Where the English-speaking communities are, what each area is actually like, and what it takes to sell one here.
The centre is two different things. Tel Aviv itself, where the Anglo population is younger, more secular, and mostly here for work rather than for community. And the suburbs around it — Ra'anana, Herzliya, Modiin, Netanya — where people move for schools, space and a commute that works.
If you are coming for a job in tech, you will almost certainly end up somewhere on this page.
A note on how this is written. These descriptions name the communities and institutions that exist in each area. They are not a guide to who belongs where.
The original Anglo suburb, and still the one most North Americans picture. Founded in the 1920s by American pioneers, which turned out to matter. Around 77,000 people and a large English-speaking population. What makes it unusual is the range of communities that all function properly here — Dati Leumi, secular, Chabad, Conservative and Reform.
Predominantly secular and the most affluent of the group. Herzliya Pituach draws international families, diplomats and tech executives, with the largest houses and the highest prices. The tech corridor is on the doorstep.
Planned from nothing in the 1990s, sitting midway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Buchman and Kaiser hold the biggest concentrations of American olim. Wide streets, a lot of green, and the only place on this list where the commute genuinely works in both directions.
Coastal, and growing faster than anywhere else here. Ir Yamim is the flagship — modern towers, a mall, and one of the cleanest stretches of beach in the country. There is a long-established French community here alongside the Anglo one.
The Anglo population here skews younger and more secular than anywhere else in the country. Ramat Aviv and Ramat Aviv Gimmel in the north-west are the family option, quieter and greener. Prices are the highest in the country and space is the scarcest.
Traffic is the thing everyone complains about, and they are right. Rush hour in Ra'anana and Herzliya is slow, and the Modiin commute depends on the train running. Ra'anana and Herzliya Pituach get close to Tel Aviv prices without Tel Aviv on the doorstep.
Buyers here are more often relocating for work than making aliyah, and more often comparing several cities at once. Commute times, schools and parking decide it.
Worth knowing if you are selling in Tel Aviv: most people moving out to Ra'anana or Modiin are leaving Tel Aviv rather than arriving from abroad. Your buyer is often someone at the opposite end of the same cycle.
Every week on the market at the wrong price costs more than this entire campaign.
