millbrae · san mateo county
Millbrae Real Estate & Neighborhood Guide
Millbrae climbs from US 101 and the edge of San Francisco International Airport up to I-280, about 3.27 square miles of land. It is named for the Mills estate. The Millbrae Highlands subdivision was laid out in the late 1920s, the city incorporated on January 14, 1948, and the northern and western hills filled in after World War II; a 1954 settlement split the Mills estate hills with Burlingame. Most residential streets hold one- and two-story single-family houses on lots of about 5,000 square feet, with larger lots in the hills, while apartments and condominiums cluster downtown, along El Camino Real and around the Millbrae BART and Caltrain station, where the city is directing most new building.
population, 2020 census
land area
zip codes
incorporated
neighborhoods
Millbrae neighborhoods
Our five Millbrae guides use the city's own area names where its General Plan has them and MLS area names elsewhere, and together they cover the city from I-280 to US 101. Millbrae Highlands is the late-1920s grid of sycamore-lined avenues around the civic center and Central Park, with newer hillside streets above it along Hillcrest Boulevard and Vista Grande. Green Hills, Lomita Hills & Capuchino covers the postwar north side, curving streets between Magnolia Avenue and the private Green Hills golf course up to the San Bruno line. Glenview Highlands & Millbrae Meadows is the 1950s and 1960s western hillside along I-280, almost entirely single-family. Mills Estates (Millbrae side) is the Millbrae half of the old Mills estate hills south of Millbrae Avenue, with larger lots and condo buildings on Vallejo Drive. Downtown, Marina Vista & Bayside Manor takes in Broadway, El Camino Real, the station area and the flat blocks east of the tracks. County parcel records put median single-family lots at about 5,000 square feet downtown, 5,400 in Green Hills, 6,000 in the Highlands, 6,300 in Glenview and 9,100 in Mills Estates, and show almost no unincorporated land with Millbrae addresses; the edges to watch are the San Bruno line on the north and the Burlingame line through Mills Estates.
Millbrae Highlands
The late-1920s grid of sycamore-lined avenues above downtown, with City Hall, the library and Central Park, plus hillside streets that climb Hillcrest Boulevard and Vista Grande toward I-280.
Green Hills, Lomita Hills & Capuchino
North Millbrae's postwar hills: curving streets of 1940s and 1950s houses between Magnolia Avenue and the private Green Hills golf course, up to the San Bruno line by Capuchino High.
Glenview Highlands & Millbrae Meadows
Millbrae's western hillside: 1950s and 1960s houses on curving streets between I-280 and the Green Hills golf course, around Meadows Elementary, Meadows Park and Lions Park.
Mills Estates (Millbrae side)
The Millbrae half of the old Mills estate hills: 1950s and 1960s houses on big sloping lots and condo buildings on Vallejo Drive, between Millbrae Avenue, I-280 and the Burlingame line.
Downtown, Marina Vista & Bayside Manor
Broadway's shops, the El Camino Real corridor and the Millbrae BART/Caltrain station, plus the flat blocks of Marina Vista and Bayside Manor east of the tracks, under SFO's approach.
schools
Millbrae public schools
Elementary and middle
- Millbrae School District. Covers the city on Census maps, apart from a handful of edge parcels along the San Bruno line. Its schools are all in Millbrae: Green Hills Elementary (Ludeman Lane), Lomita Park Elementary (Santa Helena Avenue), Meadows Elementary (Helen Drive), Spring Valley Elementary (Murchison Drive) and Taylor Middle School (Taylor Boulevard), which the district says serves all of its students in grades 6 through 8. The district office is at 555 Richmond Drive. Elementary assignments follow the district's school boundary map.
- San Bruno Park School District. Census maps put a few parcels along the San Bruno line, behind Bayview Avenue, Cypress Avenue and Terrace Drive, in this district; most of them have San Bruno addresses. Check any address on that edge.
High school
- San Mateo Union High School District. Mills High School is in Millbrae on Murchison Drive, on a campus of about 35 acres in county records, and Capuchino High School is on Magnolia Avenue just across the San Bruno line. Which high school serves an address is set by the district's school locator.
property nerd note
In Millbrae the ZIP code, city line and elementary district nearly line up, but the edges still matter: near the San Bruno line a house across the back fence can be in San Bruno and the San Bruno Park School District, and in Mills Estates the Burlingame line crosses several streets. Use the Millbrae School District's boundary map and the San Mateo Union district's school locator, and confirm the exact address before you write an offer. Start with our Silicon Valley schools guide.
zip codes
Millbrae ZIP codes
Millbrae's own ZIP covers about 3.17 of the city's roughly 3.28 square miles on Census ZIP maps. A small part of 94030 lies outside the city: unincorporated land along I-280 and a sliver of San Bruno.
