Menlo Park ( ) is a city in San Mateo County in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. Located at the eastern edge of the county, It is bordered by San Francisco Bay on the north and east; East Palo Alto, Palo Alto, and Stanford to the south; and Atherton, North Fair Oaks, and Redwood City to the west. It had 33,780 residents at the 2020 United States census. Part of Silicon Valley, it is home to the corporate headquarters of Meta Platforms, and is where Google, Roblox Corporation, Round Table Pizza, and SRI International were founded. The train station holds the record as the oldest continually operating train station in California. It is one of the most educated cities in California and the United States; nearly 70% of residents over 25 have earned a bachelor's degree or higher.
Name "Menlo" is derived from Menlo (the anglicized spelling of Irish Gaelic 'Mionloch', meaning 'small lake') in County Galway, Ireland, today an outer neighborhood of the city of Galway. The name "Menlo Park" was given to a ranch purchased by Irish settlers in honor of their home village in Ireland ().
Menlo Park, New Jersey, was named after Menlo Park, California, predating any work done there by Thomas Edison (who relocated there );"The Origin of New Jersey Place Names", New Jersey Public Library Commission, May 1945, p. 20. Menlo, Washington, also derived its name from the California community.
History
The area of Menlo Park was inhabited by the Ohlone people when the Portolá expedition arrived in 1769.
In 1795, the Rancho de las Pulgas Spanish land grant was made that included the area of the current city.
Before and during the 1849 Gold Rush, successful businessmen from San Francisco, like Faxon Atherton and George C. Johnson began investing in real estate on this portion of the peninsula located midway between San Francisco and San Jose.
Original Menlo Park gate In 1851, two Irish immigrants, Dennis J. Oliver and his brother-in-law, D.C. McGlynn, purchased a tract of land on the former Rancho de las Pulgas. In 1854, they erected a gate with a wooden arch bearing the inscription "Menlo Park" and the date "August 1854" at the entrance to their property (now the intersection of Middle Ave and El Camino Real).Stanger, 1963. pg. 109 The wooden gate was modeled after the stone gate that stands at the entrance to the Menlo Castle estate in Menlo, Ireland.
Railroad In 1863, the San Francisco and San Jose Rail Road had built the railroad from San Francisco to as far as Mayfield (now California Avenue station in Palo Alto) and started running trains to the area. They named a nearby station "Menlo Park" after the sign. The 1867 station building still stands on the platform of the current Caltrain station, used by the local Chamber of Commerce. It holds the record as the oldest, continually operating train station in California. The town of Menlo Park grew up around this station, becoming a popular home for San Francisco businessmen. A post office was established in 1870, and the city was incorporated in 1874 (it dissolved after two years, but later was permanently incorporated in 1927). The original arch, which gave its name to the stations and ultimately, the city, survived until 1922, when it was destroyed in an automobile accident.
Camp Fremont In 1917–18, a large portion of Menlo Park was the site of Camp Fremont, a training camp for, at its height, 27,000 men being sent to fight in World War I. Army engineers paved the first streets in Menlo Park and laid the first water and gas lines. In the autumn of 1918, a flu pandemic hit Camp Fremont and killed 147. Although the camp was dismantled after the war, its hospital was retained, today the site of a Veterans Administration Hospital off Willow Road in Menlo Park.
SRI International At the start of World War II, the US government bought the estate of Timothy Hopkins from his widow and created the Palo Alto General Hospital, later renamed the Dibble General Hospital (after Colonel John Dibble, who was killed in 1943). After the war ended, some of the land was sold to the city and became the sites of the main library and city hall. More of the land was bought by Stanford University to house the increase in students due to the G.I. Bill; the area was known as the "Stanford Village", which existed as student housing until the mid-1960s. This land also was the site of the Stanford Research Institute (now SRI International) starting in 1947; between 1955 and 1968, SRI bought the rest of the Stanford Village.
Sunset magazine headquarters Sunset magazine had its headquarters in Menlo Park from 1951 to 2015, designed by architect, Cliff May, with a similar layout to a California ranch-style house. Sunset referred to its Menlo Park headquarters as the Laboratory of Western Living.
Sharon Heights In the 1960s, the former estate of Frederick W. Sharon (1859–1914) (son of Senator William Sharon) and his wife, Louise Tevis Breckinridge Sharon (1858–1938; daughter of Lloyd Tevis and divorced wife of John Witherspoon Breckinridge), in the hills of south west Menlo Park was developed and called "Sharon Heights".
Development of Google The development of leading Internet search engine provider Google occurred in 1998 in the garage in a Menlo Park home owned by Susan Wojcicki. Wojcicki's Menlo Park garage was used as the office for Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin for $1,700 a month.
