Marin County

Welcome to Paradise!  Marin County, California is certainly one of the loveliest and most-sought-after places to live in the US.  This small county, located immediately north across the Golden Gate Bridge from the city of San Francisco, offers the best of California living.  Golden hills, ocean and bay, huge tracts of undeveloped open spaces, perfect weather, rural and suburban life close to several major metropolitan areas. It isn't any wonder that everyone wants to live in Marin.

Marin is a county of approximately 250,000 residents occupying 828 square miles, of which 520 are land and 308 square miles are water.  Marin is unique in that it identifies itself as a county made up of many small cities and towns.  When you live here you are a resident of Marin more than you are a resident of your town.  Most of the population is gathered along the Bay, where Highway 101 runs. West Marin is very rural with large agricultural tracts.

There are many and numerous attractions offered by Marin County, but the main one for most residents, has to be the weather.  With an average low temperature of 46 degrees Fahrenheit and an average high of 70, an average of 39 inches of rainfall and 260 days of sunshine a year, outdoor living is what Marin is all about.  Here there is a microclimate for everyone.  Those who like it hot and sunny gravitate inland and the coastal areas enjoy a cool marine influence on hot summer days.

If you like outdoor recreation, Marin is the place to be.  Marin borders both the Pacific Ocean and San Pablo Bay.  It is the home of the 10,000-acre part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area known locally as the Marin Headlands.  The Marin Municipal Water District maintains a 21,000-acre watershed which is a protected natural habitat open to the public.  The Marin County Open Space District guards Marin's diverse ecosystems in 33 different preserves totaling 15,000 acres.  Add to that the various national, state, county and city parks and it comes to a staggering fraction of Marin's 332,800 total acres.  In fact, only 25% of Marin's land is developed.  Marin residents enjoy hiking, bird-watching, running, cycling and mountain biking, surfing, sailing, kayaking, horseback riding - just to skim the surface of outdoor pursuits.  It is no surprise that Marinites are the thinnest in the country according to a Money Magazine report.  It’s also nice to know, if you're exercising outside, that Marin has some of the cleanest air, too.

The people in Marin are very enthusiastic about arts and culture.  Marin is absolutely full of art festivals, galleries and public art installations.  You'll find live music, live theater and independent cinema on any night of the week.  With this climate, you can imagine that gardening is a serious pursuit here.  Marin is also at the edge of Wine Country and increasingly boasts vineyards of its own.  Marin enjoys a talented and intelligent population with over half of the residents having bachelor's degrees or higher.

Because of Marin's commitment to environmentalism, especially severely limiting development and growth, you can imagine that Marin is one of the most expensive places in the country to live.  It has close to the highest per capita income of anywhere in the US and a large percentage of the population are professionals.  As they say, you get what you pay for, and Marin residents are happy to pay for a piece of Paradise.