Los Altos vs. Cupertino: Downtowns, Zoning, Eichlers and the Market

Los Altos and Cupertino are close neighbors in western Santa Clara County, about 6 miles apart center to center, and part of Los Altos is in Cupertino’s school districts. Neither has a train station and neither adds a city transfer tax; the differences are in their downtowns, zoning and housing. Here’s the comparison, with a live-market snapshot from our City Match-Up.

The basics

• Incorporated. Cupertino on October 10, 1955; Los Altos in 1952.
• Trains. Neither has a Caltrain, BART or VTA light rail station.
• Downtown and campuses. Los Altos has its downtown around Main and State streets; Cupertino has Apple Park and De Anza College. See Homes Near Downtown and Homes Near Tech Campuses.
• Parks. Rancho San Antonio and Stevens Creek Park are listed under Cupertino on our parks page. See Homes Near Parks.
• Electricity. Both get power from Silicon Valley Clean Energy, delivered by PG&E.
• School districts. 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; Cupertino is mostly in Cupertino Union and Fremont Union High. 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 city. See our transfer tax guide.

Homes and rules

• Single-story zoning. Los Altos created its R1-S overlay in 2000 and has adopted it in several neighborhoods. Cupertino’s overlay shows as an “i” at the end of the zoning (for example, R1-10i), limiting homes to one story and 18 feet. See overlays by city.
• Eichlers. Our index lists two Eichler tracts in Los Altos, Fallen Leaf Park and San Antonio Court, and one in Cupertino, Fairgrove, zoned R1-e with Eichler design rules. See Silicon Valley Eichler tracts.
• Look-alikes. East Cupertino’s Rancho Rinconada was built in the early 1950s by Stern & Price to designs by Cliff May. See Is It Really an Eichler?
• Next door. Los Altos Hills is a separate town with its own rules; see Los Altos vs. Los Altos Hills. For Cupertino’s other neighbors, see Cupertino vs. Sunnyvale and Cupertino vs. Saratoga.

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: 29 in Los Altos, 55 in Cupertino.
• Sales in 90 days: 75 in Los Altos, 79 in Cupertino.
• Median sale price: $4.73 million in Los Altos, $2.92 million in Cupertino.
• Median price per square foot: $1,995 in Los Altos, $1,605 in Cupertino.
• Median sale-to-list: 104.6% in Los Altos, 100.7% in Cupertino.
• Months of supply: 1.2 in Los Altos, 2.1 in Cupertino.

Medians follow the mix of homes, and 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.