# San Mateo, California — #2,807 of 3,144 counties

> Liberty Moving composite score 4.99 of 10. FIPS 06081. Population 726,353. v4 — beta, 30 October 2026, sourced values.

About 726,400 people live in San Mateo, California. It ranks #2,807 of 3,144 counties for liberty, and #13 of 58 in California. The combined sales tax is 9.37%, higher than in 96% of counties. Property tax takes about 0.63% of a home's value each year, less than in 62% of counties. Local government employs a smaller share of working residents than in 72% of counties. The homicide rate is lower than in 55% of counties. Life expectancy is at least 80 years, longer than in 91% of counties. Air quality is better than in 92% of counties (a typical day's air quality index is 29), and flood and hurricane risk is higher than in 97% of counties. On this site's state scores, California gets 4.79 of 10 for economic freedom, based on the Fraser Institute's ranking, and 1 of 10 for gun rights.

## Scores

| Factor | Level | Score (0–10) | Flag |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fraser Institute state ranking | state | 4.79 |  |
| 2A | state | 1.00 |  |
| Air quality | county | 7.10 |  |
| GOP + LP vote for President | county | 2.37 |  |
| Homicide rate | county | 8.79 |  |
| Sales tax | county | 1.48 |  |
| Property tax | county | 6.85 |  |
| Floods / hurricanes | county | 0.16 |  |
| Life expectancy | county | 10.00 |  |
| Government employees | county | 7.22 |  |
| Single-parent households | county | 8.14 |  |

"est" marks a derived or placeholder value with no published county figure.

## Neighbors

- #2876 Santa Clara, California — https://libertymoving.org/counties/06085.md
- #2945 San Francisco, California — https://libertymoving.org/counties/06075.md
- #2975 Santa Cruz, California — https://libertymoving.org/counties/06087.md

## Links

- Page: https://libertymoving.org/counties/06081
- Compare: https://libertymoving.org/compare?a=06081
- Methodology: https://libertymoving.org/methodology
- Sources and terms: https://libertymoving.org/privacy