Migration to and from San Mateo County, California
Where San Mateo County residents came from and where they went over the 5-year window 2016-2020. Census ACS County-to-County Migration Flows, 2020 5-yr (frozen vintage).
Total inflow
54,916
people moved in (5-yr)
Total outflow
51,682
people moved out (5-yr)
Net migration
+3,234
inflow minus outflow
Top 10 counties people moved IN from
| Origin | State / Region | People (5-yr) |
|---|---|---|
| Santa Clara County | California | 8,832 |
| San Francisco County | California | 8,260 |
| Asia | 4,058 | |
| Alameda County | California | 3,174 |
| Los Angeles County | California | 1,993 |
| Contra Costa County | California | 1,645 |
| Europe | 1,493 | |
| San Diego County | California | 1,006 |
| South America | 971 | |
| Sacramento County | California | 660 |
Top 10 counties people moved OUT to
| Destination | State / Region | People (5-yr) |
|---|---|---|
| Alameda County | California | 6,274 |
| Santa Clara County | California | 6,043 |
| San Francisco County | California | 4,278 |
| Contra Costa County | California | 2,765 |
| Los Angeles County | California | 1,803 |
| Solano County | California | 1,447 |
| Sacramento County | California | 1,343 |
| Santa Barbara County | California | 1,224 |
| San Diego County | California | 1,125 |
| San Joaquin County | California | 1,103 |
Explore San Mateo County
- Business data for San Mateo CountyConstruction sector establishments, employment, payroll
- Cities in CaliforniaACS demographic profiles for places statewide
- ZIP code lookupSearch demographic data by ZIP code
- Opportunity IndexRank counties by business growth potential
- Federal contracts in CAGovBids: RFPs, awards, NAICS matching
- New business filings in CaliforniaNewFilings: fresh SOS registrations
Methodology
- Counts represent the number of people aged 1+ who reported a different residence at the survey reference date than they did one year earlier, aggregated across the 5-year sample window 2016-2020.
- Outbound (OUT) flows are reported less frequently than inbound (IN) because the survey captures the destination side of each move. Many county pairs have null OUT counts, which is normal.
- "Total inflow" sums the published MOVEDIN counts across all origin counties, including foreign-region inflows (Africa, Asia, Central America, etc.). It is not the same as net population change.
- Frozen vintage. The Census Bureau has not released a newer county-to-county migration flows file. The 2020 5-yr vintage (covering 2016-2020) is the latest available as of build date.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, County-to-County Migration Flows: 2016-2020. Vintage: 2020 5-yr. Generated: 2026-05-28. FIPS: 06081.