East Bay Towns Top The List Of The 10 Richest Suburbs In California And Priciest Housing

LAMORINDA, CA — Orinda and Lafayette rank among California's top 10 richest suburbs, with some of the priciest housing, according to a ranking by the San Francisco Chronicle.

The neighboring East Bay towns joined Los Altos, which was in the No. 1 spot, followed by Alamo, Saratoga, Menlo Park, Los Gatos, and San Carlos.

The other two — Palos Verdes Estates and La Cañada Flintridge — are in Los Angeles County.

The ranking is based on U.S. census data on housing and income for California suburbs with at least 5,000 households.

The mean (or average) income in Orinda was $369,000. The average in Lafayette was $320,000.
The analysis also looked at 2025 home value data from Zillow.

The typical home value in Orinda and Lafayette is $1.9 million.

The median home value in Moraga is $1.6 million, with a mean household income of $263,000.
Among the 50 cities on the list, only one had a typical home value below $1 million: El Dorado Hills in Sacramento County at just over $925,000.

In No. 1 was Los Altos, where the typical home value was estimated at more than $4.3 million. The average typical home value across all 50 cities analyzed was $2.1 million.