San Jose lies in the Santa Clara Valley along Coyote Creek and the Guadalupe River, about 50 miles southeast of San Francisco. The city, located just southeast of San Francisco Bay, sprawls over a broad floodplain that gradually slopes upward toward more rugged terrain to the east and south. With its semiarid climate, San Jose is known for its sunny, mild weather.

San Jose, the third largest city in California, is also the most populous component of the extensive metropolitan area around the bay that, in addition to San Francisco, includes Oakland. Neighbouring communities include Milpitas (northeast), Alum Rock (east), Los Gatos (southwest), Campbell and Santa Clara (west), and Sunnyvale (northwest). The city constitutes the hub of Silicon Valley, the region of high-technology and computer-related industries that stretches along the southwestern shore of the bay toward San Francisco.