The median home value in Palo Alto is $2.5M per Zillow; in neighboring Menlo Park with comparable schools it&#x27;s $2M. If you cross I-280 for larger lot sizes (and generally, though not always, more house square footage) you&#x27;ll see the median home value in Portola Valley is $3.8M. If you don&#x27;t like those figures, you can look at Trulia&#x27;s, which says the median sales price for Palo Alto is $2.5M and the mean <i>listing price</i> is $3M.<p>Note these are generally not luxurious properties at those prices. Many are small postwar ranchers or Eichlers (beautiful but a pain to update) that have not been renovated in decades. Some houses have negative value because they&#x27;re teardowns; you&#x27;d buy the property for the land.<p>After taking into account housing costs and California&#x27;s aggressively progressive tax regime, you may find that $250K salary does not go as far as you like. You may make 2x-3x as much--but your cost for comparable housing may be 10x-15x as high and your tax burden will be more oppressive as well.