Find your dream home
Menu
Regions
GuidesThe buying processThe off-plan checklistTax credits in the North
About
For developersContact
The fields of the Jezreel Valley seen from Tel Yokneam. Photo: Moataz1997, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Regions / Jezreel Valley & Tivon

Yokneam Illit יקנעם עילית

A high-tech city on the edge of the Carmel, with parks, bike trails and the Jezreel Valley below.

Find your dream home

Overview

Yokneam Illit was founded in 1950 and has 24,928 residents (2024), at 166 m above sea level. It sits beside the older moshava of Yokneam and the ancient mound of Tel Yokneam, about 24 km from Haifa by road.

Its “Startup Village” high-tech park hosts more than 100 companies in semiconductors, biotech, pharma and medical devices, among them Intel, Medtronic and Nvidia (which bought the local firm Mellanox in 2020).

24,928 (2024)
Population
166 m
Elevation
₪1,970,000
Average sale price
Not on the 2026 list
Tax credit (2026)

Average sale price, all property types. Source: Madlan, based on reported sales; figures read Oct 2026. A guide only: actual prices depend on the home.

A view across the Jezreel Valley’s fields from Yokneam. Photo: Chenspec, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Across the valley. Photo: Chenspec, CC BY-SA 4.0 (source)

Living in Yokneam Illit

Quality of life

  • Five major parks, an outdoor amphitheater, a city theater and library, and 13 km of bike paths.
  • Ramat Menashe Park, next to the town, has about 100 km of bike trails.
  • A train to Haifa Center–HaShmona in about 17 minutes from the Yokneam–Kfar Yehoshua station (Ministry of Transport timetable).

Community

  • A small English-speaking group: residents quoted by Nefesh B’Nefesh say there are not many Anglos and that the town is quiet and well kept.
  • Wikipedia reports many active synagogues and a religiously tolerant city, with immigrants from Western Europe, South Africa, North America and South America since the 1990s.

Value for money

  • Local jobs in the high-tech park.
  • Not on the 2026 list for the locality tax credit.

Good to know

  • Yokneam Illit (the city), Yokneam (the older moshava) and Tel Yokneam are different places; check which one a listing means.

Community

Yokneam Illit has 24,928 residents (2024), 89.7% of them Jewish (2022). The modern town dates from 1950, became a local council in 1967 and a city in the 2000s. The older moshava of Yokneam (1935) and the Bronze Age Tel Yokneam are next door. Wikipedia lists immigration from Western Europe, South Africa, North America and South America since the 1990s.

The “Startup Village” high-tech park hosts more than 100 companies in semiconductors, biotech, pharma and medical devices, among them Intel, Medtronic and Nvidia (which bought the local firm Mellanox in 2020), with exports of about US$5 billion a year, according to Wikipedia. Osem has a plant in the city.

Sources: Wikipedia, Yokneam Illit

Religious life

Wikipedia reports many active synagogues and calls the city religiously tolerant, without a count. Hebrew Wikipedia says a higher yeshiva, a branch of Shvei Hevron, was set up in 2025. We have not yet confirmed the mix of communities.

Sources: Wikipedia, Yokneam Illit · Hebrew Wikipedia, Yokneam Illit

Women’s mikveh (available in town)
  • Gagot Yerukim (Green Roofs) · Emek HaShalom 90, Yokneam Illit
  • Sachlavim · Yarden 98, Yokneam Illit
  • Shaked · Shaked 36, Yokneam Illit (by appointment, per the list)

Opening hours change with the season and many mikvaot work by appointment; check with the local religious council before you go.

Source: Ministry of Religious Services, mikvaot list (data.gov.il, updated Aug 2026)

Neighborhoods to know

  • Ramat Yokneam
  • Sha’ar HaGai
  • Givat Ya’ara
  • Givat Alonim
Office buildings in Yokneam’s high-tech park, seen from above. Photo: לוינשטין נכסים בע"מ, CC BY-SA 4.0.
The high-tech park. Photo: לוינשטין נכסים בע"מ, CC BY-SA 4.0 (source)

Schools

Hebrew Wikipedia lists state elementary schools (Arazim, Dalyot, Tadhar, Yitzhak Navon and Herzog arts), the state-religious Hadassim, the democratic Oranim, and the ORT middle school and high school (grades 7–12). A branch of the Open University is at the community center.

