Piedmont vs Baywood, San Mateo
Piedmont carries an effective property tax rate of 1.25% 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 $9,960 and $9,764 — $196 apart, with Baywood, San Mateo lower. To Oakland City Center at AM peak the fastest published commutes are 15 min by car from Piedmont and 45 min by car from Baywood, San Mateo. Every figure is an objective public metric or arithmetic on one, and names its source.
Piedmont (Alameda County) · Baywood, San Mateo (San Mateo County)
| Metric | Piedmont | Baywood, San Mateo | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median $/sqft (SFR) | $1,200 | $1,400 | −$200 |
| Effective tax rate | 1.25% | 1.11% | +0.147% |
| Monthly cost, reference loan | $9,960 | $9,764 | +$196 |
| FiDi SF (Montgomery St BART) — BART | 35 min | 48 min | −13 min |
| FiDi SF (Montgomery St BART) — Drive | 35 min | 45 min | −10 min |
| Oakland City Center (12th St BART) — BART | 20 min | 62 min | −42 min |
| Oakland City Center (12th St BART) — Drive | 15 min | 45 min | −30 min |
| Sunnyvale / Mountain View (Sunnyvale Caltrain) — Drive | 65 min | 30 min | +35 min |
Difference is Piedmont minus Baywood, San Mateo. Sources are cited on each submarket page.
To Sunnyvale / Mountain View (Sunnyvale Caltrain), San Mateo (Baywood) is 35 minutes closer than Piedmont on the fastest posted option each has. Ten trips a week makes that 5.8 hours. The tax side is nearly level at 1.25% and 1.11%.
What the same money buys
Piedmont's entry stock comes with a renovation budget attached. $1.4M does not buy detached in Baywood; its 1920s-40s Spanish and Tudor three-bedrooms start at $2.2M. At $1,200 and $1,400 per foot respectively, a fixed budget buys about 17% more floor area in Piedmont.
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), Piedmont totals $9,960 a month at 1.25% and San Mateo (Baywood) $9,764 at 1.11% — tax lines of $1,669 and $1,473. No Mello-Roos and no HOA in Piedmont; the add-ons are all municipal. No Mello-Roos in Baywood. 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): 65 minutes by driving from Piedmont, 30 by Caltrain from San Mateo (Baywood) — a 35-minute edge to San Mateo (Baywood), or 5.8 hours across a ten-trip week. To Oakland City Center (12th St BART): 15 minutes by driving from Piedmont, 45 by driving from San Mateo (Baywood) — a 30-minute edge to Piedmont, or 5.0 hours across a ten-trip week. I-580 puts Piedmont 20 minutes from the Bay Bridge at 6 a.m. and 40-55 at 8; Kaiser Oakland is 5 minutes. San Mateo Caltrain is a 10-minute walk from lower Baywood.
What the disclosure stack holds
Hayward Fault distance, 1920s foundations and sewer lateral compliance are Piedmont's standing disclosures. 1920s foundations, knob-and-tube and sewer laterals are the Baywood inspection items. 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
Piedmont fits a requirement to be inside Piedmont's municipal boundaries specifically. 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. 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. 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 | Piedmont | Baywood, San Mateo |
|---|---|---|
| Median $/sqft (SFR) | $1,200 | $1,400 |
| Effective tax rate | 1.25% | 1.11% |
| Monthly cost, reference loan | $9,960 | $9,764 |
| Fastest to FiDi SF (Montgomery St BART) | 35 min | 45 min |
| Fastest to Oakland City Center (12th St BART) | 15 min | 45 min |
| Fastest to Sunnyvale / Mountain View (Sunnyvale Caltrain) | 65 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.
Piedmont detail
| Component | Rate of assessed value |
|---|---|
| Prop 13 general levy | 1.000% |
| County / city voter-approved bonds | 0.042% |
| School district measures | 0.210% |
| Effective rate | 1.25% |
| 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.
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.
Piedmont vs Baywood, San Mateo: questions and answers
- Which has the lower effective property tax rate, Piedmont or Baywood, San Mateo?
- Baywood, San Mateo, at 1.11% of assessed value against 1.25% for fiscal year 2025-26 — a gap of 0.140%. Rates are composited from county tax rate books; each parcel bill governs.
- How much do monthly carrying costs differ between Piedmont and Baywood, San Mateo?
- $196 per month on the identical reference loan: Piedmont $9,960, 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 Oakland City Center, Piedmont or Baywood, San Mateo?
- Piedmont. Piedmont is 15 min by car; Baywood, San Mateo is 45 min by car. Door-to-door, AM peak. Source: data/commute/static.csv.
- What is the price per square foot difference between Piedmont and Baywood, San Mateo?
- $200 per square foot: Piedmont $1,200, Baywood, San Mateo $1,400. Single-family medians, trailing twelve months. A median is not a valuation of any specific property.