 16 Eichlers on Via Sereno, and San Jose has Fairglen and other tracts. See Silicon Valley Eichler tracts.
• Single-story zoning. We found no single-story overlay in either. See overlays by city.
• Rentals. Los Gatos runs a rental dispute program for properties with three or more units: one increase a year, with 5% presumed valid and larger increases open to tenant petitions. See rent rules by city.

The market, in a snapshot

From our City Match-Up on October 18, 2026, for houses, condos and townhomes, with sales from the previous 90 days:

• Homes for sale: 86 in Campbell, 129 in Los Gatos.
• Sales in 90 days: 81 in Campbell, 98 in Los Gatos.
• Median sale price: $1.82 million in Campbell, $2.14 million in Los Gatos.
• Median price per square foot: $1,076 in Campbell, $1,001 in Los Gatos.
• Median sale-to-list: 100.1% in Campbell, 98.3% in Los Gatos.
• Months of supply: 3.2 in Campbell, 3.9 in Los Gatos.

Campbell’s price per square foot runs higher even though its median price is lower, which points to smaller homes on average. These numbers change daily, so open the live City Match-Up and switch to houses only to compare like with like.

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.