San Mateo County, California

San Mateo County is a county in the state of California. It is part of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes cities like Redwood City, Daly City, and San Mateo. It is a busy and lively place.

The county is known for its beautiful landscapes and many parks. It is also a key part of Silicon Valley, home to many technology companies and corporate offices. The area offers a mix of nature, technology, and urban living.

History

San Mateo County was created in 1856 when California split San Francisco County into two parts. Everything north of a line across the San Francisco Peninsula became the new City and County of San Francisco, and everything south became San Mateo County. The county started its government on April 18, 1857. Redwood City was chosen as the county seat, meaning it is the main city for the county’s government.

In the late 1800s, Japanese students and immigrants came to San Mateo County. Many of these students came to learn English and other skills. They often worked as gardeners and landscapers, and many had good educations from their home countries.

Geography

San Mateo County is in California. It covers 741 square miles, with 448 square miles of land and 293 square miles of water. It is the third-smallest county in California by land area. Many streams flow through the county, coming from the Santa Cruz Mountains.

The county has many natural areas, like forests, beaches, and wildlife spots. Animals such as the San Francisco garter snake and the San Bruno elfin butterfly live here. There are special areas to protect nature, including Año Nuevo State Marine Conservation Area and Greyhound Rock State Marine Conservation Area.

The county has many parks and protected areas, such as Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge and Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, San Mateo County had 764,442 people. The median age was 39.9 years old. About 20.2% were younger than 18, and 16.5% were 65 or older. For every 100 females, there were 97.6 males. For every 100 females aged 18 and over, there were 95.6 males aged 18 and over.

The racial makeup was 39.3% White, 2.1% Black or African American, 0.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 30.1% Asian, 1.2% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 14.1% from some other race, and 12.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents made up 25.0% of the population.

Most people, about 98.3%, lived in urban areas. Only 1.7% lived in rural areas.

2012

By 2012, San Mateo County had one of the largest communities of Tongan Americans outside of Tonga, with about 13,000 people.

2010

The 2010 United States census reported that San Mateo County had a population of 718,451. The racial makeup included 53.4% White, 2.8% African American, 0.5% Native American, 24.8% Asian, and 1.4% Pacific Islander. People of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 25.4% of the population.

2000

By the census of 2009, there were 714,936 people in the county. The population density was 2,753 people per square mile (1,063 people/km²). Many residents spoke languages other than English at home, including Spanish, Tagalog, Chinese, and Mandarin.

There were 258,648 households. About 30% had children under 18. About 48.6% were married couples living together. The median income for a household was $69,306. About 6.42% of families and 9.51% of the population lived below the poverty line.

Government

San Mateo County has a five-member Board of Supervisors that represents different parts of the county. Each supervisor is chosen by people living in their area.

The five districts are represented by:

• District 1: Jackie Speier
• District 2: Noelia Corzo
• District 3: Ray Mueller
• District 4: Lisa Gauthier
• District 5: David Canepa

San Mateo County is part of two areas in the U.S. Congress, called congressional districts. It is represented by Kevin Mullin for one area and Sam Liccardo for another.

The county is also split among three areas in the California State Assembly and two areas in the California State Senate, each with their own representatives.

Politics

San Mateo County in California has many people who can vote. As of February 2019, 404,958 people were registered to vote. Most of them, 202,341 voters, were registered as Democrats. A smaller group, 60,045 voters, were registered as Republicans.

In 2008, San Mateo County voted against a proposal to change the state’s rules about marriage. The vote was 61.8% against the proposal.

Crime

The following table shows the number of reported incidents and the rate per 1,000 people for different types of offenses.

Cities by population and crime rates

Economy

San Mateo County is a very important place for jobs and money. In 2012, Facebook started to sell its shares, which made San Mateo County have the highest wages in the country for a short time.

Many big companies have their main offices in San Mateo County, including Visa Inc, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Electronic Arts, YouTube, Genentech, GoPro, and Gilead Sciences. There are also many companies that help start new businesses in places like Menlo Park.

Education

People in San Mateo County can use the San Mateo County Libraries and the Peninsula Library System. This system has many branches, a bookmobile, and a special machine called Library-a-Go-Go at the Millbrae BART/Caltrain station.

The county has several public school districts and many private schools, including Catholic schools. The San Mateo County Board of Education helps with early learning, special needs education, and schools for students who need extra support.

Some students in San Mateo County go to an outdoor school called San Mateo Outdoor Education. This school teaches about nature and animals by exploring forests, ponds, gardens, tidepools, wetlands, and sandy shores. The school's mascot is the banana slug, a big yellow gastropod. They even use songs from the Banana Slug String Band.

