Pleasant Hill, CA — Momentum Score, Home Values & Best-For

All states·California·Pleasant Hill

Contra Costa County · San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley · population 34,169

Pleasant Hill, CA
Image: Wikipedia · Pleasant Hill, California
OverviewCost of livingMoving guide
View watchlist →
46
Cooling
Momentum score · 0–100

Where Pleasant Hill stands

Steady, no major recent move.

Median home $1,005,428
1-year -2.5%
5-yr CAGR +2.1%
vs 5-yr peak -7.5%
Population -0.3%/yr

Home value trajectory · last 10 years

Zillow ZHVI · monthly
peak 2022-06$1005k$602k$778k$955k$1131k201620182020202220242026

Lifestyle scores

🚶
Walkability
32/100
Very car-dependent
Estimated from population density. Higher = denser, more amenities within walking distance.
🚉
Public transit
22/100
Transit limited
Curated list of major US transit systems + population-based estimate. Higher = real subway/rail/bus options.
💻
Remote work fit
44/100
Marginal for remote
Composite of city size, housing cost, state tax structure, and region's remote-work track record.

Scores are heuristic estimates from population density, state, and known transit/walkable cities. Not based on a paid Walk Score / Transit Score API — see methodology for the formula.

Rent trajectory · last 5 years

Zillow ZORI · monthly
$2,772/mo$2,241$2,610$2,980202220242026

Home value vs rent · indexed to 100

Both rebased at first month of ZORI data (~2015)
Home valueRent111116100120202220242026

Rent vs buy

Price-to-rent ratio: 30.2
Rent

At a 30.2 price-to-rent ratio, renting beats buying in Pleasant Hill for most shorter holds. The premium you pay to own would take many years of rent savings to recoup, and that's before maintenance, taxes, and opportunity cost on the down payment.

How the momentum score breaks down

methodology →
Home YoY
38 · w22%
Home 5-yr CAGR
47 · w22%
Distance from peak
52 · w18%
Population growth
40 · w16%
Rent YoY
47 · w12%
Home 10-yr CAGR
56 · w10%
Long thesis

Pleasant Hill has held up across the cycle: home values at $1,005,428 with +2.1% 5-year CAGR. The bull case is structural — population, location, employer base — and holds even if next year's print is soft.

Short thesis

Pleasant Hill carries a $1,005,428 median home with only -2.5% YoY. Premium pricing in a flat tape is the bear setup — you're paying for the trend that already ran while new buyers can't afford to extend it.

About Pleasant Hill

Pleasant Hill is a city in Contra Costa County, California, with an estimated population of 34,169. It anchors the San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley metro area. The median home value in Pleasant Hill is $1,005,428 as of 2026-04, down 2.5% over the last 12 months. Over the last five years, home values have averaged +2.1% annual growth (-7.5% from the 5-year peak). Rents in Pleasant Hill average $2,772 per month, roughly flat year-over-year (+0.3%). The composite momentum score is 46 of 100 (Cooling). Buyers may find more room to negotiate; sellers should price realistically.

▲ Bull case

○The data is the data: Pleasant Hill has at least 5 years of Zillow tracking, full Census identification, and is included in the 1-criteria momentum score on this page.

▼ Bear case

●Expensive AND not growing: median home $1,005,428 with only -2.5% YoY. You’re paying premium pricing for a flat trend.
●Cooling: -2.5% over the trailing year — momentum has stalled.
●Flat or shrinking population: -0.3% per year. Housing demand has to come from somewhere — verify the source.

About Pleasant Hill (Wikipedia)

Pleasant Hill is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States, in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 34,613 at the 2020 census. It was incorporated in 1961. Pleasant Hill is the home of College Park High School, Diablo Valley College, the Pleasant Hill Library of the Contra Costa County Library system, and the Pleasant Hill Recreation & Park District.

Source: Wikipedia · this summary is contributed and licensed under CC-BY-SA.

Playbook

Buyer

You have leverage. Negotiate price, ask for closing-cost credits, and don't waive inspection. Walk-away power is real in a Cooling market — use it.

Seller

Price aggressively (at or below recent sold comps) or be prepared to wait. Concessions — rate buydowns, closing costs, repair credits — are how deals close right now.

Investor

Cap rates are more attractive than they were 12 months ago but the appreciation tailwind is gone. Confirm tenant demand, vacancy rates, and exit liquidity before committing capital.

Local safety & alerts

No active National Weather Service alerts for Contra Costa County right now.

NWS active alerts (CA)California Emergency ManagementHow to prepare (NWS)

Public-safety links are official .gov sources, not curated by us. Contra Costa County routes NWS alerts; check the state EM portal for non-weather emergencies.

Neighborhoods of Pleasant Hill

16 tracked · ranked by median home value
1Grayson Woods$1,464,159-1.5%
2Saddle Ridge$1,333,432-2.3%
3Shannon Hills$1,310,961+3.2%
4Woodside Meadows$1,297,242-4.1%
5Poets Corner$1,280,287-3.8%
6Valley High$1,242,681-2.9%
7Hillsdale$1,213,264-2.5%
8Diablo Valley Estates$1,197,060-3.9%
9Gregory Gardens$1,011,399-2.1%
10Pleasant Valley$912,348-2.0%
11College Park$879,889-2.4%
12West Sherman Acres$877,460-2.0%
13Fair Oaks$807,714-3.5%
14Sherman Acres$801,480-2.8%
15Ridgeview$677,089-6.2%
16Camelback$545,146-3.3%

Cities like Pleasant Hill

American Canyon, CA50 · StablePetaluma, CA51 · StableDavis, CA50 · StableClayton, CA44 · Cooling

Run the numbers for Pleasant Hill

ToolCan I afford Pleasant Hill?Income → city shortlistToolROI on a Pleasant Hill rentalCap rate, cash-on-cash, DSCRToolCompare Pleasant Hill to anywhereSide-by-side up to 3 citiesToolPleasant Hill cost-of-livingEquivalent income elsewhere

Sources: Zillow ZHVI (home values), Zillow ZORI (rents), US Census ACS + place population. Updated when source agencies publish revisions.

Climate & natural-disaster risk

Winter (Jan)
60° / 41°
avg high / low
Summer (Jul)
82° / 60°
avg high / low
Sunny days/yr
258
~71% of year
Annual precip
22″ rain
8″ snow
Disaster risk (1=very low, 5=very high)
Hurricane
Very low
Tornado
Very low
Wildfire
Very high
Earthquake
Very high
Flood
Moderate

State-level averages from NOAA Climate Normals (1991-2020) and FEMA National Risk Index. City-level conditions can vary significantly within a state.

Local sports teams

Major professional teams the San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley area cheers for. Detailed stats, schedules, and player pages on intherafters.com.

Current weather

Loading current conditions…

7-day forecast on weather.gov →

Find rentals & listings

Open current Pleasant Hill listings on the major real-estate sites.

Links open the live search on the destination site — results are always current.

Local news & community

Updated 2026-05-21 from Google News + Reddit RSS. Headlines link to original sources.

Local economy & environment

Humidity
65%
Moderate climate
Median household income
$91,500
California state median
Top industries (state-level)
TechEntertainmentAgriculture

Humidity is annual average relative humidity (NOAA). Income is Census ACS 5-year estimate. Industries are largest employment sectors statewide (BLS); the local mix in a given city may vary.

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