Danville is a town of 43,190 in southern Contra Costa County, about 30 miles east of San Francisco. It’s the smallest of the five Tri-Valley communities and the most single-family: about 75 percent of its 16,530 housing units are detached houses (California Department of Finance, 2026). Homes there sold at a median of $1,817,797 in August 2026.
There’s no BART station inside Danville. Against Dublin or Pleasanton, that’s the difference most buyers feel first. I’m Mony Nop, a REALTOR® serving the Tri-Valley since 2007, and I spent 17 years as a Livermore Police officer, a career that overlapped with my start in real estate. This guide sticks to what the town, the school district, the transit agencies and the county assessor publish, so you can judge the fit yourself.
Key Takeaways
– Danville had 43,190 residents and 16,530 housing units on January 1, 2026, the smallest of the five Tri-Valley cities (California Department of Finance).
– About 93 percent of that housing is single-family; only 6 percent sits in buildings of five units or more.
– The median sale price was $1,817,797 in August 2026, roughly twice the Contra Costa County median.
– No BART station in town. Buses reach Walnut Creek BART directly; Dublin/Pleasanton BART requires a transfer.
– Browse current homes for sale in Danville or get a free home value estimate.
What’s It Like to Live in Danville, CA?
Danville incorporated in 1982 and covers 18 square miles (Town of Danville, Community Profile). It’s a low-density valley town at the foot of Mount Diablo, with an intact historic main street and no large office park at its center.
The town runs more than 167 acres of parkland across six community parks: Sycamore Valley Park, Hap Magee Ranch Park, Oak Hill Park, Osage Station Park, Danville South Park and Diablo Vista Park, the one locals call Snake Park for its mosaic water snake (Town of Danville, Community Parks). Danville also borders the Iron Horse Trail, Las Trampas Regional Wilderness, and the Sycamore Valley and Sherburne Hills open space preserves.
Mount Diablo State Park is the backdrop. The Town lists the summit at 3,849 feet, reachable on foot, by bike or by car. If your weekends run toward trailheads more than shopping centers, that access counts for a lot.
The trade-off is errands. Redfin scores Danville 25 out of 100 for walkability, labeling it car-dependent, with a Bike Score of 34 (Redfin, 2026). Downtown itself walks well; most neighborhoods don’t walk to downtown.
What Kind of Housing Stock Does Danville Have?
Danville had 16,530 housing units on January 1, 2026: 12,328 detached houses, 3,018 attached single-family homes, 994 units in buildings of five or more, 160 in two-to-four-unit buildings and 30 mobile homes (California Department of Finance, E-5, 2026). That’s a market built overwhelmingly around houses.
In practice, buyers look at two things: detached houses on standard valley lots, which are the bulk of what trades, and attached townhouse-style homes, which are the usual entry point. Condominium and apartment stock is scarce, at under 1,000 units town-wide.
Supply isn’t about to change quickly. The State expects Danville to plan for roughly 2,241 new homes in the 2022 to 2030 RHNA cycle, split 652 very low income, 376 low, 338 moderate and 875 above moderate (Town of Danville, Housing Element FAQs). Under state law a town has to plan for those units, not build them, so treat it as planned capacity against an existing base of 16,530 units.
The occupied-unit picture is tight too. Danville reported 16,045 occupied units and a 2.9 percent vacancy rate, with 2.68 people per household. If you’re weighing a townhouse against a house, read our guide on how much house you can afford in the Tri-Valley before you tour anything.
What Do Homes Cost in Danville in 2026?
In August 2026, the median Danville sale price was $1,817,797, up 6.0 percent year over year, at a median $770 per square foot (Redfin, Danville CA Housing Market, 2026). There were 139 sales that month, up from 117 a year earlier, and the median home took 26 days to sell.
For context, the California Association of REALTORS® put the Contra Costa County median at $875,000 in July 2026, up 1.4 percent year over year, with the statewide median at $887,680 (C.A.R., July 2026 Home Sales and Price Report, released August 17, 2026). Danville runs a little over twice the county figure. Two different months and two different methodologies, so treat that as a scale comparison, not a precise ratio.
