California

Tax credit apartments in San Mateo, CA

HUD's database lists 8 properties in San Mateo built or rehabbed with low-income housing tax credits: 664 apartments, 653 of them income-restricted. Rents in those units are capped while each property's affordability agreement runs, and you qualify by income; many properties still keep waiting lists.

Equal housing opportunity. Tax credit properties must follow the Fair Housing Act, which bars discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status or national origin, and they may not refuse an applicant because the applicant holds a Housing Choice (Section 8) voucher (IRC 42(h)(6)(B)(iv)). Properties HUD lists as senior housing may limit who lives there by age only as the Fair Housing Act's housing-for-older-persons exemption allows. To report housing discrimination, call HUD at 1-800-669-9777.

LIHTC Atlas does not own, manage or rent these apartments and does not take applications. Contact each property's management for availability, rents and income rules. Listings come from HUD's database and may be out of date.

2000 S Delaware Family Housing

1990 S Delaware St, San Mateo, CA 94403

18 1BR, 22 2BR, 20 3BR

Apartments
60
Income-restricted
59
Placed in service
2013

Bay Meadows Affordable

2775 S. Delaware Street, San Mateo, CA 94403

32 1BR, 19 2BR, 17 3BR

Apartments
68
Income-restricted
67
Placed in service
2020

Edgewater Isle Senior Apartments

1490 Miramar, San Mateo, CA 94404

HUD lists it as senior housing · 92 1BR

Apartments
92
Income-restricted
91
Placed in service
2016

Kiku Crossing

480 East 4th Avenue, San Mateo, CA 94401

66 studio, 41 1BR, 59 2BR, 59 3BR

Apartments
225
Income-restricted
222
Placed in service
2024

Peninsula Station

2901 S El Camino Real, San Mateo, CA 94403

8 1BR, 32 2BR, 28 3BR

Apartments
68
Income-restricted
67
Placed in service
2010

San Mateo Rotary Floritas

99 27th Ave, San Mateo, CA 94403

HUD lists it as senior housing · 40 1BR, 8 2BR

Apartments
50
Income-restricted
47
Placed in service
2005

Santa Inez Apts Villas

240 Elm St, San Mateo, CA 94401

25 2BR, 15 3BR, 4 4BR

Apartments
44
Income-restricted
43
Placed in service
2001

St Mathew Hotel

215 Second Ave, San Mateo, CA 94401

Apartments
57
Income-restricted
57
Placed in service
1998

Source: HUD's national LIHTC database (LIHTCPUB, revised May 28, 2026; projects placed in service through 2024). Properties a state agency has flagged as no longer monitored are left out; properties placed in service after 2024 are not in HUD's database yet.

How tax credit apartments work

Each income-restricted unit has a maximum rent set from the area's income limits: gross rent, including a utility allowance for tenant-paid utilities, can't go above 30% of the income limit for the unit's size. The rent doesn't change with your own income, so a household near the bottom of the range pays the same rent as one near the top. That's different from public housing or a voucher, where you pay a share of what you earn.

To qualify, your household's income has to be at or under the limit the unit is set at, usually 50% or 60% of the area median, and up to 80% in some buildings. Management checks income, and assets, when you apply. A household made up entirely of full-time students generally can't qualify, with exceptions in IRC 42(i)(3)(D) such as single parents and married students filing jointly. More on qualifying.

You can apply with a Housing Choice voucher, and the property can't turn you down because you have one.