Sunnyvale, CA population, income and ZIP codes

Sunnyvale city is a mid-size city in California, with 153,455 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #36 of 1,618 ranked by population — larger than 97% of them. The median age here is 35.1 years against 39.1 nationally, a slightly younger profile than the country as a whole. At this size the Census also publishes one-year estimates; the five-year values used here are steadier and let you compare against smaller neighbours on the same basis.

Households in Sunnyvale city earn a median of $181,862 a year, 131.6% above the national figure of $78,538 and 100% above the $91,111 median for the 1,050 California cities we cover. The median is the midpoint household, not an average, so a handful of very high earners cannot drag it upward the way they distort a mean. Poverty reaches 5.6% of residents here, less than half the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in Sunnyvale city is valued at $1,816,600, 498.7% above the national figure and 208% above the $589,600 peer median, while median gross rent runs $3,065 a month, 118% above the national figure, or roughly $36,780 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 20.2% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is within the standard affordability guideline. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 10×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is out of reach on local earnings alone and the ownership market leans on outside income, equity or dual high earners. 43.8% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, a renter-majority market, so rent figures matter more here than the home-value line. Gross rent folds in the utilities a tenant pays separately, so it is closer to the real monthly outlay than a headline rent figure.

Home values sit at 10× median household income, far past the 3.9× national mark, so ownership costs here are set by something other than local wages — second homes, retirees with equity, or commuters earning elsewhere.

Every value on this page is published directly by the Census for this area — nothing is modelled or interpolated. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.