Emerald Lake HillsCA
A town of 4,235.
Is Emerald Lake Hills a good place to live?
For most people who can afford it, yes. Emerald Lake Hills grades A− overall, 63rd of 841 graded towns in California. It is among the healthiest towns in the country on CDC estimates. The median household earns $250K. The catch is cost: the typical home is worth about $2.9 million, 21.4 years of the San Francisco metro’s $136K median household income. 75% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Emerald Lake Hills, above both California’s towns (29%) and U.S. towns (29%). FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 85% of U.S. communities, with earthquakes at the top. Edgewood Park and Nature Preserve, at 36 acres with 1.2 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
What makes Emerald Lake Hills stand out
Where Emerald Lake Hills beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
| Widest gap | Emerald Lake Hills | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 2.3% | 10.6% |
99% of working residents leave Emerald Lake Hills for work
Where Emerald Lake Hills’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Emerald Lake Hills grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Emerald Lake Hills is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary and 225 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Emerald Lake Hills. Close and well known come first.
Big draw26 mi MuseumAlcatraz Federal Penitentiary
Big draw17 mi Stadium & arenaLevi's Stadium
Big draw17 mi Theme parkCalifornia's Great America
3 mi MuseumFiloli
Big draw21 mi MuseumUSS Hornet
Big draw22 mi Stadium & arenaChase CenterPhoto credits
Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary: druchoy, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Levi's Stadium: Matthew Roth, CC BY-SA 2.0 · California's Great America: Oleg Alexandrov, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Filoli: Sukuru, CC BY-SA 3.0 · USS Hornet: kitmasterbloke, CC BY 2.0 · Chase Center: Gregory Varnum, CC BY-SA 4.0
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
Moving to Emerald Lake Hills: who provides what
Emerald Lake Hills is unincorporated, so San Mateo 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 Emerald Lake Hills.
Emerald Lake Hills has less tooth loss than most of California and sends most of its workers to Redwood City and beyond, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of California.
Emerald Lake Hills’ grade for cost of living is a D
At 21.4 years of the San Francisco metro’s $136K median household income, the typical home (about $2.92M) costs more against local pay than in 97% of California towns; that ratio is one input to that grade.
Homes in Emerald Lake Hills are typically worth about $2,917,000, up 5.9% in a year, 4 times the California typical home. Emerald Lake Hills’ typical rent stands at $3,501 a month. In Emerald Lake Hills, just over nine in ten households own their home.
| Emerald Lake Hills | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $3,501 a month | $1,895 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 91% | 64% | 73% |
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
A smaller share of adults sleep under 7 hours in Emerald Lake Hills than in most of California or the rest of the country
Its widest gap with California is tooth loss: 2.3% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 10.6% statewide. Against the 436 U.S. towns with household incomes like Emerald Lake Hills’s, it is healthier than 81%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
Only 7 of the 847 California towns we compare have a lower share of adults who get no exercise outside work than Emerald Lake Hills. Among adults locally, 5.9% smoke cigarettes. On the CDC’s 32 measures, Emerald Lake Hills is ahead of California on 22 and behind on 1.
| Emerald Lake Hills | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 35% | 36% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 17% | 17% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 24% | 25% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 9.5% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Emerald Lake Hills | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 2.3% | 10.6% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 2.8% | 10.6% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.9% | 6.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Emerald Lake Hills has a very high natural-hazard risk, chiefly from earthquakes
Of the losses FEMA expects in Emerald Lake Hills, 71% come from earthquakes and 27% from inland flooding.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Conserved land covers 4.3% of Emerald Lake Hills
In 1 park or preserve, walkers have 1.3 miles of trail. Emerald Lake Hills’ trail network density comes in at 1.1 miles per square mile.
| Emerald Lake Hills | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.1 miles per square mile | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.3% | 4.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Edgewood Park and Nature Preserve | 1.2 mi | 36 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Emerald Lake Hills stands out in California and nationally: the median household income there is higher
Emerald Lake Hills has 385 jobs for its 1,909 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. 40.9% of workers work from home, against 17.2% across California.
For working residents in Emerald Lake Hills, the share who work locally is 1.5%. This California town had 385 jobs in 2023, up 165 from 2013. The median commute is under 12 miles. The top destinations are Redwood City (9%), San Francisco (9%) and Palo Alto (8%).
| Emerald Lake Hills | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $250,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 4.6% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 1.5% | 6.6% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Emerald Lake Hills: mild winters and pleasant summers
In Emerald Lake Hills, the peak summer temperature is 79°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Everything we know about Emerald Lake Hills
Colleges nearby
11 within 15 miles of the center of Emerald Lake Hills
About 4 of every 100 Emerald Lake Hills residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across California.
About Emerald Lake Hills
Census-designated place in California, United States
Emerald Lake Hills or Emerald Hills is a census-designated place and neighborhood in unincorporated San Mateo County, in the state of California, United States. Situated among oak-studded hills between Woodside, Redwood City, and San Carlos roughly bounded by Edgewood Road, Alameda de las Pulgas, Farm Hill Boulevard, and Interstate 280. The population was 4,406 at the 2020 census and the per-capita income was $68,966, making it the 22nd wealthiest place in California and the 82nd highest income places in the United States Emerald Lake Hills was originally conceived as a resort community for city-weary San Franciscans during World War I. Emerald Lake Hills actually consists of two large subd…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 1.2 sq mi
- Elevation
- 518 ft
- Area code
- 650
Emerald Lake Hills’s neighbors
One town shares a border with Emerald Lake Hills.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emerald Lake Hills | #63 | A− | D | — | B+ | A+ |
| Redwood City | #160 | B | D− | C− | A | A |
Emerald Lake Hills reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Emerald Lake Hills with a neighbor →
Questions about Emerald Lake Hills
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Emerald Lake Hills, CA a good place to live?
For most people who can afford it, yes. Emerald Lake Hills grades A− overall, better than 76% of U.S. towns and #63 of 841 in California. It grades A+ for health and B+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Is Emerald Lake Hills, CA expensive?
Yes. The typical home is worth about $2,917,000, 283% above the California typical home and up 5.9% in a year. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.