San Francisco / Walnut Creek
Walnut Creek has 70,088 residents (give or take 67) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=160XX00US0683346, checked 2026-10-19), about 3,547 people per square mile.
Walnut Creek is about 55 miles from the Census center point for San Francisco in a straight line and covers 19.76 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 Walnut Creek that is 94595, 94596, 94597, 94598 (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).
Median household income in Walnut Creek is $130,432 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=160XX00US0683346, 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.
3,547 people per square mile puts Walnut Creek in suburban density, where the outdoor unit usually sits in a side yard and the noise is not an issue for neighbors.
37% of Walnut Creek homes are single-family detached, 10% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 37% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=160XX00US0683346, checked 2026-10-19).
36% of Walnut Creek homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US0683346, checked 2026-10-19), so beside the 37% detached houses there is a real share of jobs where the landlord, not the resident, signs the quote.
Walnut Creek has 30 points fewer detached houses than Contra Costa County overall (67%) and 21 points more five-plus-unit buildings than the county's 16% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US06013, checked 2026-10-19).
Of the 33,072 occupied homes in Walnut Creek, 59% heat with natural gas, 0% with heating oil, 38% with electricity and 1% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=160XX00US0683346, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas heats 59% of Walnut Creek against electricity at 38%, and a cold-climate heat pump sized for this market replaces the gas system outright, so the usual quote is a whole-home install.
Walnut Creek has about the Contra Costa County oil share of 0% and 10 points more electric heat than the county's 28% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US06013, checked 2026-10-19).
No electric utility is on file for Walnut Creek on this door yet, so this page does not name one; the name on the bill decides which rebate path applies.
LADWP Consumer Rebate Program heat pump HVAC, run by LADWP, is a live program for California addresses and publishes its terms without one headline figure (registry row 24 verified 2026-10-14, https://www.ladwp.com/residential-services/assistance-programs/consumer-rebate-program, checked 2026-10-16); confirm eligibility for the Walnut Creek address before counting it. With 38% of Walnut Creek homes already on electric heat and 60% on gas, oil or propane, the row that applies depends on the name on the electric bill and the fuel coming out.
Walnut Creek has 34,389 housing units, 2% built before 1940 and 66% before 1980, with 11% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US0683346, checked 2026-10-19).
Walnut Creek has 8 points fewer homes built after 2000 than the county's 19% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US06013, checked 2026-10-19).
The median Walnut Creek home was built in 1974 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=160XX00US0683346, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 5 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=160XX00US0683346, checked 2026-10-19).
66% of Walnut Creek homes were built before 1980 and only 11% in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US0683346, 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.
Heating design temperature: 27F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Contra Costa 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 27F figure is the Contra Costa County cold-day number a Walnut Creek heat pump is sized against, so ask the installer to show the system's heating output at 27F, not at the milder rating-label temperature.
Ask whether the quote is whole-home or partial-home, because with 59% of Walnut Creek on gas and 38% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; the median Walnut Creek home has 5 rooms and was built around 1974, 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 Walnut Creek. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Walnut Creek yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.