Blog > San Mateo County Transfer Tax Calculator (2026): Every City
Every home sale in San Mateo County pays the county’s transfer tax when the deed records. The City of San Mateo adds its own, and Hillsborough a small one. Here’s the tax at common prices, what it comes to on a typical home in each city, and who usually pays. To try your own price and city, open our transfer tax calculator.
The short answer
- County tax, every city: $1.10 per $1,000 of the price ($0.55 per $500).
- City of San Mateo: adds 0.5% of the price, or 1.5% at $10 million or more (Measure CC, 2022). San Mateo’s transfer tax in detail.
- Hillsborough: adds $0.30 per $1,000, according to title-company tables.
- Everywhere else we cover (Atherton, Belmont, Burlingame, Daly City, Foster City, Menlo Park, Millbrae, Portola Valley, Redwood City, San Bruno, San Carlos, South San Francisco and Woodside): county tax only, per county and title-company tables. East Palo Alto is the one to double-check: those tables show none, but some sources report one, so confirm with your escrow officer.
- Who usually pays: by local custom, per a 2024 Bay Area title-company chart, the seller pays the county tax and the buyer and seller split any city tax 50/50. All of it is negotiable, and the purchase contract decides.
Run your own numbers
- Our transfer tax calculator figures the total and the usual split at any price for San Francisco and the 31 Silicon Valley and Peninsula cities we cover.
- The seller net sheet adds commission, escrow and title to see what you’d walk away with.
- Talk to a Property Nerd about your sale or purchase.
At common prices
Total transfer tax (county plus city) on the same price.
| Sale price | County tax only | Hillsborough | City of San Mateo |
|---|---|---|---|
| $800,000 | $880 | $1,120 | $4,880 |
| $1,000,000 | $1,100 | $1,400 | $6,100 |
| $1,500,000 | $1,650 | $2,100 | $9,150 |
| $2,000,000 | $2,200 | $2,800 | $12,200 |
| $2,500,000 | $2,750 | $3,500 | $15,250 |
| $3,000,000 | $3,300 | $4,200 | $18,300 |
| $4,000,000 | $4,400 | $5,600 | $24,400 |
| $6,000,000 | $6,600 | $8,400 | $36,600 |
| $8,000,000 | $8,800 | $11,200 | $48,800 |
| $12,000,000 | $13,200 | $16,800 | $193,200 |
On a typical home in each city
| City | Median house | Transfer tax | Median condo/townhome | Transfer tax |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atherton | $10.7M | $11,770 | — | — |
| Belmont | $2.38M | $2,613 | $1.2M | $1,320 |
| Burlingame | $3.21M | $3,526 | $1.1M | $1,210 |
| Daly City | $1.25M | $1,375 | $615K | $677 |
| East Palo Alto (confirm) | $1.1M | $1,209 | $690K | $759 |
| Foster City | $2.22M | $2,443 | $1.25M | $1,375 |
| Hillsborough | $6.41M | $8,975 | — | — |
| Menlo Park | $3.6M | $3,960 | $1.75M | $1,920 |
| Millbrae | $2.33M | $2,563 | $865K | $952 |
| Portola Valley | $4.03M | $4,428 | — | — |
| Redwood City | $2.3M | $2,531 | $1.13M | $1,247 |
| San Bruno | $1.46M | $1,605 | $448K | $492 |
| San Carlos | $2.74M | $3,011 | $1.25M | $1,378 |
| San Mateo | $2.22M | $13,557 | $866K | $5,283 |
| South San Francisco | $1.3M | $1,436 | $780K | $858 |
| Woodside | $4.06M | $4,469 | — | — |
Medians of sales in the 12 months to October 27, 2026 (cities with at least 10 sales of that type); tax = county plus any city tax at that price.
Good to know
- Check the city limits. A mailing address isn’t always the city: some homes with a San Mateo, Redwood City or Menlo Park address sit in unincorporated county land, where only the county tax applies. Your escrow officer confirms it from the parcel’s tax rate area.
- Escrow and title customs: in San Mateo County the buyer usually pays the escrow fee and the owner’s title policy, the reverse of Santa Clara County, per the same 2024 chart; also negotiable.
- Santa Clara County is next door, with its own rules. See the Santa Clara County transfer tax by city.
How we figured it
Each tax is computed the way county and city tables state it: the county tax is $0.55 for each $500 of price or part of $500, and the city rates apply to the price as shown above. Sale counts are closed sales of houses, condos and townhomes reported to the MLS and read through the IDX feeds that power our home search, with repeat records removed (same MLS number and sale date); a sale is placed by the city in its MLS address. This is general information, not tax or legal advice; your escrow officer’s figures are the ones that count.
Sources
- San Mateo County Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder: documentary transfer tax
- City of San Mateo: Ordinance 2022-15 (Measure CC)
Go deeper
See transfer tax for every city we cover, the San Mateo County housing market and every city at a glance.
Buying or selling? Ask a Property Nerd
We’ll walk you through every closing cost before you sign, including who pays which transfer tax in your contract. 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.