Burlingame vs Foster City

A side-by-side comparison of Burlingame and Foster City: population, income, housing, and more.

Burlingame and Foster City are places in California. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Foster City has the higher population (32,964 vs 30,526 in Burlingame). Foster City has the higher median household income ($193,633 vs $168,832 in Burlingame). Burlingame has the higher median home value ($2,000,001 vs $1,774,500 in Foster City).

Population, income & housing

	Burlingame	Foster City
Population	30,526	32,964
Median age	41.5 yrs	39.7 yrs
Median household income	$168,832	$193,633
Median home value	$2,000,001	$1,774,500
Median gross rent	$2,643	$3,501
Housing units	13,675	13,408
Homeownership rate	50.5%	51.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher	64.2%	74.1%
Unemployment rate	4.6%	4.8%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Burlingame	Foster City
Population	30,576 → 30,526 (-0.2%)	33,997 → 32,964 (-3.0%)
Median household income	$128,447 → $168,832 (+31.4%)	$158,529 → $193,633 (+22.1%)
Median home value	$1,901,900 → $2,000,001 (+5.2%)	$1,245,800 → $1,774,500 (+42.4%)
Median gross rent	$2,210 → $2,643 (+19.6%)	$3,209 → $3,501 (+9.1%)

Burlingame

Population

30,57630,526

Median household income

$128,447$168,832

Median home value

$1,901,900$2,000,001

Median gross rent

$2,210$2,643

Foster City

Population

33,99732,964

Median household income

$158,529$193,633

Median home value

$1,245,800$1,774,500

Median gross rent

$3,209$3,501

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Burlingame	Foster City
Under 5	5.9%	6.0%
5 to 17	16.3%	16.2%
18 to 24	4.7%	4.8%
25 to 34	13.0%	14.4%
35 to 44	16.0%	17.1%
45 to 54	16.3%	12.5%
55 to 64	12.3%	11.2%
65 to 74	7.8%	8.2%
75 and over	7.7%	9.6%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Burlingame	Foster City
White (non-Hispanic)	51.9%	30.8%
Black or African American	1.0%	1.4%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.1%
Asian	28.0%	53.9%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.2%	0.1%
Some other race	1.1%	0.9%
Two or more races	4.0%	5.9%
Hispanic or Latino	13.7%	6.7%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Burlingame	Foster City
No high school diploma	5.0%	4.1%
High school graduate	9.8%	6.2%
Some college or associate's	21.0%	15.6%
Bachelor's degree	32.8%	34.0%
Graduate or professional degree	31.4%	40.1%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Burlingame	Foster City
Drove alone	55.5%	55.1%
Carpooled	4.7%	7.1%
Public transit	9.2%	3.9%
Walked	3.8%	1.5%
Bicycle	0.6%	1.1%
Worked from home	24.1%	30.1%
Other means	2.0%	1.3%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Burlingame	Foster City
1-unit, detached	48.7%	35.0%
1-unit, attached	3.6%	18.7%
2 to 4 units	5.2%	7.8%
5 to 19 units	21.3%	12.7%
20 or more units	21.1%	25.7%
Mobile home & other	0.0%	0.1%

Poverty & households

	Burlingame	Foster City
Poverty rate	6.1%	4.6%
Average household size	2.42	2.54
Mean commute (minutes)	31	31
Median year structure built	1957	1976