Our take: For a buyer, the $770 per square foot is a more useful number than the median. Multiply it out and you get rough bands: a 1,600 square-foot home pencils near $1.23M, 2,000 square feet near $1.54M, 2,500 near $1.93M, 3,000 near $2.31M and 3,500 near $2.70M. That’s arithmetic on a published figure, not a forecast, and condition, lot and street will move any individual home off the line. Use the bands to set expectations before you tour, then price the actual house.
Assessed values move more slowly. The Contra Costa County Assessor’s 2026-2027 roll, delivered July 6, 2026, put county-wide net assessed value at nearly $300.80 billion, up 3.48 percent, and named Danville among the cities leading in percentage increase at +4.41 percent (Contra Costa County Assessor, 2026). Only Oakley rose faster, at +4.44 percent.
Sale prices move monthly. Before you set a budget, check what closed on the streets you’re considering. Our August 2026 Tri-Valley market update tracks the wider valley, and we’ll run a free home value estimate on request.
How Does School Assignment Work in San Ramon Valley Unified?
Danville sits inside San Ramon Valley Unified School District, which enrolls approximately 30,000 students across Alamo, Danville and San Ramon plus small parts of Walnut Creek and Pleasanton (SRVUSD, Overview). The district describes itself as “among the highest-achieving school districts in California.” That’s the district’s own wording, not an outside rating, so read it next to the state’s published data.
Danville campuses include Monte Vista High School on Stone Valley Road and San Ramon Valley High School on Danville Boulevard, plus Charlotte Wood Middle School on El Capitan Drive and Los Cerros Middle School on Blemer Road. The district’s elementary roster covers Danville schools including Sycamore Valley, Greenbrook, John Baldwin, Green Valley and Montair.
The assignment rules matter more than the school list. The district sets attendance boundaries by address, not by neighborhood name, and it says plainly that enrollment is not guaranteed: “Many schools and grade levels are impacted by growth and students may not be able to attend their resident school” (SRVUSD, Find Your School). The district asks families to contact the resident attendance-area school directly to verify an address.
Run the specific address through the district’s School Site Locator at schoolsitelocator.com/apps/sanramon, then call Educational Services at (925) 552-5071 to confirm. Do that before you write an offer, not after. Under Fair Housing law we help you evaluate homes and areas objectively and share published, attributable data; we don’t rank communities or steer buyers toward or away from any of them.
What Are the Commute Options From Danville?
Danville has no BART station. I-680 is the main artery, running north to Walnut Creek and south toward San Ramon, Dublin and the Silicon Valley job centers. Transit riders use County Connection buses to reach a station, and which station you’re aiming for changes the trip substantially.
Northbound is the easy direction. Route 21, “BART Walnut Creek / San Ramon,” serves Alamo, Danville Boulevard and the Danville Park ‘n Ride on its way to Walnut Creek BART, weekdays 5:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., every 30 minutes at peak (County Connection, 2026). Route 95X adds a peak-only express from the same Park ‘n Ride, 6:00 to 8:45 a.m. and 3:15 to 7:15 p.m.
Our take: Southbound is where it gets awkward, and it rarely comes up on a tour. Danville gets a one-seat bus ride to Walnut Creek BART, but there’s no equivalent one-seat bus to Dublin/Pleasanton BART. Route 35, “BART Dublin / San Ramon,” starts at the San Ramon Transit Center, so a Danville rider heading south transfers first. If your office sits on the Dublin/Pleasanton line, plan on driving and parking. That’s what most people here do rather than ride two buses.
Dublin/Pleasanton station sits at 5801 Owens Dr. in Pleasanton, straddling the city border on I-580, on the Dublin/Pleasanton to Daly City line. BART charges $3.40 per day to park and $93.80 for a monthly reserved space (BART, 2026).
A bike is the third option, and most buyers overlook it. The Iron Horse Regional Trail is a 32-mile multi-use, whole-access trail between Concord and Pleasanton that runs through downtown Danville, with staging areas at Danville Boulevard, Lisa Lane and Stone Valley Road, and it now continues all the way to the Dublin/Pleasanton BART station (East Bay Regional Park District, 2026). E-bikes are allowed. For anyone weighing Danville against a BART-adjacent city, ride it once before you decide. Our Dublin guide covers the other end of that trail.
What Is Downtown Danville and Hartz Avenue Like?
