hillsborough · san mateo county
Hillsborough Real Estate & Neighborhood Guide
Hillsborough covers about 6.2 square miles of hills between Burlingame and San Mateo, from El Camino Real at Town Hall west to Skyline Boulevard and I-280. The land was part of Rancho San Mateo, bought in 1846, and voters approved incorporation 60-1 in April 1910; the town dates it to May 5, 1910. Between 1910 and 1938 estates such as Uplands, Home Place and La Dolphine were cut into smaller lots, and in 1953 the town set the half-acre minimum lot that still applies. The General Plan allows single-family homes and no commercial or industrial uses. County parcel maps count about 3,900 single-family parcels with a median lot near 0.55 acre; Census survey estimates date about 57% of homes to 1950-1979.
population, 2020 census
land area
zip codes
incorporated
neighborhoods
Hillsborough neighborhoods
Hillsborough has no official neighborhood map. The town's own emergency-preparedness network splits it into North, South and West zones, and local listing records use dozens of older subdivision and estate names. Our six guides group those names into areas you can find on a map, each with approximate edges: Skyfarm & Oaksbridge in the northwest, Ryan Tract, Homeplace & Brewer around Town Hall in the north and northeast, Carolands in the west-center, Hillsborough Park & Hillsborough Knolls on the east side, Lakeview & Crystal Springs in the southwest and Tobin Clark Estates in the southeast. Lots run from older parcels under half an acre near El Camino Real to hillside lots of an acre or more toward I-280, where state landslide maps and CAL FIRE's Moderate and High zones cover more ground. There are no unincorporated pockets inside the town line, but next door Burlingame Hills and the San Mateo Highlands are unincorporated county land with their own permit rules, and county records flag a few Hillsborough-addressed parcels on Crystal Springs Road as unincorporated.
Skyfarm & Oaksbridge
Northwest Hillsborough between I-280 and Eucalyptus Avenue: winding hill streets such as Skyfarm, Churchill and Summit drives, lots that run about half an acre and up, and town open space that stays closed.
Ryan Tract, Homeplace & Brewer
North and northeast Hillsborough around Town Hall: Eucalyptus Avenue, Floribunda, Barroilhet and Hillsborough Boulevard, with the North and Crocker school campus and the Burlingame and San Mateo lines close by.
Carolands
West-central Hillsborough on land of the former 554-acre Carolands estate: Darrell, Barbara, Pullman, Remillard and Marlborough roads between Chateau Drive, Ralston Avenue, Black Mountain Road and I-280.
Hillsborough Park & Hillsborough Knolls
East-side Hillsborough between West Santa Inez Avenue and Crystal Springs Road: Hayne, Chiltern, Vista and El Cerrito streets around Vista Park, Crossroads Park and South Hillsborough School.
Lakeview & Crystal Springs
South Hillsborough's hillside streets between Black Mountain Road and Crystal Springs Road: Lakeview Drive, Tartan Trail and the Highlands' Scottish-named lanes, all single-family on lots of about half an acre or more.
Tobin Clark Estates
Hillsborough's southeast corner next to the College of San Mateo: Tournament, Tobin Clark and Clydesdale drives on former estate land, with half-acre-plus lots and a town housing site in planning.
schools
Hillsborough public schools
Elementary and middle
- Hillsborough City School District. Covers the whole town on Census school-district maps, and all four of its schools are in town: North Hillsborough School (545 Eucalyptus Avenue), South Hillsborough School (303 El Cerrito Avenue), West Hillsborough School (376 Barbara Way) and Crocker Middle School (2600 Ralston Avenue, grades 6-8). The district office is at 300 El Cerrito Avenue. Its 2024 street list assigns each street to North, South or West and splits some long roads, such as Black Mountain, Hayne, Ralston, Chateau, Skyfarm and Summit, by house number.
High school
- San Mateo Union High School District. Serves the whole town on Census maps. There is no public high school in Hillsborough, and the assigned high school depends on the address; check with the district.
property nerd note
The district says residency guarantees enrollment in Hillsborough City schools, not at a specific school. Use the district's street list as a starting point, then confirm the exact address with the district office, and check the high school with San Mateo Union. Lines change, so confirm before you write an offer. Start with our Silicon Valley schools guide.
zip codes
Hillsborough ZIP codes
Census ZIP-code areas put essentially the whole town in 94010, which it shares with the City of Burlingame and unincorporated Burlingame Hills. Streets such as Summit Drive, Tiptoe Lane, Forest View Avenue, Pepper Avenue and Barroilhet Avenue have parcels in more than one jurisdiction, so the ZIP alone does not tell you the city. San Mateo addresses next door use other ZIPs, including 94401 and 94402, and a few Hillsborough-addressed parcels along Crystal Springs Road at the south edge fall in the Census 94402 area; county records flag some of those as unincorporated. Check the city and ZIP on any edge listing.
getting around
Getting around Hillsborough
Caltrain and BART
There is no station in town. The town lists Burlingame station, at Burlingame Avenue and California Drive, as the nearest Caltrain stop; San Mateo station is closer to the east side, and Millbrae station, north of town, has both Caltrain and BART.
