Blog > Cupertino vs. Palo Alto: Home Prices, Sizes and the City Line (2026)
Cupertino and Palo Alto sit about 10 miles apart, center to center, both in Santa Clara County. Here’s how they compare on what houses, condos and townhomes sold for in the 12 months to October 27, 2026, and on the things that change at the city line: trains, electricity and transfer tax.
The short answer
- Houses: the median sale was $3.3M in Cupertino and $4M in Palo Alto, so a typical Palo Alto house cost 21% more than one in Cupertino.
- Per square foot: $1,660 in Cupertino and $2,129 in Palo Alto; the median house was 2,036 sq ft in Cupertino and 1,908 sq ft in Palo Alto, on a 7,490-sq-ft lot versus a 7,125-sq-ft lot.
- Competition: 71% of houses sold over asking in both.
- Condos and townhomes: a median of $1.28M in Cupertino (65 sales) and $1.5M in Palo Alto (141 sales).
- At the city line: they differ on trains (Cupertino has no rail station; Palo Alto has Caltrain), electricity (Silicon Valley Clean Energy in Cupertino, City of Palo Alto Utilities in Palo Alto) and transfer tax ($2,200 versus $8,800 on a $2 million sale).
See it live
- Open Cupertino vs. Palo Alto in the City Match-Up: homes for sale now and the last 90 days of sales, side by side.
- Talk to a Property Nerd about the streets that fit in either city.
Houses, side by side
Houses (MLS property type “single family home”) sold in the 12 months to October 27, 2026. The last three rows count listings whose description says so, so they undercount.
| Cupertino | Palo Alto | |
|---|---|---|
| Sales | 217 | 395 |
| Median price | $3.3M | $4M |
| Median per sq ft | $1,660 | $2,129 |
| Median size | 2,036 sq ft | 1,908 sq ft |
| Median lot | 7,490 sq ft | 7,125 sq ft |
| Median bedrooms | 4 | 4 |
| Sold over asking | 71% | 71% |
| Median sale vs. asking | 3.5% over | 6.0% over |
| Sold for $2 million or less | 4% | 3% |
| Listing says single-story | 19% | 10% |
| Listing mentions a pool | 11% | 8% |
| Listing mentions an ADU or in-law unit | 6% | 11% |
Condos and townhomes, side by side
Condos and townhomes sold in the same 12 months.
| Cupertino | Palo Alto | |
|---|---|---|
| Sales | 65 | 141 |
| Median price | $1.28M | $1.5M |
| Median per sq ft | $976 | $1,086 |
| Median size | 1,265 sq ft | 1,392 sq ft |
| Sold over asking | 40% | 35% |
At the city line
Some costs and services follow the city, not the mailing address.
| Cupertino | Palo Alto | |
|---|---|---|
| County | Santa Clara County | Santa Clara County |
| Caltrain | none | Palo Alto and California Ave |
| BART | none | none |
| VTA light rail | no | no |
| Electricity | Silicon Valley Clean Energy, delivered by PG&E | City of Palo Alto Utilities |
| Transfer tax on a $2 million sale | $2,200 | $8,800 |
| Eichler tracts | 1 tract on our Eichler index | 29 tracts on our Eichler index |
Electricity is the default provider for most homes; some addresses differ. Transfer tax is the county tax plus any city tax, by the rates on our calculators page; who pays it is set in the contract. School district lines don’t follow city lines, so check the district’s own boundary lookup for any address. See Palo Alto’s transfer tax.
How we counted
Closed sales reported to the MLS and read through the IDX feeds that power our home search, with repeat records removed (same MLS number and sale date). A sale is placed by the city in its MLS address, so a few homes in unincorporated pockets count under the nearby city. Medians follow the mix of homes, and cities are averages: blocks within each can differ a lot. Past sales aren’t a forecast or the value of any one home.
Go deeper
- Cupertino: Cupertino city guide, Cupertino neighborhoods compared, Cupertino home types by the numbers and the Cupertino housing market by the numbers.
- Palo Alto: Palo Alto city guide, Palo Alto neighborhoods compared, Palo Alto home types by the numbers and the Palo Alto housing market by the numbers.
- More comparisons: Cupertino vs. Saratoga, Cupertino vs. Sunnyvale, Los Altos vs. Cupertino, Los Altos vs. Palo Alto, Menlo Park vs. Palo Alto, Palo Alto vs. Mountain View, Palo Alto vs. Sunnyvale, Campbell vs. Cupertino, Cupertino vs. Los Gatos, Cupertino vs. Mountain View, Cupertino vs. San Jose, Cupertino vs. Santa Clara and Palo Alto vs. Atherton.
Weighing the two?
We’ll compare the homes and streets you’re actually considering, on both sides of the line, and set up a search that catches new listings the day they hit. Call (408) 373-1660 or (650) 383-8606, or book a strategy call. Commissions are negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what’s included.