Millbrae is a city in northern San Mateo County, California, United States. To the northeast is San Francisco International Airport; San Bruno is to the northwest, and Burlingame is to the southeast. It is bordered by San Andreas Lake to the southwest. The population was 23,216 at the 2020 census. Millbrae has Sister City relationships with La Serena, Chile and Mosta, Malta, as well as a friendship city agreement with Hanyu, Japan, Taishan, China, Ramallah, Palestine, and Dongguan, China.
History
The oral tradition of the Ohlone people suggests they have been living in the Bay Area for thousands of years. Anthropological evidence suggests Ohlone ethnogenesis occurred around 700 CE following a wave of migration from the Central Valley. The local Ohlone people are today called the Ramaytush Ohlone; however, this name is a linguistic designation that arose relatively recently. Prior to colonization, the Ohlone did not operate as a single consolidated unit; they identified more with their local tribe and village than with the nation at large. The several local tribes that lived in the area prior to colonization coalesced into the modern Ramaytush people following the precipitous decline of their population in the 1800s. The closest villages to what is now Millbrae were located by the banks of San Bruno Creek, and they are known as Urebure and Siplichiquin. A third nearby village—whose original name is unknown—is called CA-SMA-299.
1500s
Anthropological evidence and oral tradition indicate the Ohlone people were living in the Bay Area prior to the 1500s.
1600s
In 1601, New Spain tasked Sebastián Vizcaíno with mapping the California coastline in detail and locating safe harbors in Alta California for Manila Galleons to use on their return voyage to Acapulco from Manila. In 1602, members of Vizcaíno's expedition explored as far north as Coos Bay, however like previous expeditions, they missed the Golden Gate. In 1603, this expedition landed in Monterey Bay, about 50 miles southeast of Millbrae, leading to the first documented interaction between the Ohlone people and European explorers. Little came of this expedition, and for the next 150 years, Alta California remained a distant frontier land, largely outside of the kingdom's control, despite its claims. Anthropological evidence and oral tradition indicate the Ohlone people were living in the Bay Area throughout this time. Following this proclamation, the Indigenous people within the military districts of San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Monterey who were found qualified were freed from missionary rule and made eligible to become Mexican citizens. In 1827, Echeandía granted permission for sub-lieutenant José Antonio Sánchez to occupy Mission San Francisco's Rancho Buri Buri—which included parts of present-day Millbrae and Burlingame—for “grazing and agricultural purposes."
The Mexican Secularization Act of 1833 opened the lands of nearby Mission Dolores to civilian settlement, and the small town of Yerba Buena, which later changed its name to San Francisco, was established that year. Settlement was slow however; in 1847 San Francisco was said to have only 459 residents. Few people lived in what is now Millbrae at this time, likely only a few Californio families. California came under American rule in 1848 following the Mexican–American War, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and the Mexican Cession and California became the 31st state in of the United States in 1850. The discovery of gold relatively nearby in 1848 led to massive population growth, with San Francisco's population growing 5446% in just a few years, from 459 residents in 1847 to 25,000 in 1850. San Francisco County was one of the state's 18 original counties established at California statehood in 1850, however in 1856, the California state government divided the county. A straight line was then drawn across the tip of the San Francisco Peninsula just north of San Bruno Mountain, and everything south of the line became the new San Mateo County while everything north of the line became the new consolidated City and County of San Francisco.
In the 1860s, Darius Ogden Mills purchased a portion of Rancho Buri Buri from José de la Cruz Sánchez to build a country estate. The San Francisco and San Jose Railroad, predecessor to Caltrain, began operations in 1863, directly connecting Millbrae and other peninsula towns to Market Street, with service extending to San Jose in 1864. In 1872, members of the Sánchez family built the original Sixteen Mile House, a historical restaurant and rest stop near the Mills estate, and direct link to Millbrae's early days. The Mills estate was bordered by what is now Skyline Boulevard, U.S. Route 101 (the Bayshore Freeway), Millbrae Avenue and Trousdale Drive. The estate became known as "Millbrae" from "Mills" and the Scottish word "brae," which means "rolling hills" or "hill slope." Millbrae grew slowly during the 19th century; according to the 1890 US Census, the town had only 243 residents.
