south san francisco · san mateo county
South San Francisco Real Estate & Neighborhood Guide
South San Francisco runs from the bay at Oyster Point west over the hills to Skyline Boulevard, with San Bruno Mountain along its north side: about 9.2 square miles of land. It began as a company town. The South San Francisco Land and Improvement Company, incorporated in 1890, laid out the grid around Grand Avenue beside meatpacking plants and factories to the east, and the city incorporated in 1908. Downtown and the Sign Hill slope filled in first; post-war tracts covered the valley and western hills from the late 1940s, Westborough got its start in 1960, and Terrabay came in the 1990s and 2000s. The 2020 census counted 22,683 housing units, from small-lot houses and duplexes downtown to hillside tracts, condominiums and apartments.
population, 2020 census
land area
zip codes
incorporated
neighborhoods
South San Francisco neighborhoods
Our nine South San Francisco guides follow the city's planning sub-areas and the neighborhood names on its 2018 map. In the middle of town, Downtown South San Francisco holds the 1890s grid around Grand Avenue and City Hall, Sign Hill & Parkway climbs the slope under the hillside sign, Paradise Valley & Terrabay fills the valley behind the hill and the foot of San Bruno Mountain, and Orange Park & Mayfair Village sits on the flat land around Orange Memorial Park and Colma Creek. West of Chestnut Avenue and El Camino Real are the post-war tracts: Sunshine Gardens on the slope west of Sign Hill, Winston Manor at the Daly City and Colma line, Serra Highlands & Buri Buri between Junipero Serra Boulevard and El Camino Real, Avalon, Brentwood & Southwood toward San Bruno, and Westborough & West Park in the western hills. Two unincorporated county islands carry South San Francisco addresses: Country Club Park, mostly on septic systems, and the private California Golf Club. Lindenville and East of 101 are industrial and biotech areas without guides. In the central guides, county parcel shapes put the median single-family lot at about 4,000 square feet downtown, 4,600 in Orange Park & Mayfair Village, 4,800 in Paradise Valley & Terrabay and 5,000 on Sign Hill.
Downtown South San Francisco
The original 1890s town grid around Grand Avenue, City Hall and the Carnegie library, from the foot of Sign Hill to Railroad Avenue, with the Caltrain station at the east end of Grand.
Sign Hill & Parkway
The streets that climb from downtown's north edge up the slope of Sign Hill, under the 1929 concrete letters of the hillside sign: 1920s-50s tracts below, Stonegate condominiums near the top.
Paradise Valley & Terrabay
South San Francisco's northeast corner at the foot of San Bruno Mountain: 1940s-50s streets off Hillside Boulevard below, and Terrabay's 1990s-2000s hillside homes and Mandalay Point tower above.
Orange Park & Mayfair Village
Flat streets around Orange Memorial Park and Colma Creek between El Camino Real and South Spruce Avenue: the 1940s-50s Mayfair Village and Francisco Terrace tracts and the old Town of Baden blocks.
Sunshine Gardens
The 1950s hillside tracts between El Camino Real, Chestnut Avenue and Hillside Boulevard, with South San Francisco BART, Kaiser's medical center, the new civic campus and El Camino High along the lower edge.
Winston Manor
Three early-1950s tracts at South San Francisco's north edge, on both sides of Junipero Serra Boulevard around Hickey Boulevard: about 1,230 single-family houses between I-280 and El Camino Real.
Serra Highlands & Buri Buri
Late-1940s and 1950s tracts between Junipero Serra Boulevard and El Camino Real, from Westborough Boulevard up to South San Francisco BART: about 2,100 single-family houses around Alta Loma and Buri Buri parks.
Avalon, Brentwood & Southwood
The flats between I-280 and El Camino Real below Westborough Boulevard: 1940s-1950s tracts, apartments near El Camino, and two county islands, the private California Golf Club and Country Club Park.
Westborough & West Park
South San Francisco's 1960s-and-later hillside district between I-280 and Skyline Boulevard: detached houses south of Westborough Boulevard, townhouse courts and condos in West Park to the north.
schools
South San Francisco public schools
Elementary and middle
- South San Francisco Unified School District. K-12; about 99 percent of the city's land on Census maps. District elementary and middle schools in town include Buri Buri (325 Del Monte Ave), Los Cerritos (210 W. Orange Ave), Martin (35 School St), Ponderosa (295 Ponderosa Rd), Spruce (501 Spruce Ave) and Sunshine Gardens (1200 Miller Ave) elementaries, and Alta Loma (116 Romney Ave), Parkway Heights (650 Sunset Ave) and Westborough (2570 Westborough Blvd) middle schools. The district also runs Junipero Serra and Skyline elementaries in Daly City and Monte Verde Elementary in San Bruno.
- Brisbane School District. Census maps put Terrabay's Mandalay Place and Pointe View Place, about 1 percent of city land, in this K-8 district, whose schools are Brisbane Elementary and Lipman Middle in Brisbane and Panorama Elementary in Daly City. Confirm with the district.
High school
- South San Francisco Unified School District. South San Francisco High School (400 B Street), El Camino High School (1320 Mission Road) and Baden continuation high school (825 Southwood Drive).
- Jefferson Union High School District. Census maps put the Mandalay Place and Pointe View Place streets in this district; Brisbane district students are eligible for its schools, per the City of Brisbane.
property nerd note
District lines follow neither ZIP codes nor city lines: South San Francisco Unified also serves parts of Daly City and San Bruno, and a corner of Terrabay maps to Brisbane and Jefferson Union. Census maps also show a small sliver of city land at the San Bruno line in other districts. Use the district's Find Your School locator and street directory, and call the district office for any address near a boundary; attendance boundaries change. Start with our Silicon Valley schools guide.
zip codes
South San Francisco ZIP codes
Every residential street in the city. Census ZIP areas put about 89 percent of 94080's land in South San Francisco and about 10 percent in unincorporated county land (San Bruno Mountain's slopes, the California Golf Club and Country Club Park), with slivers of San Bruno and Colma. A 94080 address is not proof of city jurisdiction; check county records.
