county

San Mateo County, CA

Demographic and economic profile of San Mateo County, CA, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

San Mateo County has a population of 745,100 and generates $241,483 in GDP per capita, more than triple the national average, reflecting a highly productive economy anchored in the technology and professional services sectors along the San Francisco Peninsula. Over half of residents (53.1%) hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and median household income stands at $158,855, though housing costs are steep—median home values reach $1,494,500 and median gross rent runs $2,893 per month. The county has shed 2.7% of its population over the past five years, and 35.7% of residents are foreign-born; unemployment sits at 4.5% with a labor force participation rate of 67.3%.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

742,893

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Household Income

$158,855

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

40.9 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-2.7% since 2018

San Mateo County lost population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone280,904 (37.8%)
  • Asian Alone232,971 (31.4%)
  • Some Other Race Alone88,602 (11.9%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race67,235 (9.1%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races39,965 (5.4%)
  • Black or African American Alone15,785 (2.1%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish125,135
  2. 2.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)66,057
  3. 3.Tagalog (incl. Filipino)41,878
  4. 4.Other Indo-European28,783
  5. 5.Other Asian and Pacific Island21,878

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

19.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

62.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

17.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

35.7%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

17,374

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$241,483

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$81,980

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

4.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

6.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services86,532
  2. 2.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance84,137
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)33,301
  4. 4.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services30,526
  5. 5.Manufacturing (Group)29,536

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations217,848
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations63,152
  3. 3.Service Occupations59,656
  4. 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations29,902
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations22,900

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Information (LQ 2.59×)19,194
  2. 2.Professional, Scientific, & Management (LQ 1.74×)84,849
  3. 3.Finance, Insurance, & Real Estate (LQ 1.02×)26,794
  4. 4.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.00×)23,018
  5. 5.Other Services (LQ 0.99×)18,416

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$1,494,500

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$2,893/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

58.5%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $2,000,000 or More53,592 (34.7%)
  • $1,000,000 to $1,499,99942,810 (27.7%)
  • $1,500,000 to $1,999,99928,134 (18.2%)
  • $750,000 to $999,99915,952 (10.3%)
  • $500,000 to $749,9995,511 (3.6%)
  • Less Than $10,0001,505 (1.0%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

53.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

90.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

67.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$72,174

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

26.4 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

5.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone217,918 (56.7%)
  • Worked At Home93,277 (24.3%)
  • Carpooled33,529 (8.7%)
  • Public Transit19,475 (5.1%)
  • Walked8,877 (2.3%)
  • Other5,508 (1.4%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.