Blog > Palo Alto vs. Atherton: Home Prices, Sizes and the City Line (2026)
Palo Alto and Atherton sit about 3 miles apart, center to center, Palo Alto in Santa Clara County and Atherton in San Mateo 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 $4M in Palo Alto and $10.7M in Atherton, so a typical Atherton house cost about 2.7 times as much as one in Palo Alto.
- Per square foot: $2,129 in Palo Alto and $2,199 in Atherton; the median house was 1,908 sq ft in Palo Alto and 4,275 sq ft in Atherton, on a 0.16-acre lot versus a 0.99-acre lot.
- Competition: 71% of Palo Alto houses sold over asking, against 48% in Atherton.
- Condos and townhomes: Atherton had fewer than 10 sales, so this comparison is about houses.
- At the city line: they differ on trains (Palo Alto has Caltrain; Atherton has no rail station), electricity (City of Palo Alto Utilities in Palo Alto, WestLight Energy in Atherton) and transfer tax ($8,800 versus $2,200 on a $2 million sale), and they’re in different counties (Santa Clara and San Mateo).
See it live
- Open Palo Alto vs. Atherton 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.
| Palo Alto | Atherton | |
|---|---|---|
| Sales | 395 | 75 |
| Median price | $4M | $10.7M |
| Median per sq ft | $2,129 | $2,199 |
| Median size | 1,908 sq ft | 4,275 sq ft |
| Median lot | 0.16 acre | 0.99 acre |
| Median bedrooms | 4 | 5 |
| Sold over asking | 71% | 48% |
| Median sale vs. asking | 6.0% over | at asking |
| Sold for $2 million or less | 3% | 1% |
| Listing says single-story | 10% | 17% |
| Listing mentions a pool | 8% | 60% |
| Listing mentions an ADU or in-law unit | 11% | 31% |
At the city line
Some costs and services follow the city, not the mailing address.
| Palo Alto | Atherton | |
|---|---|---|
| County | Santa Clara County | San Mateo County |
| Caltrain | Palo Alto and California Ave | none |
| BART | none | none |
| VTA light rail | no | no |
| Electricity | City of Palo Alto Utilities | WestLight Energy, delivered by PG&E |
| Transfer tax on a $2 million sale | $8,800 | $2,200 |
| Eichler tracts | 29 tracts on our Eichler index | 1 tract 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
- 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.
- Atherton: Atherton city guide, Atherton neighborhoods compared and Atherton home types by the numbers.
- More comparisons: Los Altos vs. Palo Alto, Menlo Park vs. Atherton, Menlo Park vs. Palo Alto, Palo Alto vs. Mountain View, Palo Alto vs. Sunnyvale, Atherton vs. Hillsborough, Cupertino vs. Palo Alto and Woodside 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.