Alamo vs Menlo Park
Alamo carries an effective property tax rate of 1.07% of assessed value and Menlo Park carries 1.13%, both for fiscal year 2025-26. On one identical reference loan the monthly carrying costs are $9,713 and $9,790 — $77 apart, with Alamo lower. To Sunnyvale / Mountain View at AM peak the fastest published commutes are 62 min by car from Alamo and 20 min by Caltrain from Menlo Park. Every figure is an objective public metric or arithmetic on one, and names its source.
Alamo (Contra Costa County) · Menlo Park (San Mateo County)
| Metric | Alamo | Menlo Park | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median $/sqft (SFR) | $1,000 | $1,700 | −$700 |
| Effective tax rate | 1.07% | 1.13% | −0.058% |
| Monthly cost, reference loan | $9,713 | $9,790 | −$77 |
| FiDi SF (Montgomery St BART) — Drive | 58 min | 60 min | −2 min |
| Oakland City Center (12th St BART) — BART | 34 min | 85 min | −51 min |
| Oakland City Center (12th St BART) — Drive | 35 min | 50 min | −15 min |
| Sunnyvale / Mountain View (Sunnyvale Caltrain) — Drive | 62 min | 20 min | +42 min |
Difference is Alamo minus Menlo Park. 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 $1,700 in Menlo Park. On the same $1,600,000 purchase the monthly separation is only $77, because Alamo bills 1.07% and Menlo Park 1.13%.
The house at each price
Single-story ranches with room for a workshop or ADU are Alamo's characteristic stock. Belle Haven runs $1,000-$1,200 per square foot, the lowest in Menlo Park. Posted medians are $1,000 per square foot in Alamo and $1,700 in Menlo Park, a $700 spread.
What the bill looks like
Against an identical $1,600,000 note at 6.5% with 20% down and $2,400 a year of coverage, Alamo totals $9,713 a month at 1.07% and Menlo Park $9,790 at 1.13% — tax lines of $1,423 and $1,500. Round Hill and a few gated Alamo pockets carry $100-$300 a month; most of the flats have none. No Mello-Roos in Menlo Park. 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, 20 by Caltrain from Menlo Park — a 42-minute edge to Menlo Park, or 7.0 hours across a ten-trip week. To Oakland City Center (12th St BART): 34 minutes by BART from Alamo, 50 by driving from Menlo Park — a 16-minute edge to Alamo, or 2.7 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. Menlo Park Caltrain has limited Baby Bullet service; most trains run 40-50 minutes to San Francisco.
Fire, flood and the premium
The Alamo east flats sit outside the fire hazard severity zones. The Sharon Heights hills near 280 carry moderate fire mapping with no Menlo Park non-renewals observed. Run the address through CAL FIRE's severity-zone viewer, the FEMA Flood Map Service Center and the CGS seismic hazard maps, and treat the premium quote as a contingency item.
Which search this actually is
Alamo works for a buyer who can absorb no transit and wants a third-acre minimum. Menlo Park assumes a small footprint or a townhome at this price. Write the requirement down before the search: these two answer different ones.
Sources. Rate and payment figures: Contra Costa TRA Book FY 2025-26; San Mateo County Tax Rate Book FY 2025-26, as composited in build/assets/metrics.json — unverified at tax-rate-area level, so read the bill. Minutes shown are AM-peak and door to door, from data/commute/static.csv. The per-foot medians are trailing and carry no appraisal weight; the neighborhood detail is first-hand broker observation.
Compare any two submarkets
| Metric | Alamo | Menlo Park |
|---|---|---|
| Median $/sqft (SFR) | $1,000 | $1,700 |
| Effective tax rate | 1.07% | 1.13% |
| Monthly cost, reference loan | $9,713 | $9,790 |
| Fastest to FiDi SF (Montgomery St BART) | 52 min | 60 min |
| Fastest to Oakland City Center (12th St BART) | 34 min | 50 min |
| Fastest to Sunnyvale / Mountain View (Sunnyvale Caltrain) | 62 min | 20 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.
Menlo Park detail
| Component | Rate of assessed value |
|---|---|
| Prop 13 general levy | 1.000% |
| County / city voter-approved bonds | 0.010% |
| School district measures | 0.115% |
| Effective rate | 1.13% |
| 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 Menlo Park: questions and answers
- Which has the lower effective property tax rate, Alamo or Menlo Park?
- Alamo, at 1.07% of assessed value against 1.13% for fiscal year 2025-26 — a gap of 0.060%. Rates are composited from county tax rate books; each parcel bill governs.
- How much do monthly carrying costs differ between Alamo and Menlo Park?
- $77 per month on the identical reference loan: Alamo $9,713, Menlo Park $9,790. Alamo is lower. Principal and interest are held constant, so the difference is the tax line. Arithmetic only.
- Which has the shorter commute to Sunnyvale / Mountain View, Alamo or Menlo Park?
- Menlo Park. Alamo is 62 min by car; Menlo Park is 20 min by Caltrain. Door-to-door, AM peak. Source: data/commute/static.csv.
- What is the price per square foot difference between Alamo and Menlo Park?
- $700 per square foot: Alamo $1,000, Menlo Park $1,700. Single-family medians, trailing twelve months. A median is not a valuation of any specific property.