California · County property tax · ACS 2024
San Mateo County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in San Mateo County pays $9,519 a year, an effective rate of 0.61%, far above the U.S. average.
- $9,519
- Median tax / yr · Highest-decile bill
- 0.61%
- Effective rate · Below-median rate
- +378%
- vs U.S. average
- #57 of 58
- rank in CA
The verdict
Homeowners in San Mateo County pay a median $9,519 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.61%, more affordable than 70% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $9,519
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.61%
- Effective rate on median home
- #932 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +378%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($1,559,600). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for California. Population: 742,340. Owner-occupied homes: 154,607.
The median annual property tax in San Mateo County is $9,519, which is 86% higher than the California state average and 378% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.61% on a median home value of $1,559,600. Property taxes represent 6.0% of the median household income in this county.
Why San Mateo County's ACS bill runs high vs the U.S.
Primary signal
The bill sits well above the national median
Homeowners in San Mateo County pay a median annual property tax of $9,519, far above the national median and far above the California state median. On a $1,559,600 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.61% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
Income carries a heavy tax share
Property taxes in San Mateo County run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 6.0% of the $158,855 median household income.
Decision signal 3
High among California counties by effective rate
San Mateo County ranks #57 of 58 counties in California by effective rate (2% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 4
The effective rate sits near the national middle
San Mateo County's 0.61% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 70%).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in San Mateo County as reported to the Census Bureau; your parcel can differ. Not tax, legal, or financial advice: check the county assessor or a qualified professional before decisions that depend on these numbers.
The rate held while the market moved
San Mateo County sits in the quarter of U.S. counties whose effective rate moved least over this span: 0.2% up, against a median home value that rose 34.1%.
A near-steady rate on a moving market passes that movement straight through: the median bill rose 34.4%, from $7,083 to $9,519.
Effective rate is the published median bill divided by the published median home value, so the two multiply back to the bill exactly; the rate's movement here is derived from those two figures rather than read from the rounded published rate. Both are ACS 5-year survey estimates for the median owner-occupied household, compared across non-overlapping releases. They describe what the Census published, not a local policy, assessment, or exemption change.
How to read this county's bill
The bill here climbed steeply over 2020-2024, up 34% from $7,083 to $9,519. These ACS medians describe the reported change; they do not identify whether a levy, assessment, home value, or change in the responding households caused it.
The heaviest band is also the fullest one here: 133,042 of 154,607 owner-occupied homes (86.1%) report annual real-estate taxes above $3,000. That band has no upper edge in the source, so the county median understates the burden carried by the plurality rather than describing it.
Top-quartile earnings meet a below-median rate, putting the median bill at 6.0% of median household income. Counties in this position span a wide range on the ratio above, because the dollar bill tracks home values rather than the rate.
The share above is the median annual bill divided by median household income, a ratio of two county-level medians rather than a household-by-household figure.
What San Mateo County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of San Mateo County homeowners, 133,042 of 154,607 owner-occupied homes (86.1%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 1.5% (2,337)
- $800 to $1,499 1.8% (2,761)
- $1,500 to $1,999 2.8% (4,396)
- $2,000 to $2,999 5.3% (8,259)
- $3,000 or more 86.1% (133,042)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
3,812 homes here (2.5%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how California handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged homeowners in San Mateo County pay a substantially higher bill, 54% more, pointing to a wide home-value gap between the two groups.
San Mateo County's bill vs state & U.S. medians
Median annual bill bars around San Mateo County's SPIKE ACS 2024 figure.
San Mateo County's median bill is 86% above the California median and 378% above the U.S. median.
What changed since 2020
The median bill in San Mateo County moved from $7,083 in the 2020 release to $9,519 in 2024, a change of about 34%. These are American Community Survey 5-year estimates compared across releases that share only one sample year, which is why this page never compares consecutive releases: those overlap in four years of the same households and move mostly on sampling.
San Mateo County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | San Mateo County | California Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Highest-decile bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Below-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Highest-decile income burden | 6.0% | - | - |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates. Tax-burden differences across rows reflect millage decisions, assessment-ratio practices, and the residential-vs-commercial mix of each tax base.
Is San Mateo County's $9,519 median bill appeal-worthy?