1900s
The early 20th century saw rapid growth in Millbrae's population, which increased 3692% from 243 in 1890 to 8,972 in 1950. and in 1919, Skyline Boulevard, which runs along Millbrae's western boundary, was established as LRN 55, connecting San Francisco and Santa Cruz via the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Construction on the Bayshore Freeway, which runs parallel to El Camino and the SF&SJ railroad tracks, began in 1924 and by 1929, it connected Millbrae with the East Bay via the newly completed San Mateo-Hayward Bridge. Southern Pacific double tracked the SF&SJ railroad in 1904 and by the 1940s, 26 trains ran between SF and SJ per day, with headways as low as 5 minutes (traveling north) in the mornings and 3 minutes (traveling south) in the evening. Additionally, until 1948, Muni's #40 "interurban" streetcar traveled through Millbrae, providing passenger rail service between San Francisco and San Mateo.
Millbrae's Green Hills Country Club was built in 1929 and designed by famed golf course architect Dr. Alister MacKenzie, who also designed other noteworthy courses such as Augusta National, Cypress Point, Royal Melbourne, and Pasatiempo. The course was originally known as the Union League Golf Club of San Francisco (1930 to 1933) and Millbrae Country Club (1933 to 1945). The course provides a green belt in the center of the city that is the home of many animals, such as the red-tail fox, that otherwise would not be able to survive in the urban setting. It also may be the only area of the city where natural creeks still flow above ground.
In 1931, citizens organized a volunteer fire department, which remained entirely volunteer until 1938. The police and fire departments were housed together for several years at Hillcrest Boulevard and El Camino Real before the vital services moved to their permanent location in Millbrae's civic center, a few blocks west of El Camino. Millbrae used a private patrol financed by fees from merchants and residents until 1941, when the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors created the Millbrae Police District. Records of the Internal Revenue Service document the licensing of several Millbrae bars for gambling; only after incorporation were gambling laws enforced in Millbrae and not until the 1950s was gambling defeated.
In the 1940s, a hilltop was shaved away to produce landfill for the expanding San Francisco Airport, which received an "international" designation in 1954 with the completion of the Central Terminal. Spurred largely by the desire to secure the Mills estate for residential use and by the efforts of Millbrae's weekly newspaper, the Millbrae Sun, residents heatedly discussed incorporation for over a decade before voting to incorporate. Finally, on January 14, 1948, residents of Millbrae traveled to Sacramento to present their new city's charter. W.F. Leutenegger was elected mayor to represent Millbrae's nearly 8,000 residents. That year, Green Hills Elementary School opened as Millbrae's first new school in over 25 years, in anticipation of the educational needs of the post-war "baby boom" children. The new city's chief industries were agriculture, floriculture, dairy, and porcelain manufacturing.
In the 1950s, Millbrae residents united to resist efforts to divide the city by the planned Junipero Serra Freeway (I-280), which was later routed parallel to Junipero Serra Boulevard, then through a canyon in San Bruno up to Skyline Boulevard. The streetcar line that connected Millbrae with San Francisco and San Mateo was dismantled just after Millbrae's incorporation in 1948, leaving the Southern Pacific Railroad as the only railway linking Millbrae with surrounding areas. Millbrae's high school students rode the streetcar to attend Burlingame High School until Capuchino High School opened on September 11, 1950. The original Sixteen Mile House was located where Millbrae O'Reilly Auto Parts stands today, at the intersection of El Camino Real and Center Street. The Millbrae estate mansion burned down in June 1954. After the fire the estate was subdivided and sold, with the bulk of the land going to the Paul W. Trousdale Construction Company in 1953 and eventually becoming the location for Mills High School, Spring Valley Elementary School, and Peninsula Hospital.