About 0.11 square miles of Millbrae falls in 94010, which is mostly Burlingame and Hillsborough: a strip by I-280 near Vallejo Drive and the area around the US 101/Millbrae Avenue interchange and Rollins Road. A few Vallejo Drive condominiums sit in this strip on Census maps; check the ZIP on listings there.
getting around
Getting around Millbrae
Millbrae Station
BART (Red and Yellow lines, with service to SFO), Caltrain (zone 2) and SamTrans routes ECR, 292, 397 and 713 share the station at 100 California Drive, which opened in June 2003. The General Plan notes it is also a planned California High-Speed Rail stop.
Freeways and El Camino Real
I-280 runs along the western edge with interchanges at Larkspur Drive and at Millbrae Avenue/Skyline Boulevard; US 101 runs along the east with a Millbrae Avenue interchange and the airport exits just north. El Camino Real is a six-lane state highway through the middle of town, and the city plans to remake it as a 'grand boulevard'.
SFO next door
San Francisco International Airport adjoins the city on the east. BART connects the station to the airport, and the International Terminal is about 0.4 to 2.4 miles from Millbrae homes (straight-line).
Trails
The Spur Trail runs from Magnolia and Millbrae avenues up to Richmond Drive on land rezoned as open space in 1975, and the county's paved Sawyer Camp trail starts at the west end of Hillcrest Boulevard and runs south to Crystal Springs Road.
living here
Living in Millbrae
Downtown and Broadway
The General Plan places downtown between Magnolia Avenue and El Camino Real, from Victoria Avenue north to Meadow Glen Avenue: small, locally owned shops and restaurants on Broadway, some apartments upstairs, and larger grocery and drugstore sites between Taylor Boulevard and Meadow Glen Avenue.
Civic center
City Hall (621 Magnolia Avenue), the Millbrae Library (1 Library Avenue, run with San Mateo County Libraries), the Millbrae Museum, Fire Station 37 and the Recreation Center at 477 Lincoln Circle, which opened on June 11, 2022, sit together west of downtown; the General Plan calls for a civic center district linking them to Central Park.
Central Park and neighborhood parks
Central Park covers 8.1 acres with a playground, playing field, picnic areas and tennis courts. Smaller city parks include Green Hills Park, 2.1-acre Meadows Park, Lion "Bill Mitchell" Park, Mills Estates Park, Rotary Park, Mosta Grove, Marina Vista Park, Bayside Manor Park and Monterey Park.
Open space next door
Junipero Serra County Park, on the San Bruno side of the northwest edge, has oak-hillside trails, a picnic area and views to San Bruno Mountain and the bay. West of I-280 is the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission's watershed, reached by the Sawyer Camp trail.
Millbrae Train Museum
The 1907 railroad depot next to the station was moved about 200 feet in 1980 for the Millbrae Avenue overpass and has been the Millbrae Train Museum since 2004.
Station area
The Millbrae Station Area Specific Plan (1998, updated 2016) covers about 116 acres around the station and guides denser housing, offices, hotels and shops there; a mixed-use project on a former 9-acre station parking lot was completed in 2023.
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faq
Millbrae real estate FAQ
What does Millbrae require when a home sells?
A video inspection of the sewer lateral from the house to the city main before close of escrow, unless the property already has an active compliance certificate (Municipal Code 8.20.450). All of Millbrae is also inside SFO's airport influence area, where state law requires an airport disclosure.
Which parts of Millbrae are in a fire hazard zone?
The western hills. CAL FIRE's 2025 local-area map rates nearly all of Glenview Highlands and Millbrae Meadows, much of upper Mills Estates and the upper Highlands streets Moderate to Very High, and a few upper Lomita Avenue lots Moderate; downtown and the east side are unzoned. Check each address.
Where are the flood zones?
On the east side. FEMA's current map (effective April 5, 2019) puts much of Bayside Manor and nearby blocks in high-risk Zone AE and the Landing Lane and San Anselmo Avenue area in Zone AH. The city reviewed a sea level rise adaptation assessment in July 2020.
Which parts of Millbrae are inside SFO's noise contours?
The airport plan's 2020 forecast contours put Bayside Manor inside the 65 dB CNEL contour and much of the area east of El Camino Real between 60 and 65 dB; the rest of the city is outside 60 dB. SFO's insulation program covers homes inside the 65 dB contour that pass its inspections and tests.
Does Millbrae have design review?
Yes. The General Plan requires design review of new houses and large second-story additions, and the city is writing objective residential design standards. Accessory units need building permits, and the city reviews pre-designed ADU plans for pre-approval.
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