San Mateo, CA — Momentum Score, Home Values & Best-For

All states·California·San Mateo

San Mateo County · San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley · population 103,006

Shrinking
San Mateo, CA
Image: Wikipedia · San Mateo, California
OverviewCost of livingMoving guide
View watchlist →
54
Stable
Momentum score · 0–100

Where San Mateo stands

Population shrinking 0.6% per year.

Median home $1,692,590
1-year +1.0%
5-yr CAGR +2.2%
vs 5-yr peak -4.5%
Population -0.6%/yr

Home value trajectory · last 10 years

Zillow ZHVI · monthly
peak 2022-05$1693k$1066k$1325k$1584k$1843k201620182020202220242026

Lifestyle scores

🚶
Walkability
78/100
Very walkable
Estimated from population density. Higher = denser, more amenities within walking distance.
🚉
Public transit
30/100
Minimal transit
Curated list of major US transit systems + population-based estimate. Higher = real subway/rail/bus options.
💻
Remote work fit
38/100
Marginal for remote
Composite of city size, housing cost, state tax structure, and region's remote-work track record.

Scores are heuristic estimates from population density, state, and known transit/walkable cities. Not based on a paid Walk Score / Transit Score API — see methodology for the formula.

Rent trajectory · last 5 years

Zillow ZORI · monthly
$3,561/mo$2,616$3,195$3,774202220242026

Home value vs rent · indexed to 100

Both rebased at first month of ZORI data (~2015)
Home valueRent111128100120202220242026

Rent vs buy

Price-to-rent ratio: 39.6
Rent

At a 39.6 price-to-rent ratio, renting beats buying in San Mateo for most shorter holds. The premium you pay to own would take many years of rent savings to recoup, and that's before maintenance, taxes, and opportunity cost on the down payment.

How the momentum score breaks down

methodology →
Home YoY
55 · w22%
Home 5-yr CAGR
48 · w22%
Distance from peak
63 · w18%
Population growth
35 · w16%
Rent YoY
77 · w12%
Home 10-yr CAGR
53 · w10%
Long thesis

San Mateo has held up across the cycle: home values at $1,692,590 with +2.2% 5-year CAGR. The bull case is structural — population, location, employer base — and holds even if next year's print is soft.

Short thesis

San Mateo's population is shrinking 0.6% per year. Housing demand has to come from somewhere — if people are leaving, the buyer pool is shrinking faster than the inventory. That eventually shows up in price.

About San Mateo

San Mateo is a city in San Mateo County, California, with an estimated population of 103,006. It anchors the San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley metro area. The population has contracted 0.6% per year on average since 2020. The median home value in San Mateo is $1,692,590 as of 2026-04, up 1.0% over the last 12 months. Over the last five years, home values have averaged +2.2% annual growth (-4.5% from the 5-year peak). Rents in San Mateo average $3,561 per month, up 4.8% year-over-year. The composite momentum score is 54 of 100 (Stable). Conditions are neither hot nor cold, so the local fit matters more than market timing.

▲ Bull case

○The data is the data: San Mateo has at least 5 years of Zillow tracking, full Census identification, and is included in the 1-criteria momentum score on this page.

▼ Bear case

●Expensive AND not growing: median home $1,692,590 with only +1.0% YoY. You’re paying premium pricing for a flat trend.
●Flat or shrinking population: -0.6% per year. Housing demand has to come from somewhere — verify the source.

About San Mateo (Wikipedia)

San Mateo is the most populous city in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula. It is part of the San Francisco Bay Area metropolitan region, and is located about 20 miles (32 km) south of San Francisco. San Mateo borders Burlingame to the north, Hillsborough to the west, San Francisco Bay and Foster City to the east and Belmont to the south. The population was 105,661 at the 2020 census. Some of the biggest economic drivers for the city include technology, health care and education.

Source: Wikipedia · this summary is contributed and licensed under CC-BY-SA.

City facts

MayorAdam Loraine
Area15.85 sq mi
Elevation46 ft
EstablishedSeptember 4, 1894
Density8711/sq mi
Named forSt. Matthew

Extracted from the Wikipedia infobox. Values may be slightly out of date relative to the latest sources.