An unsuccessful effort to save the original Sixteen Mile House in the 1970s led to the birth of the Millbrae Historical Society and eventual successful crusades to save the Millbrae train station and the historic building that has become the Millbrae Historical Museum. Such challenges, though inevitable, have only strengthened Millbrae's resolve to preserve the city's unique character and rich history.
Millbrae's population skyrocketed for decades, increasing 10728% from 195 residents in 1880 to just shy of 21,000 in 1970, however the population decreased 4.1% between 1970 and 1980, and Millbrae would not reach its 1970 peak again until after the 2000 census. in 2007, a lot near Millbrae station with surface parking and a large single story retail building was redeveloped into the condo buildings at 88 S. Broadway, in 2010 a large surface parking lot with two small retail buildings across El Camino Real from Millbrae station was redeveloped as the Belamor Condo Buildings. and in 2023, three large surface parking lots adjacent to Millbrae station were redeveloped as the Gateway at Millbrae, which maintained some surface parking, and created a new hotel, a new office building, and two new apartment buildings—one of which features ground-floor retail space. Several chains including Chick-fil-A, Panda Express, Crumbl Cookies, and Starbucks have signed leases to move into the new retail space at the Gateway.
Transportation continues to be a large driver of Millbrae's growth; SFO has become one of the busiest airports in the world, Junipero Serra Freeway, El Camino Real, and the Bayshore Freeway remain major thoroughfares between San Francisco and San Jose, and since 2003 Millbrae station has been the only station served by both BART and Caltrain. Millbrae station is also the only planned California High-Speed Rail stop between San Francisco and San José. In 2023, SamTrans announced that it would move its headquarters from San Carlos to the new office building at the Gateway at Millbrae, and in 2024, Caltrain, whose headquarters was in the same San Carlos building as SamTrans, announced that they would join SamTrans in relocating to the new office building at the Gateway. Millbrae nevertheless largely remains a bedroom community whose residents commute to jobs in various industries throughout the Bay Area.
In addition to the increasing awareness that came with becoming a BART terminus in the early 2000s, the city gained notoriety in the early 2020s following spats with the California High-Speed Rail Authority and the San Mateo County government, as well as a possible hate crime targeting then councilmember Anders Fung.
Geography
Millbrae has a total area of , of which is land and , comprising 0.72%, is water.
|date=October 2017
Environmental features
A wetland area in the eastern part of the city which is adjacent to U.S. Highway 101 is habitat to the endangered San Francisco garter snake, a species endemic to San Mateo County. At the western edge of the city, the San Andreas Lake and the San Andreas Fault may be found.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Millbrae had a population of 23,216. The population density was .
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census
The median household income in 2023 was $157,567, and the per capita income was $76,277. About 3.4% of families and 6.1% of the population were below the poverty line.
2010 census
At the 2010 census Millbrae had a population of 21,532. The population density was . The racial makeup of Millbrae was 10,177 (47.3%) White, 179 (0.8%) African American, 33 (0.2%) Native American, 9,205 (42.8%) Asian, 214 (1.0%) Pacific Islander, 776 (3.6%) from other races, and 948 (4.4%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2,555 persons (11.9%).
The census reported that 21,217 people (98.5% of the population) lived in households, 58 (0.3%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 257 (1.2%) were institutionalized.
There were 7,994 households, 2,593 (32.4%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 4,543 (56.8%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 868 (10.9%) had a female householder with no husband present, 315 (3.9%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 268 (3.4%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 40 (0.5%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 1,883 households (23.6%) were one person and 1,059 (13.2%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.65. There were 5,726 families (71.6% of households); the average family size was 3.15.
The age distribution was 4,337 people (20.1%) under the age of 18, 1,523 people (7.1%) aged 18 to 24, 4,960 people (23.0%) aged 25 to 44, 6,476 people (30.1%) aged 45 to 64, and 4,236 people (19.7%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 44.8 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.7 males.
There were 8,372 housing units at an average density of 2,569.5 per square mile, of the occupied units 5,076 (63.5%) were owner-occupied and 2,918 (36.5%) were rented. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.7%; the rental vacancy rate was 4.8%. 13,968 people (64.9% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 7,249 people (33.7%) lived in rental housing units.