Freeways
I-280 runs along the west edge, with ramps at Golf Course Drive by Skyline Boulevard and Black Mountain Road. SR-92 crosses just south of town and meets I-280 near the town's southern tip. El Camino Real, a state highway managed by Caltrans, runs along the northeast edge by Town Hall.
Buses
The town lists SamTrans bus stops along El Camino Real and at the commuter lot near I-280 on Golf Course Road, and points riders who need paratransit to SamTrans.
Streets and parking
Town street rights-of-way are typically 40 or 50 feet wide, the town's policy is not to install speed bumps, and overnight street parking needs police permission. Plan on parking on your own lot.
living here
Living in Hillsborough
Town Hall and Centennial Park
Town Hall, at 1600 Floribunda Avenue near El Camino Real, houses town offices and the police department on a site of about 2.5 acres. Centennial Park beside it, with a Veterans' Memorial, began in 1989 as a low-water demonstration garden. The Housing Element identifies the Town Hall site for 16 new housing units.
Vista Park
The town's park at 1030 Vista Road has an arbor with picnic tables, separate play equipment for two age groups, climbing rocks, a compass rose and a large play field that can be reserved through Hillsborough Recreation, a joint program of the town and the school district. Barbecues are not allowed.
Crossroads Park
A small corner park at Hayne Road and 902 Black Mountain Road, with benches and a water fountain.
Town open space
The town manages nine open-space areas, about 259 acres deeded to it over 30 years ago: Spencer Lake, Crocker Lake, Strawberry Hill, Cottonwood Court, Rowen Tree, Nueva/Macadamia, Woodridge, Crystal Springs and Tobin Clark. The town calls them rugged and undevelopable and does not allow public access.
Libraries
There is no library branch in town. Library service comes through agreements with Burlingame (480 Primrose Road) and San Mateo (55 West 3rd Avenue), and those cards work across the county's library system.
Carolands and its Gate House
The Carolands chateau, designed by Ernest Sanson and finished in the mid-1910s on a 554-acre estate, is a California Historical Landmark and on the National Register; it is private property, not a public park. The estate's gate lodge at Ralston and Eucalyptus avenues, built in the 1920s and rebuilt by the town in 2010, now serves the police department.
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faq
Hillsborough real estate FAQ
Does Hillsborough have any shops or offices?
No. The General Plan allows no commercial or industrial uses; apart from homes, the town has public facilities, parks and open space, public and private schools, and two private clubs whose memberships are separate from owning a home. Shopping is in Burlingame and San Mateo.
What is the minimum lot size?
Half an acre for any new lot, a rule in place since 1953, and sloped sites need more under the town's hillside lot-size standards. Any legally created existing lot, even one under half an acre, can be built with one home.
How big can a house be?
Floor area is capped at 25% of net lot area for the first acre plus 15% beyond, a house must have at least 2,500 sq ft of floor area, height tops out at 32 feet inside a building envelope, and the City Council usually makes the final design call on homes of 8,000 sq ft or more. Every exterior change goes through design review, and the Architecture and Design Review Board cautions buyers not to assume the maximum can be built.
Is Hillsborough in a fire hazard zone?
Parts of it. On CAL FIRE's 2025 local-responsibility map, about 15% of single-family parcels are Moderate and 8% High (by parcel center), with no Very High; the shares run highest in the southwestern hills around Lakeview Drive and on the west side near I-280. Town handouts require fire-resistant construction and defensible-space landscape plans for new homes and teardowns in the wildland-urban interface or a High zone, and the town has been a Firewise USA community since April 2020.
Who provides fire, water and sewer service?
The town funds fire protection by the Central County Fire Department and runs its own police department. It provides water bought from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and collects sewage for treatment at Burlingame's and San Mateo's plants; the town FAQ says homes sold must have the sewer lateral inspected and repaired if needed.
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more hillsborough neighborhood guides
Neighborhood guides in Hillsborough
See every guide in the Nerd Portal.