Living in Foster City, CA
Suburb in California
Foster City is a suburb in California, home to about 33,000 people, with 4.9 million living within 31 mi. Day to day, you can walk or take transit almost everywhere. Life moves at a very fast pace, and homes are mostly apartments.
Is Foster City a good place to live? Pros and cons
👍 Pros
- Strong healthcare: 19 top-rated (4–5★) hospitals within 31 mi
- Easy flying: SFO is 8 mi away
- Highly educated: 74% of adults have a bachelor's degree or higher, and 4 research universities are within 31 mi
- Safe: violent crime is 0.3× the US rate (FBI 2019)
👎 Cons
- Pricey housing: a typical 3-bedroom home is about $1.76M, and rent is $4,600 a month
- Few dog parks: 17 within 9 mi
Whether it's a good place for you depends on what you value. Take the quiz to see how Foster City ranks against your own priorities.
Key facts
Living in Foster City: common questions
What is the cost of living in Foster City?
A typical 3-bedroom home is worth about $1.76M, and a 3-bedroom rents for about $4,600 a month including utilities. Overall living costs are above the US average (index 110, where the US is 100).
What are taxes like in Foster City?
California collects about $3,279 in state income tax per resident, and homeowners here pay about 0.56% of their home's value in property tax each year.
Is Foster City safe?
Violent crime is well below the national rate (0.3× in FBI 2019 data).
How are the schools in Foster City?
Public schools in Foster City test well above the US average in math and reading (2018–19 state tests, put on one national scale with NAEP), with about 25 students per teacher.
What is the weather like in Foster City?
Foster City has mild winters: winter days average around 60°F and summer days around 80°F.
Does Foster City get natural disasters?
Natural disaster risk is moderate, mainly from flooding and earthquakes: 7 federally declared disasters have hit the county since 2000, and FEMA expects about 0.77 deaths or injuries per 100,000 residents a year.
What is the nearest major airport to Foster City?
The nearest major airport is SFO, about 8 mi away.
How Foster City scores
Each bar compares Foster City with the other 1,990 places in Best Life Fit Me. A dot shows where it sits between two ends, such as major metro and small town; neither end is better. Coloured bars run from poor (red) to excellent (green).
Places like Foster City
These places have the most similar overall profile across all 24 aspects.
The circle is each place's all-round score out of 100: the average of its 15 quality scores, from red (poor) to green (excellent).
Nearby
See all the best places to live in California.
Is Foster City right for you?
Answer 27 quick questions and see how it ranks against your priorities.