Sources: Hebrew Wikipedia, Yokneam Illit

Getting around

Yokneam Illit has no railway station of its own. The station that serves it is Yokneam–Kfar Yehoshua, about 6 min (5 km) away by road. On a weekday 21 trains a day run from Yokneam–Kfar Yehoshua to Haifa Center–HaShmona, usually in about 17 min. No train runs direct to Tel Aviv in the timetable; you change at Haifa.

About 38 bus lines stop in Yokneam Illit on a weekday. Direct services from Yokneam Illit include:

  • Haifa: 113 direct trips on a weekday (lines 50, 180, 181, 188, 190…), from about 12 min; Egged, Superbus and Kavim.
  • Tel Aviv: 94 direct trips on a weekday (lines 826, 836, 845, 846), from about 1 h 6 min; Egged.
  • Jerusalem: 39 direct trips on a weekday (lines 960, 968), from about 1 h 21 min; Egged.
  • Migdal HaEmek: 57 direct trips on a weekday (lines 426, 826), from about 19 min; Egged and Superbus.
  • Kiryat Tivon: 56 direct trips on a weekday (lines 190, 407, 826), from about 9 min; Egged and Superbus.
  • Nazareth: 37 direct trips on a weekday (lines 826), from about 29 min; Egged.
  • Kiryat Shmona: 32 direct trips on a weekday (lines 845), from about 1 h 18 min; Egged.

Times are from the first stop in town to the first stop in the destination city. Timetables change, so check the operator’s app before you plan a trip.

By road, Yokneam Illit is about 22 min (24 km) from Haifa, 1 h 3 min (88 km) from Tel Aviv, 1 h 33 min (127 km) from Jerusalem and 1 h 5 min (89 km) from Ben Gurion Airport, the nearest international airport. These are free-road estimates with no traffic, so allow more at rush hour.

Sources: Ministry of Transport timetable · OpenStreetMap routing · Wikipedia, Israel Railways

Yokneam Illit is part of Jezreel Valley & Tivon, with Migdal HaEmek, Afula and Kiryat Tivon close by.

Map showing Yokneam IllitKinneretMediterraneanJezreel Valley & TivonTzfatRosh PinaTiberiasMigdalYavnielKatzrinKfar VradimShlomiNahariyaMigdal HaEmekAfulaYokneam IllitKiryat TivonHaifaZichron YaakovCaesareaPardes Hanna-KarkurHaderaHarishHatzor HaGlilitKarmielMaalot-TarshihaMisgav
An aerial view of the ancient mound of Tel Yokneam. Photo: Bukvoed, CC BY 4.0.
Tel Yokneam from the air. Photo: Bukvoed, CC BY 4.0 (source)

Nature & attractions

Five major parks, an outdoor amphitheater, more than 80 playgrounds and 13 km of bike paths, plus Tel Yokneam. Ramat Menashe Park, next to the town, has about 100 km of bike trails, and the area offers hiking, mountain biking and nearby springs.

Sources: Wikipedia, Yokneam Illit · Nefesh B’Nefesh, Northern Roundtable: Yokneam Illit

In half an hour or less you can be at Bet She’arim National Park (13 min), Tel Megiddo National Park (16 min), Ramat HaNadiv (24 min) and Nahal Me’arot Nature Reserve (30 min). Up to 45 minutes takes you to Zippori National Park (33 min) and Harod Spring (Ma’ayan Harod) National Park (36 min). For a longer day out, Hamat Tiberias National Park (46 min), Akhziv National Park (47 min), Amud Stream Nature Reserve (48 min) and Arbel National Park and Nature Reserve (48 min) are within the hour.

