Portola Valley is a somewhat small town located in the state of California. With a population of 6,658 people and two constituent neighborhoods, Portola Valley is the 486th largest community in California.

Portola Valley is a decidedly white-collar town, with fully 97.03% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Portola Valley is a town of professionals, managers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Portola Valley who work in management occupations (24.46%), sales jobs (10.06%), and business and financial occupations (9.55%).

And if you like science, one thing you'll find is that Portola Valley has lots of scientists living in town - whether they be life scientists, physical scientists (like astronomers), or social scientists (like geographers!). So, if you're scientific-minded, you might like it here too.

Also of interest is that Portola Valley has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

Of important note, Portola Valley is also a town of artists. Portola Valley has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Portola Valley's character.

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their homes - 11.78% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

In addition, Portola Valley is home to many people who could be described as "urban sophisticates." Urban sophisticates are people who are both educated and wealthy, and thus tend to be older, richer, and more established than young professionals. "Urban sophisticates" is not just about being educated and well-off financially: it is a point of view and state of mind, one that you might call 'urbaneness.' But such people can and do regularly live in small towns, suburbs and rural areas, as well as in big cities. They read, support the arts and high-end shops, and love travel.

Portola Valley is a good choice for families with children because of several factors. Many other families with children live here, making it a place where both parents and children are more likely to develop social ties with other families. The town's good public school district and large population of college-educated adults provide an environment conducive to academic success. Many people own their own single-family homes, providing areas for children to play and stability in the community. Finally, Portola Valley's overall crime rate is lower than average for the country.

As is often the case in a small town, Portola Valley doesn't have a public transportation system that people use for their commute.

Portola Valley Information and Demographics

If knowledge is power, Portola Valley is a pretty powerful place. 80.59% of the adults in Portola Valley have earned a 4-year college degree, masters degree, MD, law degree, or even PhD. Compare that to the national average of 14.96% for all cities and towns.

The per capita income in Portola Valley in 2000 was $96,373, which is wealthy relative to California and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $385,492 for a family of four. However, Portola Valley contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

The people who call Portola Valley home come from a variety of different races and ancestries. The most prevalent race in Portola Valley is White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Portola Valley include English, German, European, Irish, Italian, French, Scottish, Russian, British, and Norwegian.

The most common language spoken in Portola Valley is English. Some people also speak Spanish.