Official Federal Data
San Mateo County, California
FIPS 06081 · San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA · Population 742,340
9 Sources
Updated June 22, 2026
$158,855 ▲
Median Income
$80,734 national
3.9% ▲
Unemployment
4% national
$217B ▲
GDP
53.7% ▲
Bachelor's+
35.7% national
Demographics & Population
Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 · 5-Year Estimates
Household Income
Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median Household
$158,855 ▲
Per Capita
$84,288 ▲
Mean Household
$231,822 ▲
Poverty Rate
6.7% ▼
Median Income Comparison
San Mateo County$158,855
California$99,122
National$80,734
Population Profile
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Tables B01001, B02001, B03003
Cohorts
Under 18 · 19.5%
18-34 · 21.6%
35-54 · 28.1%
55-64 · 13%
65+ · 17.8%
Race & Ethnicity
Hispanic or Latino is an ethnic category and overlaps with the race categories above.
Educational Attainment
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · Population 25+
90.2%
High School+
National: 89.6%
▲ +0.6 pts
53.7%
Bachelor's+
National: 35.7%
▲ +18.0 pts
24.1%
Graduate+
National: 14.1%
▲ +10.0 pts
Employment Overview
Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
742,340
Population
413,753
Labor Force
Employed
393,458
Unemployment Rate BLS LAUS 2025 annual
3.9% ▲ +0.2 pts YoY
Mean Commute
26.4 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
24.3%
Key Takeaways
- Income premium: Households earn well above the national median, supporting strong retail and housing markets.
- Talent advantage: Bachelor's-or-higher attainment exceeds the national average by 18.0 pts, supports knowledge-economy and tech attraction.
Economy & Industry
Bureau of Labor Statistics QCEW · Bureau of Economic Analysis
Key Takeaways
- Largest sector: Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services employs 65,218 workers (20.3% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $287,995.
- Economic scale: Regional GDP of $217B (2024).
- Wage stratification: Information averages $834,027 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $45,479, a 18.3x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.
Source: BLS QCEW + BEA Regional GDP.
Seeing a change here?
Get Deeper Trends
EP customers get year-over-year deltas, WARN notices, and SEC filings for every sector tracked above, surfaced as proactive alerts, not after-the-fact news.
Industry Concentration
Location Quotient measures regional specialization vs. national average. LQ > 1.0 = concentrated.
Cluster Depth
Source: BLS QCEW · Sub-sectors with LQ ≥ 1.5 indicate genuine cluster concentration
Dominant Cluster
Professional, Scientific & Technical Services Cluster
Coherent grouping of concentrated sub-sectors, signals supply-chain fit for site selectors
65,218
Cluster Employment
2.30x
Peak LQ
Concentrated Sub-Sectors
Air Transportation
6.05x 9,143
Computing Infrastructure Providers and Data Processing
4.98x 6,369
Publishing Industries and Telecommunications
4.32x 10,218
Private Households
4.13x 2,239
Chemical Manufacturing
3.39x 8,001
Support Activities for Transportation
3.14x 6,784
Transit and Ground Passenger Transportation
3.10x 4,616
Securities, Commodity Contracts, Investments
2.30x 6,712
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
2.30x 65,218
Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries
1.95x 1,864
Attraction Opportunities
LQ < 0.5 with ≥ 50 employed, realistic diversification targets. Source: BLS QCEW
0.07x
Plastics and Rubber Products Manufacturing
138 employed
0.08x
Animal Production and Aquaculture
57 employed
0.15x
Wood Product Manufacturing
163 employed
0.15x
Nonmetallic Mineral Product Manufacturing
167 employed
0.17x
Warehousing and Storage
848 employed
0.18x
Machinery Manufacturing
518 employed
0.18x
Transportation Equipment Manufacturing
812 employed
Key Takeaways
- Top specialization: Air Transportation concentrates at 6.05x the national norm, top-decile concentration, the kind of signature sector that defines a region's economic identity to site selectors.
- Cluster depth: 10 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, suggesting an interconnected industrial base rather than reliance on a single employer or sector.
- Attraction whitespace: 8 sub-sectors register LQ < 0.5, candidates for diversification or recruitment depending on labor-market fit.
Source: BLS QCEW sub-sector Location Quotients.
