Los Altos, California demographics

Los Altos, CA demographics: median age 45.9; 88.1% of adults 25+ hold a bachelor’s degree. Age, race, households, languages and education, ACS 2020–2024 with margins of error.

ACS 2020–2024 · Los Altos city, California · Incorporated city · GEOID 0643280. The survey estimates a population of 30,698 for its five-year window. This is separate from the annual July 2025 population estimate on the city overview.

Median age in Los Altos is 45.9 years, with a 90% margin of error of 1.4 years. There are 10,840 households (±264). Age and household distributions show how these totals are composed; they do not establish which neighborhood suits a particular person.

Every count and share is an estimate. “±” is a 90% margin of error (MOE); pp means percentage points. Derived shares use the category count divided by the named universe. Aggregated category MOEs and percentage MOEs are approximate. A margin larger than half its estimate is flagged as low precision. Blank source uncertainty is shown as unavailable, never zero.

Age distribution and sex

City, state and U.S. estimates · ACS 2020–2024
Measure / survey universe	City estimate ± MOE	State estimate ± MOE	U.S. estimate ± MOE
Median age Total population · years	45.9 ±1.4	37.9 ±0.1	38.9 ±0.1

Age groups · B01001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 30,698
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
Under 18	7,424 ±592	24.2% ±1.9 pp	22.0%	22.0%
18–34	4,132 ±496	13.5% ±1.6 pp	23.9%	22.8%
35–64	12,765 ±716	41.6% ±2.3 pp	38.5%	38.0%
65 and older	6,377 ±432	20.8% ±1.4 pp	15.7%	17.2%

Sex categories as published by ACS · B01001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 30,698
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
Male	15,564 ±413	50.7% ±1.3 pp	49.9%	49.5%
Female	15,134 ±415	49.3% ±1.3 pp	50.1%	50.5%

The age groups are mutually exclusive and cover the entire population. The sex categories follow this ACS table’s published classification; they are not a survey of gender identity.

Race and Hispanic origin

Race · B02001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 30,698
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
White alone	15,432 ±886	50.3% ±2.9 pp	39.7%	61.0%
Black or African American alone	59 ±49 · low precision	0.2% ±0.2 pp · low precision	5.4%	12.2%
American Indian and Alaska Native alone	0 ±29 · low precision	0.0% ±0.1 pp · low precision	1.3%	0.9%
Asian alone	11,970 ±912	39.0% ±3.0 pp	15.5%	6.0%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone	0 ±29 · low precision	0.0% ±0.1 pp · low precision	0.4%	0.2%
Some other race alone	722 ±304	2.4% ±1.0 pp	18.5%	7.1%
Two or more races	2,515 ±547	8.2% ±1.8 pp	19.2%	12.6%

Hispanic or Latino origin · B03003 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 30,698
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
Not Hispanic or Latino	28,833 ±531	93.9% ±1.7 pp	59.8%	80.7%
Hispanic or Latino	1,865 ±525	6.1% ±1.7 pp	40.2%	19.3%

Hispanic origin and race are separate questions. People of Hispanic or Latino origin may be of any race and appear in both tables. Do not add the Hispanic share to race shares. Race alone and two-or-more-race groups are the mutually exclusive categories of the race table.

Household types, children and living alone

Household types · B11001 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 10,840
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
Married-couple family	7,920 ±252	73.1% ±1.5 pp	48.4%	46.9%
Other family: male householder, no spouse present	350 ±129	3.2% ±1.2 pp	6.3%	5.1%
Other family: female householder, no spouse present	633 ±188	5.8% ±1.7 pp	13.1%	12.2%
Nonfamily: householder living alone	1,625 ±219	15.0% ±2.0 pp	24.3%	28.7%
Nonfamily: householder not living alone	312 ±122	2.9% ±1.1 pp	7.9%	7.0%

Households with children · B11005 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 10,840
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
Households with people under 18	4,086 ±250	37.7% ±2.1 pp	32.4%	29.5%
Households without people under 18	6,754 ±396	62.3% ±3.3 pp	67.6%	70.5%

Household size · B11016 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 10,840
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
One-person nonfamily households	1,625 ±219	15.0% ±2.0 pp	24.3%	28.7%
Two-person households	3,970 ±352	36.6% ±3.1 pp	30.5%	33.8%
Three-person households	2,026 ±318	18.7% ±2.9 pp	16.7%	15.3%
Four-person households	2,396 ±265	22.1% ±2.4 pp	14.9%	12.6%
Five-person households	638 ±144	5.9% ±1.3 pp	7.7%	5.9%
Six-person households	161 ±72	1.5% ±0.7 pp	3.3%	2.2%
Seven or more people	24 ±36 · low precision	0.2% ±0.3 pp · low precision	2.6%	1.4%

A family household contains related people under the Census definition. A nonfamily household can contain one person or unrelated people sharing a home. Households with children can also appear in the household-type and size tables, so those tables must not be added together. Household estimates exclude people living in group quarters from the household universe.

