Which Cities Are in Silicon Valley? (And Is Cupertino One of Them?)

Yes, Cupertino is in Silicon Valley, under every common definition. But Silicon Valley isn’t an official place, so which other cities count depends on who’s drawing the map. Here’s where the name came from, the definitions people actually use, and the facts about Cupertino.

Where the name came from

Journalist Don Hoefler put the term in print on January 11, 1971, in an Electronic News article titled “Silicon Valley U.S.A.” The silicon is the element in transistors and chips, which the region’s early companies made. The valley is the Santa Clara Valley, which ran to orchards until the 1960s and was known as the Valley of Heart’s Delight. The name didn’t catch on widely until the early 1980s.

Is Silicon Valley an official place?

No. No city, county or federal unit is named Silicon Valley, and the Census Bureau doesn’t define one. Three definitions come up most:

• Santa Clara County. The most common usage, covering all 15 of the county’s cities.
• Santa Clara County plus southern San Mateo County. A narrower usage that adds Peninsula cities such as Menlo Park, Redwood City, San Carlos and Belmont.
• The Silicon Valley Index region. Joint Venture Silicon Valley’s annual Index, the most-cited formal definition, uses all of Santa Clara County, all of San Mateo County, Fremont, Newark and Union City in Alameda County, and Scotts Valley in Santa Cruz County.

The cities, county by county

• Santa Clara County (all definitions): Campbell, Cupertino, Gilroy, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Milpitas, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Jose, Santa Clara, Saratoga and Sunnyvale.
• San Mateo County: Menlo Park, Redwood City, San Carlos and Belmont are the cities most often named. The Index counts the whole county.
• Index only: Fremont, Newark, Union City and Scotts Valley.

What Cupertino is known for

• A city since 1955. Voters approved incorporation on September 27, 1955, and Cupertino became Santa Clara County’s 13th city on October 10. It had 60,381 residents in the 2020 census.
• The name. On Juan Bautista de Anza’s 1776 expedition, Pedro Font named a stream Arroyo San Jose de Cupertino, according to the city. The stream is now Stevens Creek.
• Vineyards, then orchards. Settlers planted grapes in the late 1800s, with vineyards on Montebello Ridge and the flats below. After a pest wiped out most of the vines, orchards of prunes, apricots, cherries and other fruit took over.
• Apple. Apple arrived in Cupertino in 1977 and opened its Infinite Loop campus in 1993. Apple Park, a 175-acre campus, opened to employees in April 2017, and the Apple Park Visitor Center opened to the public that November.
• De Anza College. Opened in 1967 and run by the Foothill–De Anza Community College District.
• The Rise. On the former Vallco mall site, the city lists The Rise as approved for 2,669 homes plus office and retail space, with the latest change approved in August 2026. The city’s page tracks approvals, not construction.
• School districts. Cupertino Union School District and Fremont Union High School District, with a small northeast corner in Santa Clara Unified.

See it for yourself

Our Homes Near Tech Campuses page opens on Apple Park and shows every home for sale within 1, 2 or 3 miles. To weigh Cupertino against a neighbor, try the City Match-Up, and for the city’s Eichler tract, see Fairgrove. Market Pulse has 12 months of sale prices for Cupertino and 31 other cities.

See all 32 cities side by side in Silicon Valley and Peninsula Cities at a Glance: trains, electricity, transfer tax and Eichler tracts in one table.

Looking in Cupertino or anywhere else in Silicon Valley? 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.