Housing & Affordability
Census ACS · HUD Fair Market Rents FY2026
Housing Overview
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates · Tables B25001, B25077, B25064
$1,559,600 ▲
Median Home Value vs 2019
$2,922 ▲
Rent/Mo
58.5% ▼
Owner-Occ
7.9% ▲
Vacancy
9.8x
Home Value to Income Ratio - Stretched
vs. ~4.1x national average
HUD Fair Market Rents
Source: HUD · Fair Market Rents FY2026
Studio
$2,485/mo
1 Bedroom
$2,977/mo
2 Bedroom
$3,604/mo
3 Bedroom
$4,604/mo
4 Bedroom
$4,772/mo
30% of monthly median household income (~$3,971/mo) · rents above this line are typically considered cost-burdened.
Key Takeaways
- Stretched market: Home value to income ratio of 9.8x is well above the ~4.1x national average; attainable workforce housing may be a recruitment friction.
- Affordable rent tiers: 3 of 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom tiers sit below the 30%-of-median-income affordability threshold (~$3,971/mo).
Source: Census ACS housing tables + HUD Fair Market Rents.
Workforce Pipeline
Labor force readiness, commuting, and workforce composition
Labor Market Overview
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Tables B01001, B23025, B08303, B08301
465,003 ▼
Working Age (18-64) vs 2019
Mean Commute
26.4 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
24.3%
Prime-Age Employed (25-54)
85.2%
of prime-age population
▼ vs 2019
Education & Talent Pipeline
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · College Scorecard
Bachelor's+
53.7% ▲
HS Diploma+
90.2% ▲
Regional / Statewide Institutions
Total credentials awarded
77,028/yr
15,215/yr
14,884/yr
12,110/yr
12,064/yr
11,468/yr
11,287/yr
Aging Workforce
Source: Census Bureau ACS · Derived from age & employment tables
20.7%
55-64 of working-age population (18-64)
Elevated retirement risk, above the 20% threshold. Succession planning recommended.
Workforce by Occupation
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table C24010 · Civilian employed population 16+
Management / Professional
55.4%
Service
15.2%
Sales & Office
16.1%
Construction / Maint.
5.8%
Production / Transport
7.6%
Bars scaled 2× for visual differentiation; percentage labels show actual share of 393,458 employed workers.
Key Takeaways
- Talent pipeline: 6 regional institutions feed the workforce; the top three combined produce 42,209 annual credentials.
Source: ACS workforce data and College Scorecard.
AI Insights
AI-assisted analysis, drawn from 9 federal data sources
Sample AI Insight
San Mateo County shows strong potential for air transportation attraction, with a 6.05x concentration and 9,143 jobs in this sub-sector. It ranks in the top decile nationally.
The interconnected base across air transportation, computing infrastructure providers and data processing, and publishing industries and telecommunications creates supply-chain attraction leverage rather than single-employer risk, a structural advantage for industrial recruitment.
Industry Shift Analysis
Manufacturing Automation Risk
High
Healthcare Growth Forecast
+4.2% CAGR
Remote Work Migration
67/100
Prospect Match Scores
Advanced Manufacturing
92/100
Life Sciences
84/100
Data Centers
71/100
Illustrative example
Take it further
AI Insights: Built into ExecutivePulse. Continuous analysis tied to your own pipeline: industry-shift signals, prospect matches, retention prompts.
Managed Services: Prefer to hand it off? Our team delivers the analysis and consulting for you.
Schedule a DemoAvailable as premium offerings.
Data Sources
Updated from official federal government data.
Census ACS 5-Year2024
BLS QCEW2025 annual
BLS LAUS (via FRED)2025 annual
BEA Regional GDP2024
Census CBP2023
HUD Fair Market RentsFY2026
FCC Broadband Map2024
USAspending.govFY2026
College ScorecardAY 2022-23
Frequently Asked Questions
Key economic and demographic figures for San Mateo County, California, from federal data sources.
What is the population of San Mateo County, California?
742,340 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).
What is the median household income in San Mateo County, California?
$158,855 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).
What is the unemployment rate in San Mateo County, California?
3.9% (2025 annual average, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, LAUS).
What is the GDP of San Mateo County, California?
$217B (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, CAGDP1).
San Mateo County, CA: Public data. Imagine the full platform.
Get a Demo →