Alamo vs Midtown, Palo Alto
Alamo carries an effective property tax rate of 1.07% of assessed value and Midtown, Palo Alto carries 1.17%, both for fiscal year 2025-26. On one identical reference loan the monthly carrying costs are $9,713 and $9,853 — $140 apart, with Alamo lower. To Sunnyvale / Mountain View at AM peak the fastest published commutes are 62 min by car from Alamo and 18 min by Caltrain from Midtown, Palo Alto. Every figure is an objective public metric or arithmetic on one, and names its source.
Alamo (Contra Costa County) · Midtown, Palo Alto (Santa Clara County)
| Metric | Alamo | Midtown, Palo Alto | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median $/sqft (SFR) | $1,000 | $1,900 | −$900 |
| Effective tax rate | 1.07% | 1.17% | −0.105% |
| Monthly cost, reference loan | $9,713 | $9,853 | −$140 |
| FiDi SF (Montgomery St BART) — Drive | 58 min | 65 min | −7 min |
| Oakland City Center (12th St BART) — BART | 34 min | 90 min | −56 min |
| Oakland City Center (12th St BART) — Drive | 35 min | 50 min | −15 min |
| Sunnyvale / Mountain View (Sunnyvale Caltrain) — Drive | 62 min | 18 min | +44 min |
Difference is Alamo minus Midtown, Palo Alto. Sources are cited on each submarket page.
Put the two side by side and the gap is square footage, not tax: $1,000 per foot in Alamo against $1,900 in Palo Alto (Midtown). On the same $1,600,000 purchase the monthly separation is $140, because Alamo bills 1.07% and Palo Alto (Midtown) 1.17%.
The house at each price
Single-story ranches with room for a workshop or ADU are Alamo's characteristic stock. Midtown Palo Alto comps run $1,800-$2,200 per square foot for detached. Posted medians are $1,000 per square foot in Alamo and $1,900 in Palo Alto (Midtown), a $900 spread.
What the bill looks like
Modelled the same way in both ($1,600,000 purchase, 20% down, 6.5% fixed, $2,400 insurance, dues excluded), Alamo totals $9,713 a month at 1.07% and Palo Alto (Midtown) $9,853 at 1.17% — tax lines of $1,423 and $1,563. Alamo has no city utility tax because it has no city. No Mello-Roos in Palo Alto.
Getting to work
To Sunnyvale / Mountain View (Sunnyvale Caltrain): 62 minutes by driving from Alamo, 18 by Caltrain from Palo Alto (Midtown) — a 44-minute edge to Palo Alto (Midtown), or 7.3 hours across a ten-trip week. To Oakland City Center (12th St BART): 34 minutes by BART from Alamo, 50 by driving from Palo Alto (Midtown) — a 16-minute edge to Alamo, or 2.7 hours across a ten-trip week. I-680 to 24 puts Alamo 50 minutes from the Bay Bridge at 6 a.m. and 80-90 at 8. Palo Alto Caltrain is 10 minutes from Midtown by bike or car; the Baby Bullet is 33 minutes to 4th and King.
What the disclosure stack holds
Everything up Alamo's west slope and along Las Trampas is mapped WUI. Standard fire carriers write Midtown; the Foothill and Palo Alto Hills homes west of 280 are mapped High instead. None of this substitutes for the parcel: check CAL FIRE zoning, the FEMA flood panel and CGS seismic hazard mapping, then price the policy in writing.
The housing need each answers
Alamo works for a buyer who can absorb no transit and wants a third-acre minimum. Midtown assumes a condo at $1.4M or a step past $2.6M for a lot. Rank the requirements first; the pair rarely splits on anything except the one that is non-negotiable.
Sources. Tax figures come from Contra Costa TRA Book FY 2025-26; Santa Clara County Tax Rate Book FY 2025-26, composited in build/assets/metrics.json. They are county-level and not yet verified at the TRA, so the parcel's bill governs. Travel times are AM-peak door-to-door estimates from data/commute/static.csv. The per-foot medians are trailing and carry no appraisal weight; the neighborhood detail is first-hand broker observation.
Compare any two submarkets
| Metric | Alamo | Midtown, Palo Alto |
|---|---|---|
| Median $/sqft (SFR) | $1,000 | $1,900 |
| Effective tax rate | 1.07% | 1.17% |
| Monthly cost, reference loan | $9,713 | $9,853 |
| Fastest to FiDi SF (Montgomery St BART) | 52 min | 65 min |
| Fastest to Oakland City Center (12th St BART) | 34 min | 50 min |
| Fastest to Sunnyvale / Mountain View (Sunnyvale Caltrain) | 62 min | 18 min |
Same reference loan on both sides; the tax line is the only variable. Commute figures are door-to-door AM-peak estimates. Sources are listed on each submarket page.
Alamo detail
| Component | Rate of assessed value |
|---|---|
| Prop 13 general levy | 1.000% |
| County / city voter-approved bonds | 0.012% |
| School district measures | 0.055% |
| Effective rate | 1.07% |
| Mello-Roos / CFD | None recorded |
Source: Contra Costa TRA Book FY 2025-26 (Contra Costa County), composited in
build/assets/metrics.json.
Tax Rate Area not yet verified parcel-by-parcel — confirm the rate on the parcel’s own tax bill.
Midtown, Palo Alto detail
| Component | Rate of assessed value |
|---|---|
| Prop 13 general levy | 1.000% |
| County / city voter-approved bonds | 0.045% |
| School district measures | 0.127% |
| Effective rate | 1.17% |
| Mello-Roos / CFD | None recorded |
Source: Santa Clara County Tax Rate Book FY 2025-26 (Santa Clara County), composited in
build/assets/metrics.json.
Tax Rate Area not yet verified parcel-by-parcel — confirm the rate on the parcel’s own tax bill.
Alamo vs Midtown, Palo Alto: questions and answers
- Which has the lower effective property tax rate, Alamo or Midtown, Palo Alto?
- Alamo, at 1.07% of assessed value against 1.17% for fiscal year 2025-26 — a gap of 0.100%. Rates are composited from county tax rate books; each parcel bill governs.
- How much do monthly carrying costs differ between Alamo and Midtown, Palo Alto?
- $140 per month on the identical reference loan: Alamo $9,713, Midtown, Palo Alto $9,853. Alamo is lower. Principal and interest are held constant, so the difference is the tax line. Arithmetic only.
- Which has the shorter commute to Sunnyvale / Mountain View, Alamo or Midtown, Palo Alto?
- Midtown, Palo Alto. Alamo is 62 min by car; Midtown, Palo Alto is 18 min by Caltrain. Door-to-door, AM peak. Source: data/commute/static.csv.
- What is the price per square foot difference between Alamo and Midtown, Palo Alto?
- $900 per square foot: Alamo $1,000, Midtown, Palo Alto $1,900. Single-family medians, trailing twelve months. A median is not a valuation of any specific property.