Welcome to San Rafael ...
The coastal city of San Rafael is located in Marin County<1> and is the County Seat for Marin County.
From the Census Estimates for 2019, San Rafael has a population of 59,066 people<2> (see below for details).
While we don't have a date for the establishment of San Rafael, you might get a feel for its founding by knowing that they incorporated February 18, 1874.
San Rafael is 160 feet [49 m] above sea level.<3>.
Time Zone: San Rafael lies in the Pacific Time Zone (PST/PDT) and observes daylight saving time
San Rafael is within the boundaries of the (415) area code.
The ZIP codes for San Rafael: 94901, 94903, 94912-94913, 94915<4>
Websites for San Rafael ...
Official Website: www.cityofsanrafael.org/
Population Details ...
Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, San Rafael had an population of 59,066 people. This is an increase of 2.34% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 5.36% since the 2000 Census).
At the time of the 2010 Census, San Rafael had a population of 57,713 people (which is 22.86% of the total population of Marin County). This makes San Rafael the county's most populous community.
The population of San Rafael represents 0.15% of the total population of California (which has 37,253,956 people), making it the state's 147th most populous community.
With a 2010 count of 57,713 people, the population of San Rafael increased 2.94% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 56,063 people).
More information can be found on the Census Page for San Rafael.
Communities Also Named San Rafael ...
Using our Gazetteer, we have found that there are 4 communities that are also named San Rafael - they are located in Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico (2).
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for San Rafael.
Communities near San Rafael ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near San Rafael.
- San Francisco [San Francisco County]
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Francisco
- San Francisco [San Francisco County] lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<5> to the southeast of San Rafael
- Population from the 2020 Census: 866,606 people
- Jump to Google Maps centered on San Francisco
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for San Francisco<6>
- Oakland [Alameda County]
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakland
- Oakland [Alameda County] lies 18 miles [29 km]<5> to the southeast of San Rafael
- Population from the 2020 Census: 424,891 people
- Jump to Google Maps centered on Oakland
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oakland<6>
- Berkeley [Alameda County]
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berkeley
- Berkeley [Alameda County] lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<5> to the southeast of San Rafael
- Population from the 2020 Census: 122,726 people
- Jump to Google Maps centered on Berkeley
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Berkeley<6>
- Vallejo [Solano County]
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vallejo
- Vallejo [Solano County] lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<5> to the northeast of San Rafael
- Population from the 2020 Census: 120,747 people
- Jump to Google Maps centered on Vallejo
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vallejo<6>
- Continue List (6 more) ...
- Richmond [Contra Costa County]
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richmond
- Richmond [Contra Costa County] lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<5> to the east of San Rafael
- Population from the 2020 Census: 110,038 people
- Jump to Google Maps centered on Richmond
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Richmond<6>
- Daly City [San Mateo County]
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daly City
- Daly City [San Mateo County] lies 19 miles [30.6 km]<5> to the south of San Rafael
- Population from the 2020 Census: 105,868 people
- Jump to Google Maps centered on Daly City
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Daly City<6>
- Petaluma [Sonoma County]
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petaluma
- Petaluma [Sonoma County] lies 19 miles [30.6 km]<5> to the north of San Rafael
- Population from the 2020 Census: 60,632 people
- Jump to Google Maps centered on Petaluma
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Petaluma<6>
- Novato [Marin County]
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Novato
- Novato [Marin County] lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<5> to the north of San Rafael
- Population from the 2020 Census: 53,351 people
- Jump to Google Maps centered on Novato
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Novato<6>
- San Pablo [Contra Costa County]
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Pablo
- San Pablo [Contra Costa County] lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<5> to the east of San Rafael
- Population from the 2020 Census: 30,779 people
- Jump to Google Maps centered on San Pablo
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for San Pablo<6>
- Hercules [Contra Costa County]
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hercules
- Hercules [Contra Costa County] lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<5> to the east of San Rafael
- Population from the 2020 Census: 26,221 people
- Jump to Google Maps centered on Hercules
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hercules<6>
- Richmond [Contra Costa County]
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 Rafael. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for San Rafael.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of San Rafael. 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 Rafael.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around San Rafael. Our list includes 25 papers. See our Newspapers Page for San Rafael.
TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for San Rafael ...
Looking for more information about San Rafael? 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 Rafael, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for San Rafael.
Adding San Rafael to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of San Rafael in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.
In addition, our notes show that the earliest dated mention that we've found for San Rafael was in the Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).
We also found San Rafael on a map titled Map of the Lincoln Highway (1924).
For more details about the above, see References and Mentions for San Rafael on our Genealogy Page.
Other Roadside Stops ...
Visit our Community Index for California
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for San Rafael: www.cityofsanrafael.org/
The official website for Marin County: www.co.marin.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 Marin, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for San Rafael. |
| <3> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around San Rafael - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <4> | 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 Rafael). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether San Rafael or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS). Our list of ZIP Codes for San Rafael includes: 94901, 94903, 94912 & 94913. |
| <5> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- San Rafael) to Point B.If you need the driving distance (or directions), we recommend that you use one of the Mapping Services listed on our Map Page for San Rafael. Since we usually use Google Maps, we've provided the following link for your convenience: Google Map and Driving Directions starting from San RafaelOur distance measurements begin at a specific point in San Rafael. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.9732, Longitude: -122.5282 |
| <6> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |