The City of San Ramon is located in Contra Costa County on 11 square miles of the San Ramon Valley, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is considered a suburb of both San Francisco and Oakland, being approximately 25 miles east of Oakland.

With a very strong economy, San Ramon is the headquarters of the company formerly known as Pacific Bell (now SBC), ChevronTexaco, and IPIX. They city's Bishop Ranch Office Park consists of 580 acres of land with 5.9 million square feet of office space. The office park currently is home to approximately 200 companies including many Fortune 500 companies. San Ramon is at the heart of the valley and is surrounded by the prosperous communities of Alamo, Blackhawk, Danville, and Diablo.

The San Ramon Valley has long been considered one of the most desirable living areas in the Bay Area because of its scenic beauty, good climate, suburban charm, and proximity to the Bay Area's major employment centers. An attractive, expanding city, San Ramon is expecting that over 16,000 jobs will be added within the next 15 years.

Famous residents of San Ramon includes Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert comic strip, and famous football coach and commentator, John Madden.