Transportation

Major highways

San Mateo County has many important roads. These include Interstate 280, Interstate 380, and U.S. Route 101, also called the Bayshore Freeway. Other key roads are State Route 1, State Route 9, State Route 35 (Skyline Boulevard), State Route 82 (El Camino Real), State Route 84 (Woodside Road/Bayfront Expressway/Dumbarton Bridge), State Route 92 (San Mateo Bridge), State Route 109, and State Route 114 (Willow Road).

Public transportation

Rail

Caltrain is a train service that links ten cities in San Mateo County with San Francisco and San Jose or Gilroy. It runs mostly between Highway 101 and El Camino Real. There are 13 stations in San Mateo County, with 12 having daily service. The cities with stations stretch from Brisbane in the north to Menlo Park in the south.

Caltrain stations in San Mateo County, from north to south, include Bayshore, South San Francisco, San Bruno, Millbrae, Broadway (weekends), Burlingame, San Mateo, Hayward Park, Hillsdale, Belmont, San Carlos, Redwood City, and Menlo Park.

The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) trains serve San Francisco International Airport and the northern part of the county. BART runs close to El Camino Real or Mission Boulevard and has six stations between Daly City and Millbrae, including the station at SFO.

BART stations in San Mateo County, from north to south, are Daly City, Colma, South San Francisco, San Bruno, San Francisco International Airport, and Millbrae.

The only place where you can switch between Caltrain and BART is at Millbrae station.

Bus

SamTrans, the San Mateo County Transit District, runs local buses inside the county. Some routes go to the Palo Alto Transit Center in Santa Clara County and the Salesforce Transit Center in San Francisco. Many SamTrans bus routes travel along El Camino Real.

Every Caltrain and BART station connects to SamTrans bus routes. Daly City station also has SF Muni bus routes. There are free shuttles from Caltrain, BART, and Ferry stations to local workplaces during rush hours.

When trains do not run at night, All Nighter buses take over. SamTrans route 397 replaces Caltrain between San Francisco and Palo Alto via SFO, and ECR Owl replaces BART between Daly City and SFO.

Airports

San Francisco International Airport is located in San Mateo County, east of Highway 101 near San Bruno and Millbrae. It is owned and run by the City and County of San Francisco.

San Mateo County has two smaller airports for private planes: Half Moon Bay Airport and San Carlos Airport.

Marine transport

The main deepwater port in South San Francisco Bay is the Port of Redwood City, along Redwood Creek. The San Mateo Harbor Harbor District manages the Pillar Point Harbor on the Pacific coast and the Oyster Point Marina on San Francisco Bay.

The San Francisco Bay Ferry runs boats from the South San Francisco Ferry Terminal in Oyster Point to the Oakland Ferry Terminal in Jack London Square (Oakland) and the Alameda Ferry Terminal in Alameda. A free shuttle takes ferry passengers to the South San Francisco Caltrain station, stopping at several business parks on Oyster Point.

Notable structures

San Mateo County in California has many famous buildings and places. Some well-known ones include Carolands Mansion in Hillsborough, Cow Palace in Daly City, and CuriOdyssey in San Mateo. Other notable spots are Filoli Mansion in Woodside, Pigeon Point Lighthouse in Pescadero, and San Francisco International Airport. There are also special places like Crystal Springs Reservoir in the central part of the county and the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center in Menlo Park.

Communities

Cities

San Mateo County has many cities. Some of them are Belmont, Brisbane, Burlingame, Daly City, East Palo Alto, Foster City, Half Moon Bay, Millbrae, Pacifica, Redwood City, San Bruno, San Carlos, San Mateo, and South San Francisco.

Towns

The towns in the county are Atherton, Colma, Hillsborough, Portola Valley, and Woodside.

Census-designated places

Some places counted separately in the census are Baywood Park, Broadmoor, El Granada, Emerald Lake Hills, Highlands, Ladera, La Honda, Loma Mar, Montara, Moss Beach, North Fair Oaks, Pescadero, and West Menlo Park.

Unincorporated communities

Other areas not part of a city or town are Burlingame Hills, Devonshire, Kings Mountain, Los Trancos Woods, Menlo Oaks, Palomar Park, Princeton-by-the-Sea, San Gregorio, and Sky Londa.

Population ranking

The list below shows the places in order by population from the 2020 United States census for San Mateo County. † means it is the county seat.