Replica of Menlo Park gate In 2015, the Menlo Park Historical Association (MPHA) began a project to raise funds for and build a replica of the original Menlo Park gates. The completed gate was placed in front of the Menlo Park public library at 800 Alma Street, and officially dedicated on March 17, 2019, by Menlo Park Mayor Ray Mueller.
Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which are land and are covered by water. Menlo Park is long and narrow on a northeast to southwest axis. The northeastern portion borders the San Francisco Bay and includes the Dumbarton Bridge that connects Menlo Park to Fremont on the eastern side of the bay. The city shoreline includes the city's largest park, Bedwell Bayfront Park () and the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge. San Francisquito Creek marks much of the southeastern border of the city. West Menlo Park (unincorporated area) along Alameda de las Pulgas nearly separates the southwestern part of the city (known as Sharon Heights) from the rest. The extreme southwest is clipped by Interstate 280.
The Bayshore Freeway (part of U.S. Route 101) traverses Menlo Park from northwest to southeast near the shoreline, and somewhat parallel to the Bayshore Freeway to the southwest is El Camino Real. The intersection of El Camino Real and Santa Cruz Avenue is considered the heart of the city. The Menlo Park Civic Center is nearby. Other major roads include Sand Hill Road in the Sharon Heights area.
Demographics
Racial and ethnic composition +Menlo Park city, California – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 2000Pop 2010Pop 2020% 2000% 2010% 2020White alone (NH)20,45219,84118,57566.43%61.95%54.99%Black or African American alone (NH)2,1241,4821,0016.90%4.63%2.96%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)5243260.17%0.13%0.08%Asian alone (NH)2,1843,1325,7647.09%9.78%17.06%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)3884463641.26%1.39%1.08%Other race alone (NH)82731560.27%0.23%0.46%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)7001,1071,9052.27%3.46%5.64%Hispanic or Latino (any race)4,8035,9025,98915.60%18.43%17.73%Total30,78532,02633,780 100.00%100.00%100.00%
2020 census
It had 33,780 residents at the 2020 United States census. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated Menlo Park's population at 32,713 as of July 1, 2025.
The population density was . The median age was 38.2 years. 23.2% of residents were under the age of 18, and 15.5% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females, there were 95.5 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.0 males age 18 and over.
The census reported that 98.8% of the population lived in households, 0.4% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0.8% were institutionalized. Menlo Park was 100.0% urban and 0.0% rural.
There were 12,743 households, of which 34.2% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 52.2% were married-couple households, 5.7% were cohabiting couple households, 16.5% had a male householder with no spouse or partner present, and 25.6% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 25.7% of households were one person, and 10.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62. There were 8,192 families (64.3% of all households).
There were 13,857 housing units at an average density of . Of all housing units, 8.0% were vacant and 92.0% were occupied. Of occupied units, 52.9% were owner-occupied and 47.1% were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.0%, and the rental vacancy rate was 6.5%.
2023 ACS estimates In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that the median household income was $206,588, and the per capita income was $123,422. About 2.3% of families and 5.1% of the population were below the poverty line.
2010 census The 2010 United States census reported that Menlo Park had a population of 32,026. Its population density was . The racial makeup of Menlo Park was 22,494 (70.2%) White, 1,551 (4.8%) African American, 156 (0.5%) Native American, 3,157 (9.9%) Asian, 454 (1.4%) Pacific Islander, 2,776 (8.7%) from other races, and 1,438 (4.5%) from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 18.4% of the population, most of whom (4,303) were of Mexican ancestry.
The Census reported that 31,181 people (97.4% of the population) lived in households, 599 (1.9%) lived in noninstitutionalized group quarters, and 246 (0.8%) were institutionalized.
Of the 12,347 households, 33.3% had children under the age of 18 living in them, 49.9% were opposite-sex married couples living together, 8.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 3.0% had a male householder with no wife present. About 5.2% were unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 0.8% were same-sex married couples or partnerships. About 29.7% were made up of individuals, and 11.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53. The average family size was 3.20.
In terms of age, 7,805 residents (24.4%) were under the age of 18, 1,817 people (5.7%) aged 18 to 24, 9,563 people (29.9%) aged 25 to 44, 8,263 people (25.8%) aged 45 to 64, and 4,578 people (14.3%) were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.7 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.5 males.
The 13,085 housing units averaged , of which 6,927 (56.1%) were owner-occupied, and 5,420 (43.9%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.1%; the rental vacancy rate was 5.2%; 18,972 people (59.2% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 12,209 people (38.1%) lived in rental housing units.
Government and politics City Council members are elected in districts to staggered four-year terms, in nonpartisan municipal elections every two years.
County, state and federal representation On the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, Menlo Park is split between Supervisorial District 3 (west of El Camino Real) and Supervisorial District 4 (east of El Camino Real), currently represented by Ray Mueller and Lisa Gauthier, respectively.
In the California State Legislature, Menlo Park is in , and is split between and .
In the United States House of Representatives, East Palo Alto is split between , and .