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Palo Alto is a city of about 68,000 to 69,000 people, depending on which official count you use. It is older, more highly educated and more international than California as a whole. Nearly four in ten residents were born in another country and more than four in ten speak a language other than English at home.
This page pulls together the official numbers. The headcount comes from the 2020 census and from two sets of later estimates. The detail on age, origins and language comes from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey, or ACS. Unless a line says otherwise, ACS figures are the 2020 to 2024 5-year estimates, the newest 5-year release. The Bureau put out its 2025 1-year estimates on October 29, 2026. For a city this size the 5-year figures are steadier, so we use them here. Other pages in this series cover income, housing and commuting.
Population: three official numbers
Three government sources give three different figures. None of them is wrong. They measure at different dates and use different methods.
| Source | Date | Population |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 census (U.S. Census Bureau) | April 1, 2020 | 68,572 |
| California Department of Finance, E-5 benchmark | April 1, 2020 | 68,253 |
| Census Bureau population estimate, vintage 2025 | July 1, 2025 | 67,609 |
| California Department of Finance, E-5 estimate | January 1, 2026 | 69,004 |
| ACS 2020 to 2024 5-year estimate | Average over 5 years | 67,237 |
The census count is the legal benchmark. The Census Bureau's own yearly estimate shows a small decline since 2020. The state's Department of Finance E-5 series, released in May 2026, shows the opposite. It has Palo Alto dipping to 67,573 in January 2022 and then climbing every year to 69,004 in January 2026. The state method leans heavily on new housing units. The city has added close to 1,000 homes since 2020 by the state's count. State agencies use the Department of Finance figures for things like housing law and funding formulas.
The ACS figure is not a headcount at all. It is an average of five years of survey responses, controlled to official estimates. Use it for percentages, not for the total.
Age
Palo Alto skews older than the region. The ACS puts the median age at 43.6, give or take 1.4 years. Santa Clara County's median is 38.1 and California's is 37.9.
| Age group | Palo Alto | Santa Clara County | California |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 5 | 4.8% | 5.2% | 5.5% |
| Under 18 | 22.2% | 20.5% | 22.0% |
| 18 to 24 | 5.6% | 8.7% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 44 | 23.9% | 30.7% | 28.7% |
| 45 to 64 | 28.5% | 25.3% | 24.6% |
| 65 and older | 19.9% | 14.8% | 15.7% |
| 85 and older | 4.5% | 2.0% | 1.9% |
Source: ACS 2020 to 2024 5-year estimates, table B01001; percentages are our arithmetic from the published counts.
Two things stand out. The share of children is close to the state average, which fits a town where many families move in for the schools. Our public schools guide covers the district. The thin slice is young adults from 18 to 34, the age when people rent their first places and when Palo Alto prices push many of them to other cities. Most Stanford students live on campus, outside city limits, so they barely show up in these numbers.
At the other end, about 13,400 residents are 65 or older and about 3,000 are 85 or older. Women outnumber men in the oldest groups, which is why the city as a whole is 51.4 percent female. Our resources for older adults page lists services for this growing group.
Race and ethnicity
The table below uses the Census Bureau's standard split, which counts Hispanic or Latino residents of any race in one group and the rest by race.
| Group | Palo Alto | Santa Clara County | California |
|---|---|---|---|
| White alone, not Hispanic | 45.0% | 27.2% | 33.8% |
| Asian alone, not Hispanic | 38.1% | 40.3% | 15.3% |
| Hispanic or Latino, any race | 7.9% | 25.0% | 40.2% |
| Two or more races, not Hispanic | 6.5% | 4.2% | 4.4% |
| Black alone, not Hispanic | 1.8% | 2.2% | 5.2% |
| All other groups, not Hispanic | 0.6% | 1.0% | 1.1% |
Source: ACS 2020 to 2024 5-year estimates, table B03002. The margin of error on the Hispanic count is about 1,000 people, so treat 7.9 percent as a range of roughly 6 to 9 percent.
Compared with the county, Palo Alto has a similar Asian share, a much larger non-Hispanic white share and a much smaller Hispanic share. The Hispanic gap reflects the region's housing costs and the history covered in our pages on covenants and the fair housing fight and Latino history in the city.
Residents born abroad
The ACS counts 24,874 foreign-born residents, 37.0 percent of the population. Santa Clara County is higher at 41.5 percent; California is 27.0 percent. Of Palo Alto's foreign-born residents, 13,808 are naturalized citizens and 11,066 are not citizens. The second group includes green card holders, students and people on work visas.
