Mission San Jose, Fremont vs Menlo Park
Mission San Jose, Fremont carries an effective property tax rate of 1.15% 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 $9,817 and $9,790 — $27 apart, with Menlo Park lower. To Sunnyvale / Mountain View at AM peak the fastest published commutes are 35 min by car from Mission San Jose, Fremont and 20 min by Caltrain from Menlo Park. Every figure is an objective public metric or arithmetic on one, and names its source.
Mission San Jose, Fremont (Alameda County) · Menlo Park (San Mateo County)
| Metric | Mission San Jose, Fremont | Menlo Park | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median $/sqft (SFR) | $1,050 | $1,700 | −$650 |
| Effective tax rate | 1.15% | 1.13% | +0.020% |
| Monthly cost, reference loan | $9,817 | $9,790 | +$27 |
| FiDi SF (Montgomery St BART) — Drive | 65 min | 60 min | +5 min |
| Oakland City Center (12th St BART) — BART | 45 min | 85 min | −40 min |
| Oakland City Center (12th St BART) — Drive | 45 min | 50 min | −5 min |
| Sunnyvale / Mountain View (Sunnyvale Caltrain) — Drive | 35 min | 20 min | +15 min |
Difference is Mission San Jose, Fremont minus Menlo Park. Sources are cited on each submarket page.
Put the two side by side and the gap is square footage, not tax: $1,050 per foot in Fremont (Mission San Jose) against $1,700 in Menlo Park. On the same $1,600,000 purchase the monthly separation is only $27, because Fremont (Mission San Jose) bills 1.15% and Menlo Park 1.13%.
The house at each price
Mission San Jose prices location over finish, and the $1.4M inventory shows it. Three-bedrooms west of El Camino in Menlo Park start at $2.8M. The median foot costs $1,050 in Fremont (Mission San Jose) against $1,700 in Menlo Park; on a 2,000 sq ft house that is $1,300,000 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, Fremont (Mission San Jose) totals $9,817 a month at 1.15% and Menlo Park $9,790 at 1.13% — tax lines of $1,527 and $1,500. Mission San Jose HOAs exist only in the Mission Boulevard townhome complexes at $300-$500 a month. Menlo Park City School District parcel taxes run roughly $1,000-$1,200 a year.
Commute, measured
To Sunnyvale / Mountain View (Sunnyvale Caltrain): 35 minutes by driving from Fremont (Mission San Jose), 20 by Caltrain from Menlo Park — a 15-minute edge to Menlo Park, or 2.5 hours across a ten-trip week. From Mission San Jose, Tesla Fremont is 10 minutes, Santa Clara 25-40 and Cupertino 35-50. Driving 101 from Menlo Park to SoMa is 35 minutes at 6 a.m. and 65-80 at 8.
Fire, flood and the premium
The hillside lots east of Mission Boulevard and along Vargas Road are mapped High fire hazard. The Menlo Park flats are not WUI. 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.
The housing need each answers
Mission San Jose works for a buyer who wants a detached house east of the Dumbarton. Menlo Park works for a buyer trading square footage for proximity.
Sources. Tax figures come from Alameda County Tax Rates by TRA 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 | Mission San Jose, Fremont | Menlo Park |
|---|---|---|
| Median $/sqft (SFR) | $1,050 | $1,700 |
| Effective tax rate | 1.15% | 1.13% |
| Monthly cost, reference loan | $9,817 | $9,790 |
| Fastest to FiDi SF (Montgomery St BART) | 65 min | 60 min |
| Fastest to Oakland City Center (12th St BART) | 45 min | 50 min |
| Fastest to Sunnyvale / Mountain View (Sunnyvale Caltrain) | 35 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.
Mission San Jose, Fremont detail
| Component | Rate of assessed value |
|---|---|
| Prop 13 general levy | 1.000% |
| County / city voter-approved bonds | 0.042% |
| School district measures | 0.103% |
| Effective rate | 1.15% |
| Mello-Roos / CFD | None recorded |
Source: Alameda County Tax Rates by TRA FY 2025-26 (Alameda 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.
Mission San Jose, Fremont vs Menlo Park: questions and answers
- Which has the lower effective property tax rate, Mission San Jose, Fremont or Menlo Park?
- Menlo Park, at 1.13% of assessed value against 1.15% for fiscal year 2025-26 — a gap of 0.020%. Rates are composited from county tax rate books; each parcel bill governs.
- How much do monthly carrying costs differ between Mission San Jose, Fremont and Menlo Park?
- $27 per month on the identical reference loan: Mission San Jose, Fremont $9,817, Menlo Park $9,790. Menlo Park 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, Mission San Jose, Fremont or Menlo Park?
- Menlo Park. Mission San Jose, Fremont is 35 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 Mission San Jose, Fremont and Menlo Park?
- $650 per square foot: Mission San Jose, Fremont $1,050, Menlo Park $1,700. Single-family medians, trailing twelve months. A median is not a valuation of any specific property.