Palo Alto Takes First Place as America's Snobbiest City

Palo Alto, California, home to prestigious Stanford University, has distinguished itself again by being named America’s snobbiest small city.

According to the real estate website Movoto, Palo Alto residents “are proud of where they live and aren’t afraid to brag about it if it comes up in conversation (or even if it doesn’t).” The Daily News reported that Movoto ranked the cities with populations between 45,000 and 65,000 and considered local incomes, college degrees, private schools, and access to art institutions among other criteria. Also in the criteria is the lack of fast-food restaurants.

Movoto ranked Bethesda, Maryland, as runner-up snobbiest city and Hoboken, New Jersey, as number three. Some may be surprised that Hoboken was so highly ranked, given its reputation as a working class city and its main claim to fame being producing legendary singer Frank Sinatra. Yet, Movoto called Hoboken residents “world-wise,” with a “startling” average income of $100,000 per household.

The article notes that “snobby” doesn’t necessarily mean bad and that the cities on the top ten list are wealthy communities with many opportunities for work, education, and culture. Of the ten top snobbiest small cities, California had five of them. San Raphael, Walnut Creek, Encinitas, and Laguna Niguel joined Palo Alto with the dubious recognition.

KPIX5 in San Francisco interviewed one long-time Palo Alto resident who said that he doesn’t think that “snobby” is the best word to describe the city. “I think that there is another word than snobby,” he said. “I would say that it is self-centered.”