Neighborhood deep dive · San Mateo, CA

San Mateo.

Mid-peninsula sweet spot. 25 minutes to SF, 25 minutes to Palo Alto, downtown 25th Avenue is becoming the quiet restaurant pick everyone whispers about.

"San Mateo is the answer for people who want SF energy with peninsula schools, and don't want to pay Burlingame prices."

Swati Petkar · April 2026

Median home

$1.78M

▲ 6.8% YoY

Population

103k

Median income

$154k

household

Top school

9 / 10

Borel Middle

DOM

14 days

Walk score

car-dependent

Price & market

Five-year price trend.

Median single-family home price for San Mateo.

Median price · 2021–2026 · San Mateo

San Mateo · +18% 5y

Schools

5 schools, 5 rated 8+.

Public schools serving the San Mateo area, sourced from GreatSchools ratings.

Sunnybrae Elementary

elementary

Borel Middle

middle

Abbott Middle

middle

Aragon High

high

San Mateo High

high

Commute

From San Mateo to where you work.

Average peak-hour drive or transit time.

🍎

28 min

Apple HQ

Ⓖ

22 min

Google MV

Ⓜ

18 min

Meta MPK

🚇

30 min

SF via Caltrain

Local highlights

What makes San Mateo special.

Mid-peninsula sweet spot — about 25 minutes to SF or Palo Alto.

A lively downtown around 25th Avenue and B Street.

Caltrain plus 101/92 for access in every direction.