Alum RockCA
10,440 residents make their home in this town in California.
Is Alum Rock a good place to live?
Strong in places, weak in others. Its weakest is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $910K, 5.6 years of the San Jose metro’s $162K median household income. It also trails on hazard risk — FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 91% of U.S. communities, with earthquakes at the top. Incomes are its strong suit (A): the median household earns $127K. Walkability is a strength too: it is more walkable than just over four fifths of U.S. towns. All told, that adds up to a C overall and a rank of 337th of 841 in California. Set against the rest, it does better than 34% of U.S. towns. On the outdoors, just 37 of California’s 1,064 towns do worse.
Figures: incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · home values, Zillow · FEMA National Risk Index · USGS PAD-US.
What makes Alum Rock stand out
Where Alum Rock beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Alum Rock has shrunk 23% from 2010 to 2020
15,536 counted in 2010 and 12,042 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
How Alum Rock grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Alum Rock is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Levi's Stadium and 108 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Alum Rock. Close and well known come first.
Big draw8 mi Stadium & arenaLevi's Stadium
Big draw8 mi Theme parkCalifornia's Great America
5 mi Stadium & arenaSAP Center
Big draw38 mi MuseumUSS Hornet
6 mi Stadium & arenaPayPal Park
14 mi MuseumComputer History MuseumPhoto credits
Levi's Stadium: Matthew Roth, CC BY-SA 2.0 · California's Great America: Oleg Alexandrov, CC BY-SA 4.0 · SAP Center: Dicklyon, CC BY-SA 4.0 · USS Hornet: kitmasterbloke, CC BY 2.0 · PayPal Park: Jbburgess0, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Computer History Museum: Dzou, CC BY-SA 3.0
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Moving to Alum Rock: who provides what
Alum Rock is unincorporated, so Santa Clara County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Alum Rock.
Alum Rock has a longer frost-free season than nearly all U.S. towns and sends most of its workers to San Jose and beyond, but it trails even towns with similar incomes on health.
The biggest natural risk in Alum Rock is earthquakes, at a very high overall level
Expected losses in Alum Rock break down as 81% from earthquakes and 17% from inland flooding.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
About two in five of Alum Rock’s working residents commute to San Jose
Alum Rock has 918 jobs for its 4,900 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
Half of commuters travel less than 9 miles. The share of working residents in Alum Rock who work locally is 1.4%, against 6.6% in California’s towns and 8% across U.S. towns. Alum Rock: 7.7% of workers work remotely from home. The top destinations are San Jose (39%), Santa Clara (7%) and Fremont (5%).
| Alum Rock | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $127,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 7.7% | 14% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 6.2% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 1.4% | 6.6% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The climate in Alum Rock brings mild winters and pleasant summers
The Los Gatos weather station, 12 miles away, records that the frost-free season runs about 310 days, longer than in 95% of U.S. towns.
In Alum Rock, the July high is 86°F, where California’s towns sit at 89°F and U.S. towns at 85°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Alum Rock is less healthy than 58% of U.S. towns
Against the 4,883 U.S. towns with household incomes like Alum Rock’s, it is less healthy than 94%, so it trails even them.
The share of adults in Alum Rock who had a checkup this year: 67%. CDC measures, 32 in all: Alum Rock beats California on 2 and trails on 14.
| Alum Rock | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 36% | 33% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 67% | 72% | 79% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 9% | 8.1% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 24% | 25% |
| What stands out | Alum Rock | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 4.5% | 6.4% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 17.2% | 20.8% |
| More uninsured adults | 17.8% | 10.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The median home in Alum Rock sells for about $1,000K
On the market in Alum Rock: a median 18 days to sell. The town’s typical rent stands at $2,389 a month. Half of the homes sold in Alum Rock went for more than their asking price.
| Alum Rock | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,389 a month | $1,895 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 70% | 64% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Alum Rock
Colleges nearby
14 within 15 miles of the center of Alum Rock
About 9 of every 100 Alum Rock residents are enrolled in college, about the same as California.
99% of working residents leave Alum Rock for work
Where Alum Rock’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Alum Rock’s neighbors
2 towns share a border with Alum Rock.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alum Rock | #337 | C | C− | — | C+ | C+ |
| San Jose | #293 | C+ | D | D | B+ | A− |
| East Foothills | #253 | C+ | D | — | C+ | A− |
Alum Rock and East Foothills report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Alum Rock with a neighbor →
Questions about Alum Rock
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Alum Rock, CA a good place to live?
Alum Rock grades C overall, better than 34% of U.S. towns and #337 of 841 in California. It grades C+ for health and C+ for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D.
Is Alum Rock, CA expensive?
Yes. The typical home is worth about $910,000, 19% above the California typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.