Foster City vs San Bruno

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

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

San Bruno has the higher population (42,612 vs 32,964 in Foster City). Foster City has the higher median household income ($193,633 vs $135,976 in San Bruno). Foster City has the higher median home value ($1,774,500 vs $1,199,400 in San Bruno).

Population, income & housing

	Foster City	San Bruno
Population	32,964	42,612
Median age	39.7 yrs	39.8 yrs
Median household income	$193,633	$135,976
Median home value	$1,774,500	$1,199,400
Median gross rent	$3,501	$2,696
Housing units	13,408	16,736
Homeownership rate	51.2%	61.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	74.1%	43.8%
Unemployment rate	4.8%	4.9%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Foster City	San Bruno
Population	33,997 → 32,964 (-3.0%)	43,083 → 42,612 (-1.1%)
Median household income	$158,529 → $193,633 (+22.1%)	$109,387 → $135,976 (+24.3%)
Median home value	$1,245,800 → $1,774,500 (+42.4%)	$908,300 → $1,199,400 (+32.0%)
Median gross rent	$3,209 → $3,501 (+9.1%)	$2,372 → $2,696 (+13.7%)

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

San Bruno

Population

43,08342,612

Median household income

$109,387$135,976

Median home value

$908,300$1,199,400

Median gross rent

$2,372$2,696

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Foster City	San Bruno
Under 5	6.0%	4.7%
5 to 17	16.2%	12.7%
18 to 24	4.8%	7.5%
25 to 34	14.4%	15.5%
35 to 44	17.1%	15.6%
45 to 54	12.5%	12.8%
55 to 64	11.2%	13.7%
65 to 74	8.2%	10.7%
75 and over	9.6%	6.6%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Foster City	San Bruno
White (non-Hispanic)	30.8%	28.5%
Black or African American	1.4%	1.3%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.1%
Asian	53.9%	31.7%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	2.6%
Some other race	0.9%	0.9%
Two or more races	5.9%	5.1%
Hispanic or Latino	6.7%	29.9%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Foster City	San Bruno
No high school diploma	4.1%	9.3%
High school graduate	6.2%	21.2%
Some college or associate's	15.6%	25.7%
Bachelor's degree	34.0%	29.9%
Graduate or professional degree	40.1%	13.9%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Foster City	San Bruno
Drove alone	55.1%	61.0%
Carpooled	7.1%	9.6%
Public transit	3.9%	6.6%
Walked	1.5%	2.9%
Bicycle	1.1%	1.3%
Worked from home	30.1%	16.8%
Other means	1.3%	1.8%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Foster City	San Bruno
1-unit, detached	35.0%	57.4%
1-unit, attached	18.7%	3.8%
2 to 4 units	7.8%	8.8%
5 to 19 units	12.7%	11.5%
20 or more units	25.7%	18.2%
Mobile home & other	0.1%	0.3%

Poverty & households

	Foster City	San Bruno
Poverty rate	4.6%	5.1%
Average household size	2.54	2.72
Mean commute (minutes)	31	25
Median year structure built	1976	1961