Menlo Park vs Moraga
Menlo Park carries an effective property tax rate of 1.13% of assessed value and Moraga carries 1.08%, both for fiscal year 2025-26. On one identical reference loan the monthly carrying costs are $9,790 and $9,728 — $63 apart, with Moraga lower. To Sunnyvale / Mountain View at AM peak the fastest published commutes are 20 min by Caltrain from Menlo Park and 70 min by car from Moraga. Every figure is an objective public metric or arithmetic on one, and names its source.
Menlo Park (San Mateo County) · Moraga (Contra Costa County)
| Metric | Menlo Park | Moraga | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median $/sqft (SFR) | $1,700 | $1,000 | +$700 |
| Effective tax rate | 1.13% | 1.08% | +0.047% |
| Monthly cost, reference loan | $9,790 | $9,728 | +$63 |
| FiDi SF (Montgomery St BART) — Drive | 60 min | 50 min | +10 min |
| Oakland City Center (12th St BART) — BART | 85 min | 32 min | +53 min |
| Oakland City Center (12th St BART) — Drive | 50 min | 30 min | +20 min |
| Sunnyvale / Mountain View (Sunnyvale Caltrain) — Drive | 20 min | 70 min | −50 min |
Difference is Menlo Park minus Moraga. Sources are cited on each submarket page.
Moraga is the cheaper foot by $700, 41% below Menlo Park. What that buys is a different house, not a different bill: at $1,600,000 the two are $63 apart a month at 1.13% and 1.08%.
Square footage per dollar
Moraga's discount to Orinda and Lafayette is a commute penalty priced into the square foot. Against that, menlo Park comps run $1,500-$1,800 per square foot in Allied Arts and West Menlo. At $1,700 and $1,000 per foot respectively, a fixed budget buys about 70% more floor area in Moraga.
Carrying $1,600,000 in each
Modelled the same way in both ($1,600,000 purchase, 20% down, 6.5% fixed, $2,400 insurance, dues excluded), Menlo Park totals $9,790 a month at 1.13% and Moraga $9,728 at 1.08% — tax lines of $1,500 and $1,437. Belle Haven sits in Ravenswood City with a smaller levy than the rest of Menlo Park. Moraga School District and Acalanes parcel taxes plus town road and storm-drain measures total $900-$1,300 a year. Neither figure includes dues or a district assessment, and both belong on the worksheet before an offer.
The trip each morning
To Sunnyvale / Mountain View (Sunnyvale Caltrain): 20 minutes by Caltrain from Menlo Park, 70 by driving from Moraga — a 50-minute edge to Menlo Park, or 8.3 hours across a ten-trip week. To Oakland City Center (12th St BART): 50 minutes by driving from Menlo Park, 30 by driving from Moraga — a 20-minute edge to Moraga, or 3.3 hours across a ten-trip week. Palo Alto station, minutes south of Menlo Park, carries the 33-minute express. Saint Mary's College is five minutes from most of Moraga.
What the disclosure stack holds
Flood and sea-level rise east of 101 and in the Willows near San Francisquito Creek are the Menlo Park disclosures. Landslide history on the Rheem and Sanders Ranch slopes appears on the Moraga 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.
Choosing between them
Menlo Park is the answer when the commute has to be under fifteen minutes. Moraga assumes two-step access to BART is acceptable. The decision is which requirement is load-bearing, because neither submarket satisfies both lists.
Sources. Rate and payment figures: San Mateo County Tax Rate Book FY 2025-26; Contra Costa TRA 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. 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 | Menlo Park | Moraga |
|---|---|---|
| Median $/sqft (SFR) | $1,700 | $1,000 |
| Effective tax rate | 1.13% | 1.08% |
| Monthly cost, reference loan | $9,790 | $9,728 |
| Fastest to FiDi SF (Montgomery St BART) | 60 min | 50 min |
| Fastest to Oakland City Center (12th St BART) | 50 min | 30 min |
| Fastest to Sunnyvale / Mountain View (Sunnyvale Caltrain) | 20 min | 70 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.
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.
Moraga detail
| Component | Rate of assessed value |
|---|---|
| Prop 13 general levy | 1.000% |
| County / city voter-approved bonds | 0.012% |
| School district measures | 0.066% |
| Effective rate | 1.08% |
| 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 vs Moraga: questions and answers
- Which has the lower effective property tax rate, Menlo Park or Moraga?
- Moraga, at 1.08% of assessed value against 1.13% for fiscal year 2025-26 — a gap of 0.050%. Rates are composited from county tax rate books; each parcel bill governs.
- How much do monthly carrying costs differ between Menlo Park and Moraga?
- $63 per month on the identical reference loan: Menlo Park $9,790, Moraga $9,728. Moraga 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, Menlo Park or Moraga?
- Menlo Park. Menlo Park is 20 min by Caltrain; Moraga is 70 min by car. Door-to-door, AM peak. Source: data/commute/static.csv.
- What is the price per square foot difference between Menlo Park and Moraga?
- $700 per square foot: Menlo Park $1,700, Moraga $1,000. Single-family medians, trailing twelve months. A median is not a valuation of any specific property.