Blog > Price per Square Foot by House Size on the Peninsula: Nine Cities (2026)
Price per Square Foot by House Size on the Peninsula: Nine Cities (2026)
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Price per square foot is the Peninsula’s favorite shorthand, and it changes with the size of the house as much as with the city. Here are house sales in nine San Mateo County cities, sorted by living area, with the price per foot for each size and what the next 100 square feet adds on each city’s median house. City medians for the last 12 months run from $829 a foot in Daly City to $1,740 in Menlo Park.
The short answer
- Menlo Park: $1,740 a foot at the median; $1,740 for under 1,500 sq ft, $1,645 for 4,000 sq ft and up.
- Burlingame: $1,554 a foot at the median; $1,703 for under 1,500 sq ft, $1,219 for 4,000 sq ft and up.
- San Carlos: $1,436 a foot at the median; $1,629 for under 1,500 sq ft, $1,081 for 3,000–4,000 sq ft.
- San Mateo: $1,304 a foot at the median; $1,343 for under 1,500 sq ft, $1,243 for 3,000–4,000 sq ft.
- Redwood City: $1,289 a foot at the median; $1,377 for under 1,500 sq ft, $900 for 4,000 sq ft and up.
- Belmont: $1,287 a foot at the median; $1,515 for under 1,500 sq ft, $1,159 for 3,000–4,000 sq ft.
- San Bruno: $1,000 a foot at the median; $1,087 for under 1,500 sq ft, $751 for 2,500–3,000 sq ft.
- South San Francisco: $896 a foot at the median; $1,041 for under 1,500 sq ft, $645 for 2,500–3,000 sq ft.
- Daly City: $829 a foot at the median; $948 for under 1,500 sq ft, $580 for 2,500–3,000 sq ft.
Tap the graphic to open it full size.
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Price per square foot by size, every city
Houses sold in the last 24 months (October 28, 2024 to October 27, 2026); a dash means fewer than 12 sales.
| City | Under 1,500 sq ft | 1,500–2,000 sq ft | 2,000–2,500 sq ft | 2,500–3,000 sq ft | 3,000–4,000 sq ft | 4,000 sq ft and up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Mateo | $1,343 | $1,269 | $1,193 | $1,182 | $1,243 | — |
| Redwood City | $1,377 | $1,319 | $1,179 | $1,127 | $1,130 | $900 |
| Daly City | $948 | $759 | $651 | $580 | — | — |
| Menlo Park | $1,740 | $1,692 | $1,639 | $1,718 | $1,757 | $1,645 |
| San Carlos | $1,629 | $1,481 | $1,301 | $1,278 | $1,081 | — |
| South San Francisco | $1,041 | $810 | $745 | $645 | — | — |
| San Bruno | $1,087 | $925 | $808 | $751 | — | — |
| Burlingame | $1,703 | $1,599 | $1,434 | $1,456 | $1,309 | $1,219 |
| Belmont | $1,515 | $1,287 | $1,172 | $1,151 | $1,159 | — |
Why it usually falls as houses get bigger
In all nine cities, the largest houses sold for less per foot than the smallest (in Menlo Park only slightly: $1,645 against $1,740), and in Daly City, San Carlos, South San Francisco and San Bruno it fell at every step. Part of every house price is the land and the address, which doesn’t grow with the floor plan; kitchens and bathrooms, the costliest rooms, are also a bigger share of a small house. So comparing a small house’s price per foot with a big one’s can mislead: in San Carlos, the smallest and largest sizes differed by $548 a foot. Compare like sizes.
Menlo Park came closest to flat. Its price per foot stayed between $1,639 and $1,757 at every size, and its largest houses sat on a median 11,930 square-foot lot, against 5,750 for the smallest. More land came with the bigger houses there, and land counted for a clear part of the price in our model, which helps explain why the price per foot of house held up. Our Menlo Park post has the detail.
