San Francisco / East Palo Alto
East Palo Alto has 29,069 residents (give or take 37) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=160XX00US0620956, checked 2026-10-19), about 11,499 people per square mile.
East Palo Alto is about 52 miles from the Census center point for San Francisco in a straight line and covers 2.528 square miles of land (Census 2024 Gazetteer internal points and land area, https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2024_Gazetteer/, checked 2026-10-19).
The quote form takes a ZIP code; for East Palo Alto that is 94303 (Census 2020 ZCTA to county subdivision and ZCTA to place relationship files, ZIP areas at least 20% inside the town, https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/rel2020/zcta520/tab20_zcta520_cousub20_natl.txt and https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/rel2020/zcta520/tab20_zcta520_place20_natl.txt, checked 2026-10-19).
At 11,499 people per square mile, East Palo Alto is dense enough that noise setback rules and outdoor-unit placement on a small lot are the first questions the installer works through.
Of the 8,267 occupied homes in East Palo Alto, 64% heat with natural gas, 0% with heating oil, 31% with electricity and 1% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=160XX00US0620956, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas heats 64% of East Palo Alto against electricity at 31%, and a cold-climate heat pump sized for this market replaces the gas system outright, so the usual quote is a whole-home install.
East Palo Alto has about the San Mateo County oil share of 0% and 1 points less electric heat than the county's 32% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US06081, checked 2026-10-19).
East Palo Alto has 9,160 housing units, 4% built before 1940 and 70% before 1980, with 19% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US0620956, checked 2026-10-19).
East Palo Alto has 5 points fewer pre-1940 homes than San Mateo County as a whole (9%) and 7 points more homes built after 2000 than the county's 12% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US06081, checked 2026-10-19).
The median East Palo Alto home was built in 1963 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=160XX00US0620956, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 4.6 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=160XX00US0620956, checked 2026-10-19).
59% of East Palo Alto homes are single-family detached, 3% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 33% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=160XX00US0620956, checked 2026-10-19).
51% of East Palo Alto homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US0620956, checked 2026-10-19), so beside the 59% detached houses there is a real share of jobs where the landlord, not the resident, signs the quote.
51% of East Palo Alto homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US0620956, checked 2026-10-19), so the market splits between resident-led jobs where the occupant picks the system and landlord-led jobs where they do not, and the rebate paperwork differs.
70% of East Palo Alto homes were built before 1980 and only 19% in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US0620956, checked 2026-10-19), so most of the stock predates modern insulation codes; the installer's heat-loss calculation, not a square-footage rule, decides the tonnage.
No electric utility is on file for East Palo Alto on this door yet, so this page does not name one; the name on the bill decides which rebate path applies.
Median household income in East Palo Alto is $113,493 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=160XX00US0620956, checked 2026-10-19); many state and utility heat pump rebate programs set higher incentive tiers for income-qualifying households, so the household income on the application, not the town median, decides which level applies.
Heating design temperature: 29F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), San Mateo County row, 99% heating, PDF pages 11 to 13 of 141 (Revised 11/11/2020), https://www.energystar.gov/sites/default/files/Design%20Temperature%20Limit%20Reference%20Guide%20(2019%20Ed)%20-%20ENERGY%20STAR%20Single-Family%20New%20Homes_Rev11.pdf, fetched 2026-10-19, 99%.
That 29F figure is the San Mateo County cold-day number a East Palo Alto heat pump is sized against, so ask the installer to show the system's heating output at 29F, not at the milder rating-label temperature.
Ask whether the quote is whole-home or partial-home, because with 64% of East Palo Alto on gas and 31% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; the median East Palo Alto home has 4.6 rooms and was built around 1963, and the count of heads and the tonnage follow the rooms and the insulation, not the square footage.
The form on this page is the follow-up for East Palo Alto. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for East Palo Alto yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.