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The Commemorative
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The Commemorative Quarter for California





Welcome to San Mateo ...

The city of San Mateo is located in San Mateo County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of San Mateo, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1857.

The city was incorporated September 4, 1894.

When the people of San Mateo refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use San Matean<2>

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, San Mateo has a population of 103,463 people<3> (see below for details).

San Mateo is near sea level<4>.

Time Zone: San Mateo lies in the Pacific Time Zone (PST/PDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Code for San Mateo: 650

The ZIP codes for San Mateo: 94401-94409, 94497<5>

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, San Mateo had an population of 103,463 people. This is an increase of 6.44% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 11.87% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, San Mateo had a population of 97,207 people (or 13.51% of the total population of San Mateo County). This makes San Mateo the county's 2nd most populous community.

The population of San Mateo represents 0.26% of the population of California (which has 37,253,956 people), making it the state's 70th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 97,207 people, the population of San Mateo increased 5.11% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 92,482 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for San Mateo.

Communities Also Named San Mateo ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 5 communities that are also named San Mateo - they are located in Florida (2), New Mexico (2) and South Carolina.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for San Mateo.

Websites for San Mateo ...

Official Website: www.cityofsanmateo.org/

Communities near San Mateo ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near San Mateo.

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around San Mateo. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for San Mateo.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of San Mateo. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around San Mateo.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around San Mateo. Our list includes 24 papers. See our Newspapers Page for San Mateo.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for San Mateo ...

Looking for more information about San Mateo? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for San Mateo, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for San Mateo.

Adding San Mateo to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of San Mateo in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for San Mateo was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<7>

X2X - From that list, the San Mateo post office opened in 1857.

We also found San Mateo in the book titled List of Post Offices in the United States (1870).

For more details, see References and Mentions for San Mateo.

The official website for San Mateo: www.cityofsanmateo.org/

The official website for San Mateo County: www.co.sanmateo.ca.us/

The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of California's counties, including San Mateo, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of San Mateo refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a city's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of San Mateo may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different.
<3>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for San Mateo.
<4>The elevation is an estimate for the area around San Mateo - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<5>ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a city (such as San Mateo). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether San Mateo or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).

Our list of ZIP Codes for San Mateo includes: 94401, 94402, 94403, 94404, 94405, 94406, 94407, 94408 & 94409.
<6>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<7>A copy of their list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025