Benicia vs Baywood, San Mateo
Benicia carries an effective property tax rate of 1.10% of assessed value and Baywood, San Mateo carries 1.11%, both for fiscal year 2025-26. On one identical reference loan the monthly carrying costs are $9,750 and $9,764 — $13 apart, with Benicia lower. To Sunnyvale / Mountain View at AM peak the fastest published commutes are 85 min by car from Benicia and 30 min by Caltrain from Baywood, San Mateo. Every figure is an objective public metric or arithmetic on one, and names its source.
Benicia (Solano County) · Baywood, San Mateo (San Mateo County)
| Metric | Benicia | Baywood, San Mateo | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median $/sqft (SFR) | $480 | $1,400 | −$920 |
| Effective tax rate | 1.10% | 1.11% | −0.010% |
| Monthly cost, reference loan | $9,750 | $9,764 | −$13 |
| FiDi SF (Montgomery St BART) — BART | 70 min | 48 min | +22 min |
| FiDi SF (Montgomery St BART) — Drive | 60 min | 45 min | +15 min |
| Oakland City Center (12th St BART) — BART | 55 min | 62 min | −7 min |
| Oakland City Center (12th St BART) — Drive | 45 min | 45 min | 0 min |
| Sunnyvale / Mountain View (Sunnyvale Caltrain) — Drive | 85 min | 30 min | +55 min |
Difference is Benicia minus Baywood, San Mateo. Sources are cited on each submarket page.
Benicia is the cheaper foot by $920, 66% below San Mateo (Baywood). What that buys is a different house, not a different bill: at $1,600,000 the two are $13 apart a month at 1.10% and 1.11%.
Square footage per dollar
Restored Victorians on First Street are Benicia's other $1.4M option. $1.4M does not buy detached in Baywood; its 1920s-40s Spanish and Tudor three-bedrooms start at $2.2M. The median foot costs $480 in Benicia against $1,400 in San Mateo (Baywood); on a 2,000 sq ft house that is $1,840,000 of purchase price.
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, Benicia totals $9,750 a month at 1.10% and San Mateo (Baywood) $9,764 at 1.11% — tax lines of $1,460 and $1,473. A Benicia tax bill should still be read for the residual assessment districts. Baywood's carrying cost is ad valorem plus two modest parcel taxes and nothing else.
Commute, measured
To Sunnyvale / Mountain View (Sunnyvale Caltrain): 85 minutes by driving from Benicia, 30 by Caltrain from San Mateo (Baywood) — a 55-minute edge to San Mateo (Baywood), or 9.2 hours across a ten-trip week. To FiDi SF (Montgomery St BART): 60 minutes by driving from Benicia, 45 by Caltrain from San Mateo (Baywood) — a 15-minute edge to San Mateo (Baywood), or 2.5 hours across a ten-trip week. The Benicia Bridge toll is $7 southbound, and Concord, Martinez and Fairfield work sites are 20-25 minutes out. Baby Bullets stop at Hillsdale, 5 minutes from Baywood, for a 30-minute ride to 4th and King.
Fire, flood and the premium
Refinery proximity and the Valero air-quality history are Benicia's flat-land disclosures. Baywood is not WUI. Verify any parcel against the CAL FIRE Fire Hazard Severity Zone map, the FEMA Flood Map Service Center and the California Geological Survey seismic hazard zones before removing contingencies.
Which search this actually is
Benicia fits a square-footage-and-view requirement under $1M. Baywood assumes either a stretch to $2.2M or the flats east of El Camino at $1.4M. Rank the requirements first; the pair rarely splits on anything except the one that is non-negotiable.
Sources. Tax figures come from Solano County Tax Rate 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. Median price per foot is a trailing figure, not a valuation, and the local detail comes from the broker's own transactions.
Compare any two submarkets
| Metric | Benicia | Baywood, San Mateo |
|---|---|---|
| Median $/sqft (SFR) | $480 | $1,400 |
| Effective tax rate | 1.10% | 1.11% |
| Monthly cost, reference loan | $9,750 | $9,764 |
| Fastest to FiDi SF (Montgomery St BART) | 60 min | 45 min |
| Fastest to Oakland City Center (12th St BART) | 45 min | 45 min |
| Fastest to Sunnyvale / Mountain View (Sunnyvale Caltrain) | 85 min | 30 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.
Benicia detail
| Component | Rate of assessed value |
|---|---|
| Prop 13 general levy | 1.000% |
| County / city voter-approved bonds | 0.010% |
| School district measures | 0.085% |
| Effective rate | 1.09% |
| Mello-Roos / CFD | None recorded |
Source: Solano County Tax Rate Book FY 2025-26 (Solano 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.
Baywood, San Mateo detail
| Component | Rate of assessed value |
|---|---|
| Prop 13 general levy | 1.000% |
| County / city voter-approved bonds | 0.010% |
| School district measures | 0.095% |
| Effective rate | 1.10% |
| 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.
Benicia vs Baywood, San Mateo: questions and answers
- Which has the lower effective property tax rate, Benicia or Baywood, San Mateo?
- Benicia, at 1.10% of assessed value against 1.11% for fiscal year 2025-26 — a gap of 0.010%. Rates are composited from county tax rate books; each parcel bill governs.
- How much do monthly carrying costs differ between Benicia and Baywood, San Mateo?
- $13 per month on the identical reference loan: Benicia $9,750, Baywood, San Mateo $9,764. Benicia 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, Benicia or Baywood, San Mateo?
- Baywood, San Mateo. Benicia is 85 min by car; Baywood, San Mateo is 30 min by Caltrain. Door-to-door, AM peak. Source: data/commute/static.csv.
- What is the price per square foot difference between Benicia and Baywood, San Mateo?
- $920 per square foot: Benicia $480, Baywood, San Mateo $1,400. Single-family medians, trailing twelve months. A median is not a valuation of any specific property.