Alamo vs Burlingame
Alamo carries an effective property tax rate of 1.07% of assessed value and Burlingame carries 1.11%, both for fiscal year 2025-26. On one identical reference loan the monthly carrying costs are $9,713 and $9,768 — $55 apart, with Alamo lower. To Oakland City Center at AM peak the fastest published commutes are 34 min by BART from Alamo and 45 min by car from Burlingame. Every figure is an objective public metric or arithmetic on one, and names its source.
Alamo (Contra Costa County) · Burlingame (San Mateo County)
| Metric | Alamo | Burlingame | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median $/sqft (SFR) | $1,000 | $1,500 | −$500 |
| Effective tax rate | 1.07% | 1.11% | −0.041% |
| Monthly cost, reference loan | $9,713 | $9,768 | −$55 |
| FiDi SF (Montgomery St BART) — BART | 52 min | 40 min | +12 min |
| FiDi SF (Montgomery St BART) — Drive | 58 min | 40 min | +18 min |
| Oakland City Center (12th St BART) — BART | 34 min | 55 min | −21 min |
| Oakland City Center (12th St BART) — Drive | 35 min | 45 min | −10 min |
| Sunnyvale / Mountain View (Sunnyvale Caltrain) — Drive | 62 min | 35 min | +27 min |
Difference is Alamo minus Burlingame. Sources are cited on each submarket page.
Put the two side by side and the gap is square footage, not tax: $1,000 per foot in Alamo against $1,500 in Burlingame. On the same $1,600,000 purchase the monthly separation is only $55, because Alamo bills 1.07% and Burlingame 1.11%.
The house at each price
Single-story ranches with room for a workshop or ADU are Alamo's characteristic stock. Easton Addition and Burlingame Park three-bedrooms start around $2.3M. Posted medians are $1,000 per square foot in Alamo and $1,500 in Burlingame, a $500 spread.
What the bill looks like
Modelled the same way in both ($1,600,000 purchase, 20% down, 6.5% fixed, $2,400 insurance, dues excluded), Alamo totals $9,713 a month at 1.07% and Burlingame $9,768 at 1.11% — tax lines of $1,423 and $1,477. Alamo has no city utility tax because it has no city. Burlingame HOAs appear only in condo and townhome buildings at $500-$800 a month. Neither figure includes dues or a district assessment, and both belong on the worksheet before an offer.
Getting to work
To Sunnyvale / Mountain View (Sunnyvale Caltrain): 62 minutes by driving from Alamo, 35 by Caltrain from Burlingame — a 27-minute edge to Burlingame, or 4.5 hours across a ten-trip week. To FiDi SF (Montgomery St BART): 52 minutes by BART from Alamo, 40 by BART from Burlingame — a 12-minute edge to Burlingame, or 2.0 hours across a ten-trip week. I-680 to 24 puts Alamo 50 minutes from the Bay Bridge at 6 a.m. and 80-90 at 8. Burlingame and Broadway Caltrain stations are both in town.
What the disclosure stack holds
Alamo west-slope non-renewals run to FAIR Plan placements of $4K-$8K a year. The hills west of I-280 carry moderate fire mapping with no Burlingame non-renewals observed, and liquefaction near the bay shows on the NHD. None of this substitutes for the parcel: check CAL FIRE zoning, the FEMA flood panel and CGS seismic hazard mapping, then price the policy in writing.
The housing need each answers
Alamo fits a large-lot, single-story requirement with room for a workshop or ADU. Burlingame assumes square footage will be traded to get both. The decision is which requirement is load-bearing, because neither submarket satisfies both lists.
Sources. Tax figures come from Contra Costa TRA Book FY 2025-26; San Mateo County Tax Rate Book FY 2025-26, composited in build/assets/metrics.json. They are county-level and not yet verified at the TRA, so the parcel's bill governs. Travel times are AM-peak door-to-door estimates from data/commute/static.csv. Price per square foot is a trailing median and is not an appraisal. Qualitative detail is the broker's own field observation.
Compare any two submarkets
| Metric | Alamo | Burlingame |
|---|---|---|
| Median $/sqft (SFR) | $1,000 | $1,500 |
| Effective tax rate | 1.07% | 1.11% |
| Monthly cost, reference loan | $9,713 | $9,768 |
| Fastest to FiDi SF (Montgomery St BART) | 52 min | 40 min |
| Fastest to Oakland City Center (12th St BART) | 34 min | 45 min |
| Fastest to Sunnyvale / Mountain View (Sunnyvale Caltrain) | 62 min | 35 min |
Same reference loan on both sides; the tax line is the only variable. Commute figures are door-to-door AM-peak estimates. Sources are listed on each submarket page.
Alamo detail
| Component | Rate of assessed value |
|---|---|
| Prop 13 general levy | 1.000% |
| County / city voter-approved bonds | 0.012% |
| School district measures | 0.055% |
| Effective rate | 1.07% |
| Mello-Roos / CFD | None recorded |
Source: Contra Costa TRA Book FY 2025-26 (Contra Costa County), composited in
build/assets/metrics.json.
Tax Rate Area not yet verified parcel-by-parcel — confirm the rate on the parcel’s own tax bill.
Burlingame detail
| Component | Rate of assessed value |
|---|---|
| Prop 13 general levy | 1.000% |
| County / city voter-approved bonds | 0.010% |
| School district measures | 0.098% |
| Effective rate | 1.11% |
| Mello-Roos / CFD | None recorded |
Source: San Mateo County Tax Rate Book FY 2025-26 (San Mateo County), composited in
build/assets/metrics.json.
Tax Rate Area not yet verified parcel-by-parcel — confirm the rate on the parcel’s own tax bill.
Alamo vs Burlingame: questions and answers
- Which has the lower effective property tax rate, Alamo or Burlingame?
- Alamo, at 1.07% of assessed value against 1.11% for fiscal year 2025-26 — a gap of 0.040%. Rates are composited from county tax rate books; each parcel bill governs.
- How much do monthly carrying costs differ between Alamo and Burlingame?
- $55 per month on the identical reference loan: Alamo $9,713, Burlingame $9,768. Alamo is lower. Principal and interest are held constant, so the difference is the tax line. Arithmetic only.
- Which has the shorter commute to Oakland City Center, Alamo or Burlingame?
- Alamo. Alamo is 34 min by BART; Burlingame is 45 min by car. Door-to-door, AM peak. Source: data/commute/static.csv.
- What is the price per square foot difference between Alamo and Burlingame?
- $500 per square foot: Alamo $1,000, Burlingame $1,500. Single-family medians, trailing twelve months. A median is not a valuation of any specific property.