Nativity and languages spoken at home

Nativity · B05002 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 30,698
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
Native	19,809 ±717	64.5% ±2.3 pp	73.0%	85.9%
Foreign born	10,889 ±719	35.5% ±2.3 pp	27.0%	14.1%

Language spoken at home · C16001 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 5 and older: 29,389
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
English only	17,975 ±982	61.2% ±3.3 pp	55.6%	77.7%
Spanish	1,051 ±425	3.6% ±1.4 pp	28.3%	13.6%
French, Haitian, or Cajun	387 ±155	1.3% ±0.5 pp	0.4%	0.7%
German or other West Germanic	311 ±153	1.1% ±0.5 pp	0.3%	0.5%
Russian, Polish, or other Slavic	977 ±330	3.3% ±1.1 pp	0.7%	0.7%
Other Indo-European	2,507 ±608	8.5% ±2.1 pp	3.5%	2.0%
Korean	580 ±335 · low precision	2.0% ±1.1 pp · low precision	1.0%	0.3%
Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese	3,791 ±596	12.9% ±2.0 pp	3.5%	1.1%
Vietnamese	151 ±143 · low precision	0.5% ±0.5 pp · low precision	1.5%	0.5%
Tagalog, including Filipino	28 ±28 · low precision	0.1% ±0.1 pp · low precision	2.1%	0.6%
Other Asian and Pacific Island	1,054 ±308	3.6% ±1.0 pp	2.0%	1.1%
Arabic	49 ±56 · low precision	0.2% ±0.2 pp · low precision	0.6%	0.5%
Other and unspecified	528 ±279 · low precision	1.8% ±0.9 pp · low precision	0.6%	0.8%

Foreign born means not a U.S. citizen at birth; it includes naturalized citizens. Language categories describe speech at home among people age five and older. A language other than English at home does not establish that someone cannot speak English. This city page uses the published C16001 summary categories because the more detailed B16001 table does not provide these city records in this release.

Educational attainment

Highest completed education · B15003 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 25 and older: 21,184
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
Less than high school graduate	208 ±122 · low precision	1.0% ±0.6 pp · low precision	15.3%	10.4%
High school graduate or equivalency	648 ±175	3.1% ±0.8 pp	20.5%	26.0%
Some college, no degree	1,131 ±257	5.3% ±1.2 pp	19.3%	19.1%
Associate’s degree	529 ±148	2.5% ±0.7 pp	7.9%	8.8%
Bachelor’s degree	6,875 ±458	32.5% ±2.1 pp	22.7%	21.6%
Graduate or professional degree	11,793 ±629	55.7% ±2.7 pp	14.4%	14.1%

The denominator excludes residents under 25. Each person is counted in the highest attainment category they completed. This table does not measure the quality of local schools or the education level of every current student.

Residence one year earlier

Geographic mobility · B07003 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 1 and older: 30,622
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
Same house	27,277 ±628	89.1% ±2.0 pp	89.2%	87.7%
Moved within same county	2,118 ±568	6.9% ±1.9 pp	6.4%	6.3%
Moved from a different county in the same state	579 ±202	1.9% ±0.7 pp	2.6%	3.1%
Moved from a different state	224 ±89	0.7% ±0.3 pp	1.1%	2.3%
Moved from abroad	424 ±176	1.4% ±0.6 pp	0.7%	0.6%

These are respondents’ residence patterns one year before their survey response, pooled across the five-year window. They are not a net migration count for 2025. A person can move to a different house within the same city or county; moves within the same county should not automatically be interpreted as new arrivals to the city.

Health insurance, internet access and veterans

1.4% of Los Altos residents (±0.5 percentage points) had no health insurance coverage when surveyed, compared with 6.6% in California and 8.4% nationally. 98.6% of households subscribe to broadband of any type, including cellular data plans. A subscription is not the same as available service: the FCC National Broadband Map shows providers at a specific address.

City, state and U.S. shares · ACS 2020–2024
Measure	Los Altos	California	U.S.	Compared with California
People without health insurance Civilian noninstitutionalized population	1.4% ±0.5 pp	6.6%	8.4%	Lower
Households with a broadband subscription Households	98.6% ±0.7 pp	93.5%	91.0%	Higher
Veterans Civilian population age 18 and older	2.2% ±0.5 pp	4.3%	6.2%	Lower

Reading and reusing the estimates

The Census table links above lead to the original detailed tables. Counts, source universes and uncertainty are retained in the source observation download for Los Altos . Compare these figures with the same survey window; do not compare one city’s five-year estimate with another city’s annual estimate as though they measured the same period. For methods, see uncertainty and denominator calculations.

Read Los Altos housing and cost context or return to the city profile.