All 16 parks and reserves within an hour, with drive times
  • Bet She’arim National Park · about 13 min by roadA burial ground where Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi is buried, with the decorated Menorah Caves. INPA, Bet She’arim
  • Tel Megiddo National Park · about 16 min by roadThe palaces, temples, gates and water system of a major Canaanite city, part of the UNESCO World Heritage biblical tells. INPA, Tel Megiddo
  • Ramat HaNadiv · about 24 min by roadA nature park and garden at the southern end of the Carmel, with pine and cypress groves around the tomb of Baron Edmond de Rothschild and his wife.
  • Nahal Me’arot Nature Reserve · about 30 min by roadFour prehistoric caves (Tabun, Jamal, El-Wad and Skhul) with remains of about 500,000 years of human life, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2012. INPA, Nahal Me’arot
  • Caesarea National Park · about 30 min by roadThe Roman port city Herod the Great built from about 22 BCE, with a theatre that still hosts concerts, a hippodrome, Crusader walls and aqueducts on the beach.
  • Zippori National Park · about 33 min by roadA former capital of the Galilee and seat of the Sanhedrin, with Roman and Byzantine mosaics. INPA, Zippori
  • Harod Spring (Ma’ayan Harod) National Park · about 36 min by roadA spring from a cave on the slope of Mount Gilboa, a clear brook and a paddling pool, and the Hankin House museum. INPA, Harod Spring
  • Hamat Tiberias National Park · about 46 min by roadAn ancient synagogue with a mosaic floor, an 18th-century Turkish bathhouse and 17 hot springs by the Kinneret. INPA, Hamat Tiberias
  • Akhziv National Park · about 47 min by roadThe remains of an ancient fishing village, a sandy beach and a lagoon, next to Israel’s largest marine reserve (Achziv–Rosh Hanikra, declared December 2019). INPA, Akhziv
  • Amud Stream Nature Reserve · about 48 min by roadA stream that runs all year, with rock pools, old flour mills and prehistoric caves. The upper section, reached from Road 866, is open to visitors. INPA, Amud Stream
  • Arbel National Park and Nature Reserve · about 48 min by roadA cliff-top park over the Kinneret, with Arbel Fortress, a cave village and the ruins of a Galilean synagogue. INPA, Arbel
  • Rosh Hanikra grottoes · about 49 min by roadSea-carved hollows in a white chalk cliff on the Lebanese border, about 200 m of connected passages reached by cable car; the Israel Nature and Parks Authority manages the site. Wikipedia, Rosh HaNikra grottoes
  • Yehi’am Fortress National Park · about 50 min by roadThe ruins of a large Crusader and Ottoman fortress, which also tells the story of its defenders in 1948. INPA, Yehi’am Fortress
  • Bet She’an National Park · about 51 min by roadThe Roman and Byzantine city, with its theater, bathhouse and streets, below the mound of the biblical city. INPA, Bet She’an
  • Korazim National Park · about 57 min by roadA Jewish village from the time of the Mishnah and Talmud, with a synagogue and a ritual bath. INPA, Korazim
  • Montfort Castle (Nahal Kziv Nature Reserve) · about 1 h by roadThe ruins of a Teutonic Order castle built from 1228, above the Nahal Kziv stream, with a three-storey gate tower and a two-storey central hall. Wikipedia, Montfort Castle

Drive times are free-road estimates from the center of Yokneam Illit (OpenStreetMap routing). Hours, fees and booking rules change; check the Israel Nature and Parks Authority before you go.

A high-tech building in Yokneam with the Carmel hills behind. Photo: Jakednb, CC BY-SA 4.0.
A high-tech campus. Photo: Jakednb, CC BY-SA 4.0 (source)

Homes in Yokneam Illit

Tell us what you’re after and we’ll look in Yokneam Illit for you. Many homes never reach the big listing sites.

Find your dream home

Sources

The community, schools, getting-around and nature sections were checked on 27 Oct 2026 (towns added on 2 Nov 2026 that day) (train and bus counts are for a typical weekday, Sunday 8 Nov 2026, in the timetable valid 2 Nov to 2 Dec); the “Locals say” items, synagogue and mikveh lists on 28 Oct 2026.