Downtown Danville is a walkable historic main street centered on Hartz Avenue, and its layout is a direct result of the railroad. When the Southern Pacific reached the valley in 1891, John Hartz sold 8.65 acres of his land for the Danville station and granted land access to the depot, then subdivided and sold the lots east of the station, shifting the town’s focus from Front Street to Hartz Avenue. A bank, a drug store, a saloon, a doctor’s office and a Chinese laundry eventually joined the houses lining the street (Town of Danville, Historic Danville).
The bones go back further. Daniel and Andrew Inman bought 400 acres of Old Town Danville with mining earnings in 1854, and by 1858 the settlement had a blacksmith, a hotel, a wheelwright and a general store. The Danville Hotel, which originally sat across from the station, was moved to face Hartz Avenue in 1927. The Town notes that “a remarkable number of early Danville buildings remain today.”
The Town publishes a 12-stop Historic Walking Tour through Old Town, taking in the Eddy House at 500 Hartz, the Foster House at 404 Hartz and the Tony Cabral House at 402 Hartz, plus the Grange Hall on Front Street and the Southern Pacific depot (Town of Danville, 2026). That depot now houses the Museum of the San Ramon Valley at 205 Railroad Avenue.
The Danville Farmers’ Market runs Saturdays year-round, rain or shine, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Railroad Avenue municipal lot at Prospect, operated by the Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association (Town of Danville, 2026). Eugene O’Neill National Historic Site preserves Tao House, where the dramatist wrote The Iceman Cometh and Long Day’s Journey Into Night; the National Park Service requires reservations and runs a shuttle from Danville (NPS, 2026).
Our take: The Iron Horse Trail and Hartz Avenue come out of the same corridor. The trail follows the Southern Pacific right-of-way established in 1891 and abandoned in 1978, the same alignment that pulled the shops onto Hartz in the first place. So the rail line that built downtown is now the bike route to Dublin/Pleasanton BART.
How Does Danville Compare to Livermore, Pleasanton, Dublin and San Ramon?
Danville is the smallest of the five Tri-Valley cities and has the highest share of detached houses. As of January 1, 2026, populations ran Livermore 86,118, San Ramon 84,220, Pleasanton 76,149, Dublin 74,769 and Danville 43,190 (California Department of Finance, E-5, 2026). Housing mix separates them further.
The apartment share flips the order. Buildings of five or more units account for 30.9 percent of Dublin’s housing and 23.8 percent of San Ramon’s, against 6.0 percent in Danville. So if you want a newer condo or apartment-style home, inventory is thinner here, and that shows up in how few of them list at any given time.
Each city trades on something different, and none of these differences is a ranking. Compare them yourself: our guides to living in Livermore, living in Pleasanton, living in Dublin and the San Ramon neighborhood guide cover the same ground for each one.
Work With a Local Danville Realtor
Danville is a small market built around detached houses, and it doesn’t turn over quickly. With 139 sales in August, the comparable set for any given home is narrow, so pricing comes down to reading condition, lot and street instead of leaning on a town-wide average.
I’ve worked in real estate since 2007, with 400+ clients served across the Tri-Valley. I also spent 17 years with the Livermore Police Department, and the habits carried over: verify the record, say the inconvenient thing early. Our team is Sophie Mao, Loan Nguyen, Danielle Merrigan and me, working in English, Khmer, Thai and Vietnamese.
Start with current inventory on our Danville community page, or read our guides on buying your first Tri-Valley home and buying a fixer-upper here. For a second opinion on a specific address, get in touch or meet the team.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much do homes cost in Danville, CA?
The median Danville sale price was $1,817,797 in August 2026, up 6.0 percent year over year, at a median $770 per square foot (Redfin, 2026). That’s a little over twice the Contra Costa County median of $875,000 in July 2026 (California Association of REALTORS®). Prices move monthly, so verify current figures before budgeting.
Does Danville, CA have a BART station?
No. There’s no BART station inside Danville. County Connection Route 21 and peak-only Route 95X run from the Danville Park ‘n Ride to Walnut Creek BART. Reaching Dublin/Pleasanton BART at 5801 Owens Dr. by bus requires a transfer at the San Ramon Transit Center, so most residents drive and park.
What school district serves Danville?
