Foster City vs South San Francisco

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

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

South San Francisco has the higher population (64,487 vs 32,964 in Foster City). Foster City has the higher median household income ($193,633 vs $135,909 in South San Francisco). Foster City has the higher median home value ($1,774,500 vs $1,160,100 in South San Francisco).

Population, income & housing

	Foster City	South San Francisco
Population	32,964	64,487
Median age	39.7 yrs	42.4 yrs
Median household income	$193,633	$135,909
Median home value	$1,774,500	$1,160,100
Median gross rent	$3,501	$2,833
Housing units	13,408	23,194
Homeownership rate	51.2%	60.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	74.1%	40.1%
Unemployment rate	4.8%	2.5%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Foster City	South San Francisco
Population	33,997 → 32,964 (-3.0%)	67,408 → 64,487 (-4.3%)
Median household income	$158,529 → $193,633 (+22.1%)	$105,459 → $135,909 (+28.9%)
Median home value	$1,245,800 → $1,774,500 (+42.4%)	$844,000 → $1,160,100 (+37.5%)
Median gross rent	$3,209 → $3,501 (+9.1%)	$2,105 → $2,833 (+34.6%)

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

South San Francisco

Population

67,40864,487

Median household income

$105,459$135,909

Median home value

$844,000$1,160,100

Median gross rent

$2,105$2,833

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Foster City	South San Francisco
Under 5	6.0%	4.3%
5 to 17	16.2%	13.1%
18 to 24	4.8%	7.6%
25 to 34	14.4%	13.0%
35 to 44	17.1%	15.8%
45 to 54	12.5%	14.2%
55 to 64	11.2%	14.4%
65 to 74	8.2%	10.6%
75 and over	9.6%	7.0%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Foster City	South San Francisco
White (non-Hispanic)	30.8%	20.6%
Black or African American	1.4%	1.7%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.1%
Asian	53.9%	42.4%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	1.0%
Some other race	0.9%	0.3%
Two or more races	5.9%	3.2%
Hispanic or Latino	6.7%	30.8%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Foster City	South San Francisco
No high school diploma	4.1%	13.7%
High school graduate	6.2%	19.3%
Some college or associate's	15.6%	26.9%
Bachelor's degree	34.0%	27.6%
Graduate or professional degree	40.1%	12.5%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Foster City	South San Francisco
Drove alone	55.1%	59.6%
Carpooled	7.1%	11.8%
Public transit	3.9%	8.5%
Walked	1.5%	1.9%
Bicycle	1.1%	0.8%
Worked from home	30.1%	16.5%
Other means	1.3%	1.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Foster City	South San Francisco
1-unit, detached	35.0%	59.3%
1-unit, attached	18.7%	10.1%
2 to 4 units	7.8%	7.1%
5 to 19 units	12.7%	8.2%
20 or more units	25.7%	14.4%
Mobile home & other	0.1%	0.9%

Poverty & households

	Foster City	South San Francisco
Poverty rate	4.6%	7.1%
Average household size	2.54	2.91
Mean commute (minutes)	31	27
Median year structure built	1976	1963