Mountain View, CA Economic Overview
Famous for its views of the Santa Cruz Mountain range, Mountain View is a city located in Santa Clara County, situated at the southern end of the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area. Mountain View is one of the major cities that make up Silicon Valley and is home to many high technology companies, with headquarters to Google, Mozilla Foundation, Symantec, and Intuit located in the area. There are approximately 72,510 residents in Mountain View that make up its diverse community across just 12 square miles. From its outdoor entertainment and recreation to technological industry and thriving downtown shopping district, the Mountain View commercial real estate entices both nationally and internationally known corporations and small businesses to enjoy all it has to offer.
Located at the center of the technology industry between San Francisco and San Jose, Mountain View remains unparalleled in innovation and business success. The city is home to world class businesses in the fields of high-tech, biotech, and telecommunications, such as 23 and Me, Google, Intuit, LinkedIn, Microsoft, and VeriSign, as well as a variety of small businesses, restaurants, and non-profits. Mountain View is characterized by many as the “start-up” community of Silicon Valley, with a strong innovative network that develops and supports the greater Mountain View community. Accelerators located in and around Downtown Mountain View, such as Y-Combinator, 500 Startups, and the Fogarty Institute of Innovation, develop new ways to provide funding to early stage start-ups. Pioneering organizations, such as SunFire Offices and Hacker Dojo, provide co-working space for people to develop innovative ideas. Mountain View is one of only three cities in the State of California with an AAA credit rating, reflecting a solid and diversified tax base, strong financial operation, and a low debt burden. With household incomes nearly double those of state averages, residents of Mountain View are widely considered to exist within a middle class/upper-class income bracket.
Mountain View, CA Commercial Real Estate Market
Mountain View’s innovative community, characterized by its accelerators and co-working spaces with institutional support, have given its commercial market a unique entrepreneurial flare. Key spaces near the area include the NASA Ames Research Park, Carnegie Mellon – Silicon Valley Campus, the Googleplex, and Singularity University, that provide educational programs. Mountain View’s commercial market may prove to be ideal for those who are passionate about making a strong first impression within the world of technology and innovation. The neighborhood zones of the City feature a large number of commercial establishments strongly supported by residents of the city, attracting a growing number of entrepreneurs each year. The Mountain View office market hosts approximately 5.7 million square feet of space, but is considered a hot market with some of the lowest availability rates in the Valley.
Monta Loma-Farley-Rock is Mountain View’s most popular and largest commercial submarket averaging at just over 89,000 square feet in available listings. The Mountain View Monta Loma-Farley-Rock office market is located to the north west of the Mountain View area, close to Google’s headquarters.
Grant-Sylvan Park is Mountain View’s second largest commercial submarket averaging at just over 80,000 squre feet in available listings. The Mountain View Grant-Sylvan Park office market is located to the north east of the Mountain View area.
Old Mountain View contains some of Mountain View’s most expensive commercial space with just over 36,000 square feet in available listings. The highly desirable Old Mountain View office market is located to the south of the Mountain View area.
Downtown Mountain View consists of seven blocks centered at Castro Street that extend from the Downtown Mountain View Station transit center. The core of the Downtown Mountain View office market is the plaza shared by City Hall, the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, and the Mountain View Public Library. There are at least four blocks with a concentration of restaurants, cafes, and shops that extend from the downtown station, with the entire length of El Camino serving as a low-density commercial area.
Mountain View, CA Office Rental Rates ($/SF/year)
Data provided by Yardi Matrix, for properties larger than 50K SF.
Mountain View, CA Office Sales
Data provided by Yardi Matrix, for properties larger than 50K SF, which sold at over $5M.
Mountain View, CA Commercial Inventory Breakdown
Office Spaces
Total: 23,501,288 SF
By square footage range:
- 50k to 100k SF: 4,638,551 SF / 19.74% of total office
- 100k to 500k SF: 11,166,180 SF / 47.51% of total office
- 500k to 1M SF: 4,925,956 SF / 20.96% of total office
- > 1M SF: 2,770,601 SF / 11.79% of total office
By class:
- Class A: 11,927,381 SF / 50.75% of total office
- Class B: 4,791,673 SF / 20.39% of total office
- Class C: 60,335 SF / 0.26% of total office
Industrial
Total: 135,545 SF
By square footage range:
- 50k to 100k SF: 135,545 SF / 100% of total industrial
By class:
- Class B: 135,545 SF / 100% of total industrial
Office Spaces with Retail
Total: 1,884,536 SF
By square footage range:
- 50k to 100k SF: 596,674 SF / 31.66% of total office with retail
- 100k to 500k SF: 1,287,862 SF / 68.34% of total office with retail
Employment in Mountain View, CA
As can be expected from Mountain View’s location, a large number of jobs found in the area involve those in the technology sector. Other popular industries include the scientific, professional and technical service sectors, as well as education and administrative support. Unemployment levels in Mountain View are well below both the state and national averages at approximately 5% of the local population.
According to the BLS, the industries in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA area with the highest employment numbers include:
- Professional and business services—currently employs 225,800, growing at a yearly rate of 1.1%
- Education and health services—currently employs 167,100, growing at a yearly rate of 2.1%
- Manufacturing—currently employs 164,500, growing at a yearly rate of 0.6%
Education in Mountain View, CA
There are 62 colleges within 50 miles of Mountain View. The nearest college is Cogswell College at a distance of 3.1 miles from the Mountain View center. Other nearby colleges include Foothill College, De Anza College, and Mission College. Stanford University is the closest large-scale university located six miles from the Mountain View center in Stanford, California.
Mountain View is home to a selection of both private and public schools. Notable private schools in Mountain View include: Khan Lab School, a laboratory school associated with Khan Academy; Saint Francis High School, a Roman Catholic secondary school; German International School of Silicon Valley(GISSV), a PK-12 German-English bilingual international school; and Yew Chung International School of Silicon Valley, a PK-12 Chinese-English bilingual international school.
Other higher education institutions include the Silicon Valley campus of Carnegie-Mellon University, a top school of computer science. Other tech-orientated and non-traditional forms of education located nearby include Udacity, born out of a Stanford University initiative, and Singularity University.
Commuting Time in Mountain View, CA
Mountain View is easily accessible from a variety of public transit systems with daily operating schedules. The CalTrain rail system (which chose the city as a stopping point for the Baby Bullet Commuter Train), the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) Light Rail and bus lines, as well as numerous bike paths serve residents and visitors with exceptional transportation options.
In addition to a robust and well-maintained network of local streets, motorists have easy access to U.S. Route 101, State Highway 85, California State Route 237, El Camino Real, and Central Expressway. The average commute time to work is 20.7 minutes, below the national average of 24.8 minutes, with the majority of the employed workforce traveling by car, truck or van. Only 4.7% took public transit, according to the 2010 U.S. Census.
Mountain View Demographics
Population
- Total Population83,626
- Male Population(52.3 %) 43,720
- Female Population(47.7 %) 39,906
- Median Age34.00
Income/Financial
- Average Household Income$143,670
- Median Household Income$105,971
- Median Income Under 25$86,128
- Median Income 25-44$119,676
- Median Income 45-64$117,404
- Median Income Over 65$58,083