Explore Tracy

Tracy, CA. Jack’s home base since 1988.

A small city at a big crossroads. Tracy sits just over the Altamont Pass from the Bay Area, with the Central Valley at its back door. Here’s what living here is like, from the broker who has sold homes on these streets for 38 years.

The Tracy water tower above downtown, with the hills behind

At a glance

People: About 102,000
County: San Joaquin
Median price: About $679K
Jack here: Since 1988

Then and now

Tracy is a railroad town. In 1868 the Central Pacific ran its line through a small stop called Ellis. In 1878 a second line came through, and Tracy was founded beside it that September. Most of Ellis packed up and moved over.

The town was named after Lathrop J. Tracy, a railroad director, and became a city in 1910. Five years later the first irrigation district brought water to the farms around town. For most of the next century Tracy was a farm town, and longtime locals will tell you it was pretty much just 11th Street.

That street was once the Lincoln Highway, the first highway across the country, and later US 50. It was the main road between the Bay Area and Stockton until I-205 bypassed downtown in 1970.

When people started moving over the hill from the Bay Area in the early 1990s, there still wasn’t much here. Most drivers passed straight through.

That has changed. Tracy has grown into a hub of its own, with new neighborhoods, shopping, parks and a downtown that keeps adding places. Most of what you need is in town, so you don’t have to leave if you don’t want to.

Coming from the Bay Area on I-205, Tracy is the next stop after Mountain House. For many people looking for more room for their money, that means they don’t have to go as far as Stockton, Modesto or Merced.

Today it’s a mix of newcomers and longtime locals with stories going back generations. You can still see the old Tracy in the downtown buildings, the farmland at the edge of town and businesses that have been around for decades.

Dan Tafoya, for one, started cutting hair in Tracy in 1960 and ran Hairitage Barber Shop on West 12th Street for about 50 years. It’s still a barbershop today, now Louie’s.

Living in Tracy

Things to do, close to home.

The Grand Theatre Center for the Arts

Opened in 1923 as a vaudeville house and later a movie theater. It reopened in 2007 as the city’s arts center, with live shows, classes and gallery space, and welcomes over 50,000 visitors a year.

Downtown Tracy

Restaurants, coffee and local shops around Central Avenue and 10th Street. Downtown hosts a farmers’ market every Saturday, free Friday block parties in summer, the Wine Stroll in September and the Holiday Light Parade in December.

Tracy Golf and Country Club

A member-owned club that welcomes guests. Eighteen holes, par 72, designed by Robert E. Baldock.

Tracy Historical Museum

Local history in the 1937 post office on Adam Street. Run by the West Side Pioneer Association, and free to visit.

Parks

Tracy has a lot of parks, from small neighborhood playgrounds to big sports fields, and new ones keep opening as the city grows.

Some of the best are in the newer neighborhoods. The builders of Tracy Hills and Ellis didn’t cut corners on their parks, and they hold their own against parks in much bigger cities. Western Park in Ellis has pickleball courts and a pavilion. Tracy Hills Park has a playground, barbecues and shaded pavilions.

These are city parks, not gated, so anyone can use them. They’re a popular spot for birthday parties and outdoor get-togethers.

Across town, Legacy Fields on North Tracy Boulevard has baseball and soccer fields for local leagues and weekend tournaments. Sam Matthews Park opened in May 2026, and Clyde Bland Park added a BMX pump track (a looping dirt track of bumps and berms) in April.

More is on the way. TRAC, a new indoor recreation center, is due in spring 2027. The city is also designing a public aquatic center next to Ellis.

Schools

Most of Tracy is served by Tracy Joint Unified School District. Some neighborhoods belong to smaller districts, like Jefferson and Lammersville, so check the address, not just the city.

Some of the highest-rated schools in the area are Millennium Charter, Kimball High, and Jefferson and Monticello in the Jefferson district. Jack can tell you which schools serve any home he shows you.

Shopping and dining

West Valley Mall has Target, Burlington, Hobby Lobby and a 14-screen Cinemark. Tracy’s first Trader Joe’s opened nearby in 2025.

In southwest Tracy, the new Ellis Village Center opened with a Sprouts in September 2026. Downtown has the local restaurants, shops and the Saturday farmers’ market.

Getting around

Tracy sits where three freeways meet. I-205 runs through town and joins I-580 over the Altamont Pass into the Bay Area. I-5 runs north through Stockton to Sacramento and south to Los Angeles. Stockton and Modesto are both about a half-hour drive.

On weekdays the ACE train runs from Tracy to Pleasanton in about 40 minutes and to San Jose in about an hour and 40 minutes, with trains back in the evening.

Valley Link, the planned train to the Dublin/Pleasanton BART station, is still years away from reaching Tracy.

The drive over the hill

The commute to the Bay Area is something you get used to, and it’s a pretty one: open farmland, rolling hills and wind turbines along the ridge. Most people take the freeway, but there are a few back roads worth knowing.

Altamont Pass Road

The old road over the pass, and part of the original Lincoln Highway. It runs just north of the freeway, slower and quieter, right among the wind turbines.

Patterson Pass Road

Narrow and winding, with a long one-lane stretch over the top, so take it slow. The view of the hills and turbines from up there is the best around.

Tesla Road

A gentler way over, past ranches and the Carnegie off-road park. On the Tracy side it becomes Corral Hollow Road and comes out by Tracy Hills.

North toward Brentwood

Vasco Road links Livermore and Brentwood, and Byron Highway heads north from Tracy toward Brentwood. From Byron, Camino Diablo and Marsh Creek Road make a nice back-road drive west to Clayton.

Brushy Peak

A regional preserve in the hills just north of Livermore. The trails on the south side are open every day, with big views over the Altamont.

Homes for sale in Tracy, CA

Most homes in Tracy are single-family houses. They range from older homes near downtown to newer planned neighborhoods like Ellis and Tracy Hills.

The median sale price was about $679,000 this summer. Depending on the neighborhood, you’ll find big lots, pools and second units (a small separate home on the same lot, often called an ADU).

Population: U.S. Census estimate, July 2025. Median price: Redfin, three months ending August 2026. Train times: ACE schedule.

$998,000Tracy