San Francisco County vs San Mateo County

A side-by-side comparison of San Francisco County and San Mateo County: population, income, housing, and more.

San Francisco County and San Mateo County are counties in California. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

San Francisco County has the higher population (836,321 vs 745,100 in San Mateo County). San Mateo County has the higher median household income ($156,000 vs $141,446 in San Francisco County). San Mateo County has the higher median home value ($1,494,500 vs $1,380,500 in San Francisco County).

Population, income & housing

	San Francisco County	San Mateo County
Population	836,321	745,100
Median age	39.7 yrs	40.6 yrs
Median household income	$141,446	$156,000
Median home value	$1,380,500	$1,494,500
Median gross rent	$2,419	$2,893
Housing units	411,542	285,558
Homeownership rate	38.5%	59.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	60.1%	53.1%
Unemployment rate	5.6%	4.5%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	San Francisco County	San Mateo County
Population	874,961 → 836,321 (-4.4%)	767,423 → 745,100 (-2.9%)
Median household income	$112,449 → $141,446 (+25.8%)	$122,641 → $156,000 (+27.2%)
Median home value	$1,097,800 → $1,380,500 (+25.8%)	$1,089,400 → $1,494,500 (+37.2%)
Median gross rent	$1,895 → $2,419 (+27.7%)	$2,316 → $2,893 (+24.9%)

San Francisco County

Population

874,961836,321

Median household income

$112,449$141,446

Median home value

$1,097,800$1,380,500

Median gross rent

$1,895$2,419

San Mateo County

Population

767,423745,100

Median household income

$122,641$156,000

Median home value

$1,089,400$1,494,500

Median gross rent

$2,316$2,893

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	San Francisco County	San Mateo County
Under 5	4.2%	5.2%
5 to 17	9.5%	14.7%
18 to 24	6.3%	7.2%
25 to 34	21.3%	14.4%
35 to 44	16.3%	14.6%
45 to 54	13.2%	13.6%
55 to 64	12.0%	13.1%
65 to 74	9.8%	9.8%
75 and over	7.4%	7.5%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	San Francisco County	San Mateo County
White (non-Hispanic)	37.5%	35.8%
Black or African American	4.8%	2.1%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.2%	0.1%
Asian	34.7%	30.5%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.3%	1.1%
Some other race	0.8%	0.8%
Two or more races	5.8%	4.8%
Hispanic or Latino	15.9%	24.9%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	San Francisco County	San Mateo County
No high school diploma	11.2%	9.7%
High school graduate	11.3%	14.8%
Some college or associate's	17.4%	22.4%
Bachelor's degree	35.1%	29.2%
Graduate or professional degree	25.1%	23.9%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	San Francisco County	San Mateo County
Drove alone	28.6%	57.6%
Carpooled	6.0%	8.8%
Public transit	21.4%	6.4%
Walked	10.0%	2.3%
Bicycle	3.3%	1.2%
Worked from home	27.5%	21.9%
Other means	3.2%	1.9%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	San Francisco County	San Mateo County
1-unit, detached	18.2%	55.3%
1-unit, attached	12.3%	8.7%
2 to 4 units	20.2%	6.5%
5 to 19 units	18.5%	11.9%
20 or more units	30.6%	16.4%
Mobile home & other	0.2%	1.2%

Poverty & households

	San Francisco County	San Mateo County
Poverty rate	10.6%	6.5%
Average household size	2.24	2.77
Mean commute (minutes)	31	27
Median year structure built	1945	1966