San Ramon Valley Unified School District, which enrolls about 30,000 students across Alamo, Danville and San Ramon plus parts of Walnut Creek and Pleasanton. Danville campuses include Monte Vista High and San Ramon Valley High. Assignment is by address, and the district warns students may not always attend their resident school. Verify at (925) 552-5071.
What kind of homes does Danville have?
Danville had 16,530 housing units on January 1, 2026: 12,328 detached houses, 3,018 attached single-family homes and just 994 units in buildings of five or more (California Department of Finance). About 93 percent of the town’s housing is single-family, the highest share among the five Tri-Valley cities, so condo inventory stays thin.
What is there to do in downtown Danville?
Downtown centers on historic Hartz Avenue, with a 12-stop Town walking tour past buildings including the Grange Hall on Front Street. The Danville Farmers’ Market runs Saturdays year-round, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Railroad Avenue. The Museum of the San Ramon Valley occupies the old Southern Pacific depot at 205 Railroad Avenue.
Sources
- California Department of Finance, E-5 Population and Housing Estimates for Cities, Counties, and the State, 2020-2026 (January 1, 2026 estimates), retrieved 2026-09-10, https://dof.ca.gov/forecasting/demographics/estimates/e-5-population-and-housing-estimates-for-cities-counties-and-the-state-2020-2026/
- Town of Danville, Community Profile, retrieved 2026-09-10, https://www.danville.ca.gov/290/Community-Profile
- Town of Danville, Community Parks, retrieved 2026-09-10, https://www.danville.ca.gov/259/Community-Parks
- Town of Danville, Housing Element FAQs, retrieved 2026-09-10, https://www.danville.ca.gov/894/Housing-Element-FAQs
- Town of Danville, Historic Danville, retrieved 2026-09-10, https://www.danville.ca.gov/308/Historic-Danville
- Town of Danville, Historic Walking Tour, retrieved 2026-09-10, https://www.danville.ca.gov/243/Historic-Walking-Tour
- Town of Danville, Danville Farmers’ Market, retrieved 2026-09-10, https://www.danville.ca.gov/463/Danville-Farmers-Market
- San Ramon Valley Unified School District, Overview, retrieved 2026-09-10, https://www.srvusd.net/About-Us/Overview/
- San Ramon Valley Unified School District, Find Your School, retrieved 2026-09-10, https://www.srvusd.net/Departments/Facilities/Find-Your-School/index.html
- Contra Costa County Assessor’s Office, News Release: Contra Costa County Assessor Delivers 2026-2027 Assessment Roll Reflecting Historic Growth, July 6, 2026, retrieved 2026-09-10, https://www.contracosta.ca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/92123/County-Assessor-Delivers-2026-2027-Assessment-Roll-News-Release-762026
- California Association of REALTORS®, July 2026 Home Sales and Price Report, released August 17, 2026, retrieved 2026-09-10, https://www.car.org/aboutus/mediacenter/newsreleases/2026releases/July2026HomeSales
- Redfin, Danville, CA Housing Market (August 2026 data), retrieved 2026-09-10, https://www.redfin.com/city/4658/CA/Danville/housing-market
- Bay Area Rapid Transit, Dublin/Pleasanton Station, retrieved 2026-09-10, https://www.bart.gov/stations/dubl
- County Connection, Route 21 BART Walnut Creek / San Ramon, retrieved 2026-09-10, https://countyconnection.com/routes/21/
- County Connection, Route 35 BART Dublin / San Ramon, retrieved 2026-09-10, https://countyconnection.com/routes/35/
- County Connection, Route 95X San Ramon / BART Walnut Creek, retrieved 2026-09-10, https://countyconnection.com/routes/95x/
- East Bay Regional Park District, Iron Horse Regional Trail, retrieved 2026-09-10, https://www.ebparks.org/trails/interpark/iron-horse
- National Park Service, Eugene O’Neill National Historic Site, retrieved 2026-09-10, https://www.nps.gov/euon/index.htm
Mony Nop, REALTOR®, CA DRE #01813021. Mony Nop Real Estate Team, Compass, 144 S. K Street, Livermore, CA 94550. Market figures cited above are point-in-time and change monthly; verify current data before making a decision. School attendance boundaries are set by San Ramon Valley Unified and must be confirmed with the district for any specific address. Equal Housing Opportunity.
