Midtown, Palo Alto vs Baywood, San Mateo
Midtown, Palo Alto carries an effective property tax rate of 1.17% 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 $9,853 and $9,764 — $89 apart, with Baywood, San Mateo lower. To Sunnyvale / Mountain View at AM peak the fastest published commutes are 18 min by Caltrain from Midtown, Palo Alto and 30 min by Caltrain from Baywood, San Mateo. Every figure is an objective public metric or arithmetic on one, and names its source.
Midtown, Palo Alto (Santa Clara County) · Baywood, San Mateo (San Mateo County)
| Metric | Midtown, Palo Alto | Baywood, San Mateo | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median $/sqft (SFR) | $1,900 | $1,400 | +$500 |
| Effective tax rate | 1.17% | 1.11% | +0.067% |
| Monthly cost, reference loan | $9,853 | $9,764 | +$89 |
| FiDi SF (Montgomery St BART) — Caltrain | 65 min | 45 min | +20 min |
| FiDi SF (Montgomery St BART) — Drive | 65 min | 45 min | +20 min |
| Oakland City Center (12th St BART) — BART | 90 min | 62 min | +28 min |
| Oakland City Center (12th St BART) — Drive | 50 min | 45 min | +5 min |
| Sunnyvale / Mountain View (Sunnyvale Caltrain) — Caltrain | 18 min | 30 min | −12 min |
| Sunnyvale / Mountain View (Sunnyvale Caltrain) — Drive | 18 min | 30 min | −12 min |
Difference is Midtown, Palo Alto minus Baywood, San Mateo. Sources are cited on each submarket page.
Put the two side by side and the gap is square footage, not tax: $1,900 per foot in Palo Alto (Midtown) against $1,400 in San Mateo (Baywood). On the same $1,600,000 purchase the monthly separation is only $89, because Palo Alto (Midtown) bills 1.17% and San Mateo (Baywood) 1.11%.
The house at each price
Midtown's $1.4M tier is attached housing, full stop. $1.4M does not buy detached in Baywood; its 1920s-40s Spanish and Tudor three-bedrooms start at $2.2M. Posted medians are $1,900 per square foot in Palo Alto (Midtown) and $1,400 in San Mateo (Baywood), 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), Palo Alto (Midtown) totals $9,853 a month at 1.17% and San Mateo (Baywood) $9,764 at 1.11% — tax lines of $1,563 and $1,473. No HOA on detached Midtown homes; condos carry $500-$800 a month. No HOA on Baywood's detached homes; downtown townhomes and condos run $400-$800 a month.
Getting to work
To FiDi SF (Montgomery St BART): 65 minutes by Caltrain from Palo Alto (Midtown), 45 by Caltrain from San Mateo (Baywood) — a 20-minute edge to San Mateo (Baywood), or 3.3 hours across a ten-trip week. To Sunnyvale / Mountain View (Sunnyvale Caltrain): 18 minutes by Caltrain from Palo Alto (Midtown), 30 by Caltrain from San Mateo (Baywood) — a 12-minute edge to Palo Alto (Midtown), or 2.0 hours across a ten-trip week. Stanford is 10 minutes from Midtown, Google Mountain View 15, Apple Cupertino 25-35, and the Bryant Street bike boulevard carries a lot of it. Door to door from Baywood to FiDi is 55-65 minutes.
What the disclosure stack holds
Standard fire carriers write Midtown; the Foothill and Palo Alto Hills homes west of 280 are mapped High instead. 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.
Choosing between them
Midtown Palo Alto fits a bike-to-Stanford or bike-to-Caltrain requirement. Baywood assumes either a stretch to $2.2M or the flats east of El Camino at $1.4M. Write the requirement down before the search: these two answer different ones.
Sources. Rate and payment figures: Santa Clara County Tax Rate 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 | Midtown, Palo Alto | Baywood, San Mateo |
|---|---|---|
| Median $/sqft (SFR) | $1,900 | $1,400 |
| Effective tax rate | 1.17% | 1.11% |
| Monthly cost, reference loan | $9,853 | $9,764 |
| Fastest to FiDi SF (Montgomery St BART) | 65 min | 45 min |
| Fastest to Oakland City Center (12th St BART) | 50 min | 45 min |
| Fastest to Sunnyvale / Mountain View (Sunnyvale Caltrain) | 18 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.
Midtown, Palo Alto detail
| Component | Rate of assessed value |
|---|---|
| Prop 13 general levy | 1.000% |
| County / city voter-approved bonds | 0.045% |
| School district measures | 0.127% |
| Effective rate | 1.17% |
| Mello-Roos / CFD | None recorded |
Source: Santa Clara County Tax Rate Book FY 2025-26 (Santa Clara 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.
Midtown, Palo Alto vs Baywood, San Mateo: questions and answers
- Which has the lower effective property tax rate, Midtown, Palo Alto or Baywood, San Mateo?
- Baywood, San Mateo, at 1.11% of assessed value against 1.17% 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 Midtown, Palo Alto and Baywood, San Mateo?
- $89 per month on the identical reference loan: Midtown, Palo Alto $9,853, Baywood, San Mateo $9,764. Baywood, San Mateo 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, Midtown, Palo Alto or Baywood, San Mateo?
- Midtown, Palo Alto. Midtown, Palo Alto is 18 min by Caltrain; 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 Midtown, Palo Alto and Baywood, San Mateo?
- $500 per square foot: Midtown, Palo Alto $1,900, Baywood, San Mateo $1,400. Single-family medians, trailing twelve months. A median is not a valuation of any specific property.