Government
In the California State Legislature, Millbrae is in , and in .
In the United States House of Representatives, Millbrae is in .
thumb|Millbrae City Hall flying (top to bottom) [[United States, California, & LGBTQ+ flags.]]
According to the California Secretary of State, as of February 10, 2019, Millbrae has 12,850 registered voters. Of those, 5,733 (44.6%) are registered Democrats, 2,049 (16%) are registered Republicans, and 4,584 (35.7%) have declined to state a political party.
Millbrae has 5 city council members, one of which is the mayor, and another the vice mayor. City council members serve 4 year terms; the mayor and vice mayor are elected by the council and serve 1 year terms. Prior to 2022, residents of the city voted for city council members at-large, however in 2022 Millbrae switched from at-large to district city council elections.
The city has generally allowed each city council member to serve as mayor and vice mayor, and the city council has generally chosen for the vice mayor to succeed the mayor, however a council member other than the vice mayor has been chosen as mayor several times since 2015. In 2023, the city council initiated plans to codify its procedure for mayoral succession, following the contentious mayoral elections of 2022 and 2023 which saw Gina Papan, sister of aforementioned Diane Papan, be skipped in line for mayoral succession.
Education
Millbrae has a reputation for having good schools in the San Francisco Bay Area and in the state of California, despite enduring years of state budget cuts. Millbrae School District (MSD) oversees four public elementary schools including Meadows, Green Hills, Lomita Park, and Spring Valley and one middle school, Taylor Middle School. MSD is state-funded and does not receive local property taxes, and has endured budget cuts from the state since 2007. Millbrae has one public high school, Mills High School, which is part of the San Mateo Union High School District.
The city is served by the Millbrae Public Library of the San Mateo County Libraries, a member of the Peninsula Library System.
Millbrae has one private school at Saint Dunstan's, a Catholic church.
Police and fire
On March 4, 2012, the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office took over responsibility for providing police services in Millbrae and closed the local police department.
On December 29, 2014, the City of Millbrae combined services with Central County Fire which provides fire services to the cities of Millbrae and Burlingame and the town of Hillsborough. Millbrae has two fire stations within its city limits.
Transportation
Roads
U.S. Route 101 and Interstate 280 run near the eastern and western boundaries of the city, respectively. California State Route 82, known more commonly as El Camino Real, runs near the center of the city, including through its downtown.
Public transport
Millbrae station serves as a major transit hub for the Peninsula, connecting the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), Caltrain, and SamTrans networks. It is the terminus for BART's Red and Yellow lines and is the only place where BART lines directly connect to Caltrain.
Air transport
San Francisco International Airport, one of the world's busiest airports, is adjacent to the city and is directly accessible to Millbrae through both BART and road. Millbrae is also directly connected to Oakland International Airport via BART, and indirectly connected to San Jose International Airport via Caltrain and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority's light rail and buses.
Economy
Millbrae's economy is driven in part by its proximity to the city of San Francisco and its airport, SFO. The city hosts several hotels along El Camino Real, and near its bayshore park, just south of SFO. Downtown Millbrae, along El Camino and Broadway Avenue, is lined with small shops and restaurants that reflect the city's diversity, and Millbrae Square features several larger retailers.
Top employers
According to the city's 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! #
! Employer
! # of Employees
|-
|1
|Westin Hotel
|244
|-
|2
|Millbrae School District
|220
|-
|3
|San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
|191
|-
|4
|City of Millbrae
|148
|-
|5
|Millbrae Care Center
|133
|-
|6
|Mills High School
|127
|-
|7
|Magnolia of Millbrae, Inc
|123
|-
|8
|Trader Joe's
|109
|-
|9
|Safeway
|104
|-
|10
|Cadence Living Milbrae
|97
|}
Sister cities & Friendship cities
- La Serena, Chile
- Mosta, Malta
Millbrae also has a friendship city agreement with Hanyu, Japan, Taishan, China, Ramallah, Palestine, and Dongguan, China.