Burlingame Neighborhoods by Their Lots: Lot Sizes, Flood Zones and Fire Zones

San Mateo County’s public parcel layer gives an outline and a property use code for every parcel. We took the 6,324 parcels with the county’s single-family use code, 1,500 square feet or more, inside our eight Burlingame neighborhood guides, measured each lot from its outline, checked its center against FEMA’s flood map and checked each lot against CAL FIRE’s fire hazard severity zone maps. The layer has no year built, house size or city-limit line, so this post covers our eight guides rather than the city as a whole. Part of Burlingame Hills is unincorporated San Mateo County, and the county layer covers it like the rest. Parcel outlines downloaded October 2026; the county’s use codes were last updated in June 2020. There are no addresses or owner details here.

The short answer

• Across our eight Burlingame guides, the median single-family lot is 5,980 sq ft.
• Largest and smallest lots (guides with at least 150 single-family lots): largest in Burlingame Hills (11,600 sq ft), Mills Estates (9,150 sq ft) and Burlingame Park (7,400 sq ft); smallest in Ray Park & Burlingame Village (5,560 sq ft), Lyon Hoag & Burlingame Gardens (5,710 sq ft) and Burlingame Terrace (5,710 sq ft).
• Flood zones: 227 of the 6,324 lots (4%) have their parcel center in a FEMA high-risk flood zone (191 in AH and 36 in A); the most are in Burlingame Terrace (185) and Ray Park & Burlingame Village (19).
• Fire zones: 885 lots (14%) are at least partly in a CAL FIRE fire hazard severity zone: 295 Very High, 332 High and 258 Moderate. The most are in Mills Estates (462) and Burlingame Hills (423).

Neighborhood by neighborhood

Largest median lot first. “Single-family lots” counts parcels with the county’s single-family use code whose center falls inside each guide’s outline; no lot falls in two guides. Each name opens its guide.

What stands out

• Burlingame Hills has the biggest lots: a median of 11,600 sq ft, about 1.9 times the median across our guides.
• Fire zones concentrate in Mills Estates: 462 of its 740 lots (62%) touch one, 216 of them Very High.
• Flood-zone lots concentrate in Burlingame Terrace: 185 of its 757 lots (24%), in zone AH.

Flood zones, neighborhood by neighborhood

Single-family lots in FEMA high-risk zones inside each guide’s outline, the share of the guide’s lots they make up, and the zones; most first. The other four guides have none.

What the flood zones mean

• Zone A: a 1%-a-year chance of flooding, where FEMA hasn’t set a base flood elevation.
• Zone AH: shallow ponding, usually 1 to 3 feet deep, with the same 1%-a-year risk and a base flood elevation.
• Zone X: moderate to minimal risk, outside the 1%-a-year floodplain.
• Insurance: if the house itself is in an A or V zone, lenders on federally backed mortgages require flood insurance; a flood zone determination for the address settles it. In zone X it’s optional.

Fire hazard zones, neighborhood by neighborhood

CAL FIRE maps how severe the wildfire hazard is across California, in three classes: Moderate, High and Very High. Single-family lots inside each guide’s outline, by the highest zone that touches any part of the lot; most severe first. The other six guides have none in any zone.

What the fire zones mean

• Hazard, not risk. CAL FIRE’s Office of the State Fire Marshal says the maps describe hazard: the physical conditions, like vegetation, terrain, fire history, embers and typical fire weather, over 30 to 50 years. They don’t count home hardening, defensible space or fuel reduction, which change the risk to a particular home (OSFM).
• Two kinds of map. Inside city limits (Local Responsibility Areas) we used CAL FIRE’s 2025 map; where the state is responsible for wildfire protection (State Responsibility Areas), its State Responsibility Area map. Land outside the three classes is shown as non-wildland or unzoned (OSFM).
• What a zone can bring. Depending on the zone and the kind of area, stricter building standards for new construction and additions, defensible-space rules, and a line on the seller’s natural hazard disclosure. The building department for the address (the city’s, or the county’s on unincorporated land) can say which apply.

Reading it right

• A use code isn’t a zoning district. We counted parcels the county codes as single-family residences, 1,500 square feet or more; the codes date from June 2020, so a few newer houses may be missing or coded otherwise, and townhomes and condos aren’t counted.
• Lot sizes are measured from the county’s parcel outlines, so they can differ from a survey by a few percent.
• We checked the center of each lot against FEMA’s National Flood Hazard Layer. A lot can straddle two zones, and maps change, so check the current FEMA map for the exact address.
• The flood zone covers the land, not the house. A house can sit above the base flood elevation even in a high-risk zone. An elevation certificate settles it and can lower the insurance price.
• The fire zone describes the land around a house, not how the house is built or how the lot is kept. CAL FIRE’s zone viewer shows any parcel, and a seller’s natural hazard disclosure report states the zones for that property.
• A median isn’t a verdict. It describes the lots, not which neighborhood is right for you.

Go deeper

Burlingame Housing Market by the Numbers covers prices and bidding, and The Most Expensive Streets in Burlingame & Hillsborough goes street by street. Flood & Fire Zones by Neighborhood compares every guide we write, and the Burlingame city guide links every neighborhood guide.

Buying, selling or rebuilding in a flood or fire zone?

A Property Nerd can pull the zoning, the lot, the flood and fire zones, any elevation certificate and the recent sales on your street before you write an offer, set a price or plan a rebuild. Call (408) 373-1660 or (650) 383-8606, or book a strategy call. Commissions are negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what’s included.