Daly City Neighborhoods by Their Lots: Lot Sizes and Fire Zones

Daly City’s public parcel and zoning records give the zoning and an outline for every parcel in the city. We took the 17,932 lots zoned single-family (R-1, R-1A or R-1-RP), 1,500 square feet or more, measured each from its outline, placed it in our neighborhood guide outlines, checked its center against FEMA’s flood map and checked each lot against CAL FIRE’s fire hazard severity zone maps. This post is about the land: lot sizes, flood zones and fire zones. Townhomes, condos and apartments on other zoning aren’t counted. The figures come from City of Daly City parcel and zoning records, October 2026. There are no addresses or owner details here.

The short answer

• Citywide, the median lot zoned single-family (R-1, R-1A or R-1-RP) is 3,330 sq ft.
• Largest lots: Serramonte (3,580 sq ft), Westlake Palisades & the Skyline Coast (3,400 sq ft) and Westlake (3,390 sq ft).
• Smallest: Crocker (2,500 sq ft), Hillside (2,500 sq ft) and Original Daly City & Vista Grande (2,690 sq ft).
• Flood zones: none of the 17,932 lots has its parcel center in a FEMA high-risk flood zone.
• Fire zones: 2,538 lots (14%) are at least partly in a CAL FIRE fire hazard severity zone: all Moderate; none are High or Very High. The most are in Westlake Palisades & the Skyline Coast (1,347) and Southern Hills & Bayshore (721).

Neighborhood by neighborhood

Largest median lot first. “Single-family lots” counts lots zoned R-1, R-1A or R-1-RP whose center falls inside each guide’s outline; no lot falls in two guides. Each name opens its guide. Broadmoor is unincorporated San Mateo County land under county zoning, so the city’s single-family zoning count leaves it out. By the San Mateo County parcel layer (use codes as of June 2020), it has 1,361 parcels with the county’s single-family use code, with a median lot of 5,620 sq ft; none is in a FEMA high-risk flood zone or a fire hazard severity zone.

The “All of Daly City” row also counts the 22 single-family lots outside the neighborhoods in the table.

What stands out

• Crocker and Hillside have the smallest lots: a median of about 2,500 sq ft each, about 25% below the citywide median; the largest median is 3,580 sq ft, in Serramonte.
• Most fire-zone lots are in Westlake Palisades & the Skyline Coast: 1,347 of its 2,036 lots (66%) touch one.

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. No lot touches a High or Very High zone. The other two 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 city’s building department can say which apply.

Reading it right

• Zoning isn’t use. We counted lots zoned R-1, R-1A or R-1-RP, 1,500 square feet or more; a few may hold a second unit, and townhomes, condos and apartments on other zoning aren’t counted.
• Lot sizes are measured from the city’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.
• Zone X isn’t zero risk. Flooding can happen outside the high-risk zones, and flood insurance is optional there.
• 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

Daly City Housing Market by the Numbers covers prices and bidding, Daly City Neighborhoods Ranked by Price per Square Foot compares the neighborhoods on price, and The Most Expensive Streets in Daly City goes street by street. Flood & Fire Zones by Neighborhood compares every guide we write, and the Daly City guide page links every neighborhood guide.

The Daly City data series: housing market by the numbers · neighborhoods ranked by price per sq ft · where homes sell over asking · ten years of prices by neighborhood · condos and townhomes · house prices by bedrooms · houses under $1.2M · houses at $1.5M and up · the best month to sell · the most expensive streets

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.