Playbook

Buyer

Lifestyle fit matters more than market timing in a Stable market. Take your time on the home and neighborhood; the macro trend isn't urgent. Negotiate normally.

Seller

Price competitively from day one or risk a 60+ day listing. Staging, photography, and presentation matter more in Stable markets than in Hot ones.

Investor

Stable cap rates, no big appreciation story to lean on. Underwrite this as a pure cash-flow play — the math has to work on rent alone.

Local safety & alerts

No active National Weather Service alerts for San Mateo County right now.

NWS active alerts (CA)California Emergency ManagementHow to prepare (NWS)

Public-safety links are official .gov sources, not curated by us. San Mateo County routes NWS alerts; check the state EM portal for non-weather emergencies.

Neighborhoods of San Mateo

33 tracked · ranked by median home value
1San Mateo Park$4,157,552+3.1%
2Baywood Knolls$3,107,599+5.8%
3Foothill Terrace$2,906,287+1.2%
4Baywood Park$2,748,358+2.8%
5Laurelwood$2,422,800+2.3%
6Aragon$2,301,973+2.4%
7Southwest Hillsdale$2,280,025+1.3%
8Country Club Heights$2,215,493+3.5%
9Northwest Hillsdale$2,181,911+4.6%
10Northeast Hillsdale$2,132,120+3.5%
11Southeast Hillsdale$1,960,677+3.9%
12Nineteenth Avenue$1,878,909-2.6%
13Hayward Park$1,844,243+1.7%
14San Mateo Village$1,778,996+1.7%
15Fiesta Gardens$1,762,419+0.0%
16Sunnybrae$1,644,234+2.0%
17Twenty-Fifth Ave$1,643,502+1.6%
18College Heights$1,604,776-1.9%
19East San Mateo$1,581,894+0.9%
20Bay Meadows$1,578,918-4.5%
21Baywood$1,570,523-0.4%
22Parkside$1,518,285-2.1%
23South Shoreview$1,399,010+2.5%
24North Shoreview$1,374,000-0.4%

See the full neighborhood ranking →

Cities like San Mateo

Redwood City, CA56 · StableSouth San Francisco, CA55 · StableSan Rafael, CA51 · StableHawthorne, CA55 · Stable

Run the numbers for San Mateo

ToolCan I afford San Mateo?Income → city shortlistToolROI on a San Mateo rentalCap rate, cash-on-cash, DSCRToolCompare San Mateo to anywhereSide-by-side up to 3 citiesToolSan Mateo cost-of-livingEquivalent income elsewhere

Sources: Zillow ZHVI (home values), Zillow ZORI (rents), US Census ACS + place population. Updated when source agencies publish revisions.

Climate & natural-disaster risk

Winter (Jan)
60° / 41°
avg high / low
Summer (Jul)
82° / 60°
avg high / low
Sunny days/yr
258
~71% of year
Annual precip
22″ rain
8″ snow
Disaster risk (1=very low, 5=very high)
Hurricane
Very low
Tornado
Very low
Wildfire
Very high
Earthquake
Very high
Flood
Moderate

State-level averages from NOAA Climate Normals (1991-2020) and FEMA National Risk Index. City-level conditions can vary significantly within a state.

Local sports teams

Major professional teams the San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley area cheers for. Detailed stats, schedules, and player pages on intherafters.com.

Current weather

Loading current conditions…

7-day forecast on weather.gov →

Find rentals & listings

Open current San Mateo listings on the major real-estate sites.

Links open the live search on the destination site — results are always current.

Local news & community

Updated 2026-05-21 from Google News + Reddit RSS. Headlines link to original sources.

Local economy & environment

Humidity
65%
Moderate climate
Median household income
$91,500
California state median
Top industries (state-level)
TechEntertainmentAgriculture

Humidity is annual average relative humidity (NOAA). Income is Census ACS 5-year estimate. Industries are largest employment sectors statewide (BLS); the local mix in a given city may vary.

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