The airport's ZIP; Census maps put a few percent of the city's East of 101 industrial land near San Francisco International Airport in it.
getting around
Getting around South San Francisco
Caltrain
South San Francisco station sits at the east end of Grand Avenue, rebuilt with a 700-foot center platform and a pedestrian underpass from downtown to East Grand Avenue and Poletti Way. Caltrain lists 81 parking spaces, bike racks and lockers, and SamTrans and free South City Shuttle connections at the station.
BART
South San Francisco station at 1333 Mission Road opened in 2003, per the city's story map, and San Bruno station is just south of the city line. Centennial Way, a linear park and path over the BART line, links the two stations, about three miles within the city.
Ferry
San Francisco Bay Ferry runs weekday commute service between the Oyster Point terminal and Oakland's Jack London Square, with a stop in Alameda. The terminal opened in 2012, per the story map.
Roads and buses
US-101 lines the bay side and I-280 the western hills, with I-380 linking them just south in San Bruno. El Camino Real (CA 82) runs through the middle, carrying SamTrans route ECR between Daly City BART and Palo Alto, and Skyline Boulevard (CA 35) runs along the western edge.
living here
Living in South San Francisco
Grand Avenue and the civic core
Downtown's main street runs from Chestnut Avenue to Airport Boulevard. City Hall at 400 Grand Avenue was dedicated in 1920 and modeled after Independence Hall; the 1916 Carnegie library next door is the Grand Avenue Library; and the 1914 Martin Building at Grand and Linden is on the National Register. The city says any structure 50 years or older may need a historic analysis before major changes.
Library | Parks and Recreation Center
At 901 Civic Campus Way, at El Camino Real and Chestnut Avenue: the main library and recreation center opened October 28, 2023 in an 80,000-square-foot building with a 1.3-acre park, and City Council meetings moved there.
Sign Hill Park and the sign
A 65-acre open space, per the city, with almost two miles of trails starting from Ridgeview Court, Poplar Avenue, Diamond Avenue and Spruce Avenue. The concrete letters reading 'South San Francisco The Industrial City' were finished in 1929, designated a city historic resource in 1986 and listed on the National Register in 1996.
Orange Memorial Park
The city's central park along Colma Creek at Orange Avenue and Tennis Drive, with ballfields, courts, a sculpture garden, picnic areas and the indoor Orange Pool (1970). A new aquatic center is under construction beside it, and a regional stormwater capture system now runs under the park.
San Bruno Mountain
San Bruno Mountain State & County Park covers 2,416 acres rising to 1,314 feet along the city's north side. Its 1982 Habitat Conservation Plan, run by the county with the city among its trustees, protects butterfly habitat on the slopes above Terrabay.
Oyster Point and East of 101
East of the freeway are the marina at Oyster Point, completed in 1962 per the story map, and the ferry terminal. The land around them grew from 'the factory district' of 1910 into an industrial park in the 1950s and a biotech center after Genentech began operations here in 1976.
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faq
South San Francisco real estate FAQ
Does a 94080 address mean the City of South San Francisco?
Not always. About 89 percent of ZIP 94080's land is in the city; about 10 percent is unincorporated county land, including San Bruno Mountain's slopes, the California Golf Club and Country Club Park, and slivers are in San Bruno and Colma. Check county records for any address.
What is Country Club Park?
A 53-acre unincorporated county island surrounded by the city, per San Mateo LAFCo, with South San Francisco addresses. LAFCo's 2018 report says it is served mostly by septic systems (a few parcels have city sewer), with county planning and permits and the Sheriff. The neighboring California Golf Club (203.9 acres) is also unincorporated and is a private club; membership is separate from owning a home.
Which school districts serve South San Francisco?
The South San Francisco Unified School District (K-12) for nearly all of the city. Census maps put Mandalay Place and Pointe View Place in Terrabay in the Brisbane School District and the Jefferson Union High School District. Check the exact address with the district.
Where are the flood, earthquake and fire zones?
FEMA maps Zone AE along Colma Creek and in Lindenville and Zone AH in parts of Francisco Terrace; most homes are in Zone X. State maps show liquefaction zones on the Colma Creek flats and bay fill, earthquake-induced landslide zones on parts of Westborough, Terrabay and Sign Hill, and the San Andreas fault zone across western Westborough. The 2025 fire map has Moderate zones on Terrabay, parts of Sign Hill's Stonegate streets and the western edge of Westborough. Check every parcel.
Is there help with airport noise?
SFO's Noise Insulation Program, described on the city's website, offers treatment for eligible homes inside the 65-decibel contour of the 2019 FAA-approved Noise Exposure Map, plus repair or replacement of earlier treatments. Check a specific address with SFO's Aircraft Noise Office.
More Property Nerd guides: San Bruno Millbrae Daly City San Francisco Burlingame Hillsborough San Mateo Foster City San Carlos Belmont Redwood City Atherton Woodside Portola Valley Menlo Park Palo Alto Los Altos Hills Los Altos Mountain View Cupertino Sunnyvale Los Gatos Monte Sereno Saratoga Campbell Santa Clara Milpitas San José neighborhoods Silicon Valley schools
more south san francisco neighborhood guides
Neighborhood guides in South San Francisco
See every guide in the Nerd Portal.