About two thirds of the foreign-born population was born in Asia. The largest single sources, with their margins of error, were:
- China: 8,631 (plus or minus 898), a Census category that includes 1,545 born in Taiwan and 737 born in Hong Kong
- India: 2,419 (plus or minus 571)
- Korea: 1,481 (plus or minus 314)
- Germany: 822 (plus or minus 376)
- Japan: 803 (plus or minus 293)
- Canada: 753 (plus or minus 236)
Among residents born in the United States, more came from other states than in most California cities. About 35.5 percent of all residents were born in California and 24.6 percent in another state, with the Northeast the biggest source. For newcomers from abroad, our immigrant resources page lists legal help and citizenship classes.
Languages spoken at home
Of residents aged 5 and older, 57.7 percent speak only English at home and 42.3 percent speak another language. About 12.2 percent of residents speak English less than "very well," the Census Bureau's measure of limited English.
| Language group at home | Speakers | Share of residents 5+ |
|---|---|---|
| Only English | 36,931 | 57.7% |
| Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese | 10,986 | 17.2% |
| Other Indo-European languages (Hindi, Persian and others) | 4,121 | 6.4% |
| Spanish | 3,533 | 5.5% |
| Other Asian and Pacific Island languages | 2,518 | 3.9% |
| Korean | 1,785 | 2.8% |
| Russian, Polish or other Slavic languages | 1,331 | 2.1% |
| French, Haitian or Cajun | 845 | 1.3% |
| German or other West Germanic languages | 834 | 1.3% |
Source: ACS 2020 to 2024 5-year estimates, table C16001. The Census Bureau groups smaller languages together in this table, so Hindi, Tamil and Telugu do not appear separately.
Chinese is spoken at home by a larger share of residents in Palo Alto than in the county as a whole (10.6 percent). Spanish runs the other way: 17.1 percent countywide, 5.5 percent here. The school district's support for multilingual students is covered in our English learners guide.
Ancestry
The ACS also asks people to write in their ancestry or ethnic origin. The published table lists mostly European, Middle Eastern and African groups. Asian and Hispanic origins fall into "other groups," which covered 47.7 percent of Palo Alto residents. Another 15.2 percent gave no classifiable answer. That makes this the weakest of the measures on this page, but it still shows the older layers of the town.
The most common reported ancestries in the 2020 to 2024 survey were English (6,271 people, 9.3 percent), German (5,843, 8.7 percent), Irish (4,008, 6.0 percent) and Italian (2,343, 3.5 percent). Smaller groups included French, Russian, Polish, Norwegian, Scottish and Swedish, each with between about 1,100 and 1,500 people. People can report two ancestries, so the groups overlap.
Education and households
Palo Alto's adults are among the most formally educated in the country. Of residents 25 and older, 82.3 percent hold a bachelor's degree or higher, compared with 56.5 percent in the county and 37.1 percent statewide. More than half, 55.0 percent, hold a graduate or professional degree. A full 17.2 percent hold a doctorate.
The ACS counts 26,021 households with an average size of 2.56 people. Married couples head 58.5 percent of households and 25.4 percent are people living alone. Married couples with their own children under 18 make up 27.2 percent of all households, above the state's 19.9 percent.
Good to know
- ACS numbers are survey estimates with margins of error. Small groups can swing by several hundred people.
- Census and state population estimates differ on direction since 2020: the Census Bureau shows a small drop, the state a small rise.
- The 2021 to 2025 5-year ACS is due in late 2026 or early 2027. We will update these figures when it is out.
- You can check any figure in the Census Reporter profile for Palo Alto, which republishes ACS tables.
Frequently asked questions
What is the population of Palo Alto?
The 2020 census counted 68,572 residents. The Census Bureau's estimate for July 1, 2025 is 67,609, while the California Department of Finance estimated 69,004 for January 1, 2026. The two agencies use different methods, so their estimates do not match.
What is the median age in Palo Alto?
The Census Bureau's American Community Survey for 2020 to 2024 puts Palo Alto's median age at 43.6, with a margin of error of 1.4 years. That is more than five years older than Santa Clara County at 38.1 and California at 37.9.
What share of Palo Alto residents are Asian?
In the 2020 to 2024 American Community Survey, 38.1 percent of residents identified as Asian alone and not Hispanic. Non-Hispanic white residents made up 45.0 percent, Hispanic or Latino residents 7.9 percent and non-Hispanic Black residents 1.8 percent.
How many Palo Alto residents were born in another country?
About 24,900 residents, or 37.0 percent, were born outside the United States according to the 2020 to 2024 survey. Slightly more than half of them are naturalized citizens. About two thirds were born in Asia, with China, India, Taiwan and Korea the largest sources.
What languages are spoken in Palo Alto?
In the 2020 to 2024 survey, 42.3 percent of residents aged 5 and older spoke a language other than English at home. Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese, was the most common at 17.2 percent, followed by a group of other Indo-European languages, Spanish and Korean.