At San Mateo County's $9,519 ACS median (SPIKE), a 10% assessment cut is worth about $952/yr before exemptions. Appeal Savings Estimator · appeal guide for California.
San Mateo County bill trail · SPIKE
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $9,519 +3.8% | 0.61% |
| 2023 | $9,167 +6.1% | 0.61% |
| 2022 | $8,637 +11.4% | 0.60% |
| 2021 | $7,756 +9.5% | 0.63% |
| 2020 | $7,083 | 0.61% |
Each row is a separate ACS 5-year release, and consecutive releases share four of their five survey years. The percentage beside each bill is therefore movement in the published estimate against the previous release, not a single year's tax change. The two releases largely describe the same households. For change over time, compare releases that do not overlap.
San Mateo County: tax takes 6.0% of income
Counties near San Mateo County's median bill
On effective rate, San Mateo County sits nearest Miller County (AR), Lafayette County (AR), Yuma County (AZ).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Dallas County (TX), Albemarle County (VA), Wharton County (TX).
How peers are chosen
These are the nearest cross-state matches in the published Census data, not neighboring counties or recommendations. Peers are rebuilt with each data release; see the calculation method.
Similar effective rates
Similar published median-tax changes, 2020–2024
San Mateo County: only 20% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 74,460 of 372,720 returns from San Mateo County reported real estate taxes, averaging $17,586 - 59% of those reporters sat in the $200k+ AGI band.
What this IRS county file does not say
Amounts are reported before the SALT cap, not deducted; the share is of filers, not homeowners. Source: IRS SOI county data, tax year 2022.
Other Counties in California
San Mateo County bill FAQs
- How does San Mateo County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in San Mateo County run far above the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.61% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the average property tax in San Mateo County, California?
- The median annual property tax in San Mateo County is $9,519, an effective rate of 0.61% on a $1,559,600 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in San Mateo County?
- Property taxes in San Mateo County run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 6.0% of the $158,855 median household income.
- Are property taxes increasing in San Mateo County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for San Mateo County jumped 34.4% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $7,083 to $9,519, a 4-year span. These are survey estimates covering five years each, so this compares the two releases furthest apart rather than consecutive ones, which overlap and would mostly measure the same households twice.
- What is the tax affordability score for San Mateo County?
- San Mateo County, California scores F (21/100) on PlainPropertyTax's tax affordability composite across 5 Census ACS dimensions (effective rate, bill size, income share, mortgage gap, and home-value/income). Its strongest scored dimension here is rate relief at B (0.61%). The score compares published county medians to U.S. percentiles, it is not a personal bill and not advice to buy, sell, appeal, or relocate.
What to do with San Mateo County's SPIKE bill
San Mateo County's $9,519 median bill sits well above the U.S. median - size a personal estimate before treating the county headline as your budget. Estimate your bill →
Income burden is elevated here: about 6.0% of San Mateo County's $158,855 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
Nationwide peers by median bill (then rate)
Bill-first peers for San Mateo County's SPIKE median, then a disjoint out-of-state rate set, not the same-state geography lattice.
Similar effective rate
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS effective rate. This county: 0.61%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $9,519/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with San Mateo County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for San Mateo County (QUIET · SPIKE), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
QUIET SPIKE
Hudson County, NJ
ABS(median_tax) peer · $9,555/yr (near-tied bill ABS $36); rate 1.77% vs San Mateo County 0.61%.
Middlesex County, NJ
ABS(median_tax) peer · $9,712/yr (higher bill ABS $193); rate 2.10% vs San Mateo County 0.61%.
Western Connecticut Planning Region, CT
ABS(median_tax) peer · $9,295/yr (lower bill ABS $224); rate 1.42% vs San Mateo County 0.61%.
San Francisco County, CA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $9,862/yr (higher bill ABS $343); rate 0.71% vs San Mateo County 0.61%.
California county set
State ACS overview for every published California county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
San Mateo County stamps QUIET · SPIKE - how assessed value and millage become the ACS median bill.
Data vintage and method
Data as of 2024. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.
Property tax data reflects median amounts paid by homeowners. Effective rates are calculated as median tax divided by median home value.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, county median real-estate taxes · 2024 San Mateo County (QUIET · SPIKE) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.