Palo Alto, California demographics

Palo Alto, CA demographics: median age 43.6; 82.3% of adults 25+ hold a bachelor’s degree. Age, race, households, languages and education, ACS 2020–2024 with margins of error.

ACS 2020–2024 · Palo Alto city, California · Incorporated city · GEOID 0655282. The survey estimates a population of 67,237 for its five-year window. This is separate from the annual July 2025 population estimate on the city overview.

Median age in Palo Alto is 43.6 years, with a 90% margin of error of 1.4 years. There are 26,021 households (±635). 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	43.6 ±1.4	37.9 ±0.1	38.9 ±0.1

Age groups · B01001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 67,237
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
Under 18	14,904 ±942	22.2% ±1.4 pp	22.0%	22.0%
18–34	11,001 ±877	16.4% ±1.3 pp	23.9%	22.8%
35–64	27,963 ±1,147	41.6% ±1.7 pp	38.5%	38.0%
65 and older	13,369 ±810	19.9% ±1.2 pp	15.7%	17.2%

Sex categories as published by ACS · B01001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 67,237
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
Male	32,679 ±646	48.6% ±1.0 pp	49.9%	49.5%
Female	34,558 ±655	51.4% ±1.0 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: 67,237
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
White alone	30,746 ±1,383	45.7% ±2.1 pp	39.7%	61.0%
Black or African American alone	1,222 ±362	1.8% ±0.5 pp	5.4%	12.2%
American Indian and Alaska Native alone	341 ±202 · low precision	0.5% ±0.3 pp · low precision	1.3%	0.9%
Asian alone	25,620 ±1,411	38.1% ±2.1 pp	15.5%	6.0%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone	93 ±93 · low precision	0.1% ±0.1 pp · low precision	0.4%	0.2%
Some other race alone	2,670 ±928	4.0% ±1.4 pp	18.5%	7.1%
Two or more races	6,545 ±862	9.7% ±1.3 pp	19.2%	12.6%

Hispanic or Latino origin · B03003 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 67,237
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
Not Hispanic or Latino	61,957 ±1,038	92.1% ±1.5 pp	59.8%	80.7%
Hispanic or Latino	5,280 ±1,032	7.9% ±1.5 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: 26,021
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
Married-couple family	15,212 ±481	58.5% ±1.2 pp	48.4%	46.9%
Other family: male householder, no spouse present	621 ±170	2.4% ±0.7 pp	6.3%	5.1%
Other family: female householder, no spouse present	1,795 ±284	6.9% ±1.1 pp	13.1%	12.2%
Nonfamily: householder living alone	6,609 ±573	25.4% ±2.1 pp	24.3%	28.7%
Nonfamily: householder not living alone	1,784 ±331	6.9% ±1.3 pp	7.9%	7.0%

Households with children · B11005 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 26,021
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
Households with people under 18	8,530 ±345	32.8% ±1.1 pp	32.4%	29.5%
Households without people under 18	17,491 ±815	67.2% ±2.7 pp	67.6%	70.5%

Household size · B11016 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 26,021
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
One-person nonfamily households	6,609 ±573	25.4% ±2.1 pp	24.3%	28.7%
Two-person households	8,913 ±710	34.3% ±2.6 pp	30.5%	33.8%
Three-person households	4,373 ±448	16.8% ±1.7 pp	16.7%	15.3%
Four-person households	4,256 ±367	16.4% ±1.4 pp	14.9%	12.6%
Five-person households	1,432 ±280	5.5% ±1.1 pp	7.7%	5.9%
Six-person households	289 ±111	1.1% ±0.4 pp	3.3%	2.2%
Seven or more people	149 ±105 · low precision	0.6% ±0.4 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: 67,237
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
Native	42,363 ±1,057	63.0% ±1.6 pp	73.0%	85.9%
Foreign born	24,874 ±1,062	37.0% ±1.6 pp	27.0%	14.1%

Language spoken at home · C16001 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 5 and older: 64,016
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
English only	36,931 ±1,599	57.7% ±2.5 pp	55.6%	77.7%
Spanish	3,533 ±933	5.5% ±1.5 pp	28.3%	13.6%
French, Haitian, or Cajun	845 ±290	1.3% ±0.5 pp	0.4%	0.7%
German or other West Germanic	834 ±377	1.3% ±0.6 pp	0.3%	0.5%
Russian, Polish, or other Slavic	1,331 ±363	2.1% ±0.6 pp	0.7%	0.7%
Other Indo-European	4,121 ±796	6.4% ±1.2 pp	3.5%	2.0%
Korean	1,785 ±443	2.8% ±0.7 pp	1.0%	0.3%
Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese	10,986 ±1,096	17.2% ±1.7 pp	3.5%	1.1%
Vietnamese	369 ±227 · low precision	0.6% ±0.4 pp · low precision	1.5%	0.5%
Tagalog, including Filipino	264 ±205 · low precision	0.4% ±0.3 pp · low precision	2.1%	0.6%
Other Asian and Pacific Island	2,518 ±590	3.9% ±0.9 pp	2.0%	1.1%
Arabic	175 ±128 · low precision	0.3% ±0.2 pp · low precision	0.6%	0.5%
Other and unspecified	324 ±124	0.5% ±0.2 pp	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: 48,587
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
Less than high school graduate	1,541 ±371	3.2% ±0.8 pp	15.3%	10.4%
High school graduate or equivalency	2,594 ±554	5.3% ±1.1 pp	20.5%	26.0%
Some college, no degree	2,969 ±426	6.1% ±0.9 pp	19.3%	19.1%
Associate’s degree	1,493 ±287	3.1% ±0.6 pp	7.9%	8.8%
Bachelor’s degree	13,277 ±839	27.3% ±1.7 pp	22.7%	21.6%
Graduate or professional degree	26,713 ±1,118	55.0% ±2.1 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: 66,712
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	California	U.S.
Same house	57,156 ±952	85.7% ±1.4 pp	89.2%	87.7%
Moved within same county	4,735 ±803	7.1% ±1.2 pp	6.4%	6.3%
Moved from a different county in the same state	1,774 ±484	2.7% ±0.7 pp	2.6%	3.1%
Moved from a different state	1,748 ±356	2.6% ±0.5 pp	1.1%	2.3%
Moved from abroad	1,299 ±338	1.9% ±0.5 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

1.9% of Palo Alto residents (±0.6 percentage points) had no health insurance coverage when surveyed, compared with 6.6% in California and 8.4% nationally. 96.1% 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	Palo Alto	California	U.S.	Compared with California
People without health insurance Civilian noninstitutionalized population	1.9% ±0.6 pp	6.6%	8.4%	Lower
Households with a broadband subscription Households	96.1% ±0.3 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 Palo Alto . 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 Palo Alto housing and cost context or return to the city profile.