What the next 100 square feet adds
Applied to each city’s median house, holding lot, bedrooms and bathrooms equal. In every city, the added foot was worth less than the average foot: from 28% of it in South San Francisco to 76% in Menlo Park.
| City | Median house | Living area | Average per sq ft | Next 100 sq ft | Per added foot | Share of the average foot |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Menlo Park | $3.6M | 2,120 sq ft | $1,740 | $133,000 | $1,326 | 76% |
| Burlingame | $3.21M | 2,200 sq ft | $1,554 | $82,000 | $816 | 53% |
| San Carlos | $2.75M | 2,010 sq ft | $1,436 | $57,000 | $568 | 40% |
| San Mateo | $2.23M | 1,730 sq ft | $1,304 | $95,000 | $949 | 73% |
| Redwood City | $2.36M | 1,770 sq ft | $1,289 | $84,000 | $836 | 65% |
| Belmont | $2.35M | 1,890 sq ft | $1,287 | $46,000 | $460 | 36% |
| San Bruno | $1.48M | 1,430 sq ft | $1,000 | $48,000 | $479 | 48% |
| South San Francisco | $1.31M | 1,500 sq ft | $896 | $25,000 | $253 | 28% |
| Daly City | $1.26M | 1,540 sq ft | $829 | $30,000 | $298 | 36% |
Condos and townhomes
Medians, the last 12 months (October 28, 2025 to October 27, 2026). Burlingame and Belmont are left out: fewer than 50 condo and townhome sales in at least one of the last two years.
| City | Per sq ft | Living area | Median price | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Menlo Park | $987 | 1,710 sq ft | $1.77M | 77 |
| San Carlos | $889 | 1,240 sq ft | $1.26M | 67 |
| Redwood City | $792 | 1,400 sq ft | $1.13M | 98 |
| San Mateo | $773 | 1,220 sq ft | $870K | 270 |
| South San Francisco | $755 | 1,040 sq ft | $780K | 65 |
| San Bruno | $690 | 680 sq ft | $450K | 58 |
| Daly City | $597 | 1,060 sq ft | $615K | 77 |
Each city in detail
- San Mateo price per square foot by house size
- Redwood City price per square foot by house size
- Daly City price per square foot by house size
- Menlo Park price per square foot by house size
- San Carlos price per square foot by house size
- South San Francisco price per square foot by house size
- San Bruno price per square foot by house size
- Burlingame price per square foot by house size
- Belmont price per square foot by house size
Questions we get
Which Peninsula city has the highest price per square foot?
Of these nine, Menlo Park: $1,740 a square foot for houses sold in the last 12 months. Daly City was lowest, at $829.
Why do big houses usually cost less per square foot?
The land and the address are part of every price, and that part doesn’t grow with the floor plan. Spread over more feet, it’s less per foot. Menlo Park came closest to flat in the last 24 months: its bigger houses came with more land, and the price per foot barely moved.
What’s the price per square foot for condos?
From $597 in Daly City to $987 in Menlo Park, at the median, among the cities with enough condo and townhome sales to say.
How we counted
Medians of closed sales reported to the MLS and read through the IDX feeds that power our home search, one record per sale with a usable living area and map position, the same rules as our city price posts. Houses are MLS property type “single family home”; condos include townhomes. City medians use the last 12 months (October 28, 2025 to October 27, 2026); the size table uses the last 24 months (October 28, 2024 to October 27, 2026) and leaves out sizes with fewer than 12 sales. The 100-square-foot figure is from each city’s regression of log price on log living area, log lot, bedrooms, bathrooms and month. Past sales aren’t a forecast or the value of any one home, and nothing here is financial, tax or legal advice. See also the price per square foot map and the lot value lab.
Talk to a Property Nerd
We’re the Property Nerds at Compass, recognized as NextGenAgents by a national real estate portal. We’ll pull the sales that matter for your home and your plans, and walk you through what they mean. 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.