Best PlacesEast San Mateo, San Mateo, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around East San Mateo, San Mateo, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
East San Mateo, San Mateo ranks 1,031st of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in East San Mateo, San Mateo
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
East San Mateo, San Mateo's strengths and weaknesses
Where East San Mateo, San Mateo ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 240 pleasant days a year, better than 93% of neighborhoods
- Household income$158,522 median, better than 93% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than 91% of neighborhoods
- Air qualityBetter than 90% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than 87% of neighborhoods
Where East San Mateo, San Mateo ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,233 a month, better than only 2% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than only 7% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than only 9% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than only 16% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 19% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in East San Mateo, San Mateo
A household needs to earn about $341,000 a year to comfortably buy the median East San Mateo, San Mateo home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $158,522, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses East San Mateo, San Mateo's effective rate of 0.64%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in East San Mateo, San Mateo
East San Mateo, San Mateo's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for East San Mateo, San Mateo.
Who works in East San Mateo, San Mateo, and how
Work in East San Mateo, San Mateo centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in East San Mateo, San Mateo
East San Mateo, San Mateo has more parkland per resident than 80% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 13 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of East San Mateo, San Mateo and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in East San Mateo, San Mateo, month by month
East San Mateo, San Mateo sees roughly 240 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 77 degrees. January highs sit near 59, with lows near 45. The comfortable stretch runs April through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59° | 51° | 45° |
| April | 68° | 58° | 50° |
| July | 77° | 66° | 58° |
| October | 75° | 63° | 55° |
Flying in and out of East San Mateo, San Mateo
San Francisco International sits about 5 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 26.5 million passengers in 2025, with 193 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around East San Mateo, San Mateo
Schools across East San Mateo, San Mateo average a B+, better than 77% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- North Shoreview MontessoriA · 63% proficient
- Parkside MontessoriB+ · 53% proficient
- Bayside AcademyB− · 44% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every East San Mateo, San Mateo school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
East San Mateo, San Mateo measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare East San Mateo, San Mateo against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in East San Mateo, San Mateo
Is East San Mateo, San Mateo a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, East San Mateo, San Mateo ranks 1,031st of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on the weather, high incomes, and few empty homes, and lowest on childcare costs and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is East San Mateo, San Mateo expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,334,472. The overall cost of living runs about 48% above the national average. Set against a $158,522 median income, cost of living beats 75% of neighborhoods.
Is East San Mateo, San Mateo safe?
Yes, East San Mateo, San Mateo is safer than 61% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $424 per resident a year.
Compare East San Mateo, San Mateo with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to East San Mateo, San Mateo. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in East San Mateo, San Mateo represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
East San Mateo, San Mateo detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for East San Mateo, San Mateo: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in East San Mateo, San Mateo: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of East San Mateo, San Mateo: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in East San Mateo, San Mateo: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
East San Mateo, San Mateo detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.