Marin County, California

Marin County is a beautiful place in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in California. As of the 2020 census, it was home to 262,321 people. The biggest city and the place where the government meets is San Rafael. You can find Marin right across the Golden Gate Bridge from busy San Francisco.

This county is known for its amazing nature. You can visit the tall Muir Woods redwood forest, walk along the Marin Headlands, relax at Stinson Beach, explore the Point Reyes National Seashore, or hike up Mount Tamalpais. Many people live very well here, with high incomes.

One special building is the Marin County Civic Center, designed by the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright. People come from all over to see its unique arch and atrium. Every year, runners gather for the Dipsea Race, the United States' oldest cross country running event. Also, some of the first mountain biking trails were made on the slopes of Mount Tamalpais. The county is also home to San Quentin State Prison.

History

Native American settlement

Main article: Coast Miwok § History

Thousands of years ago, the Coast Miwok people were the first to live in the area we now call Marin County.

By 1770, there were between 1,500 and 2,000 Coast Miwok people, living in about 600 villages across the county.

In 1967, the Marin Museum of the American Indian opened. It shows Coast Miwok crafts, art, and tools. Today, visitors can enjoy events led by the Coast Miwok people, like healing drumming, making cordage from dogbane plants, trade feasts, and traditional dancing.

History of Marin

During the Mexican-American War, American forces took control of parts of Marin County. Marin County was one of the first 27 counties in California, created on February 18, 1850, after California became a state.

The county was named after Chief Marin, a leader of the Coast Miwok people. Chief Marin was born into the Huimen tribe and lived in the San Rafael area. He served as a leader at the San Rafael Mission and helped guide expeditions.

Some believe the county’s name comes from an old Spanish name for the nearby bay.

In 1595, a Spanish ship was lost near the Marin Coast. In 1775, another Spanish explorer arrived at what is now Drakes Bay. The first Spanish mission in Marin, Mission San Rafael Arcángel, was founded in 1817. This mission was built in part to respond to a Russian fort built nearby in what is now Sonoma County.

Geography

Marin County is located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in California. The county covers a total area of 828 square miles (2,140 km²), with 520 square miles (1,300 km²) of land and 308 square miles (800 km²) of water. It is the fourth-smallest county in California by land area.

Geographically, Marin County forms a large peninsula that faces south. The Pacific Ocean lies to the west, while San Pablo Bay and the San Francisco Bay are to the east. The city of San Francisco is located to the south across the Golden Gate. Most people in Marin County live on the eastern side, in towns along U.S. Route 101 and the San Francisco Bay, from Sausalito to Tiburon, Corte Madera, San Rafael, and Novato. The western part of the county has many open spaces and farms, with small communities that rely on farming and tourism. West Marin has beautiful beaches that are popular with visitors and surfers all year.

Adjacent counties

• Sonoma County – north
• San Francisco – south

National protected areas

• Golden Gate National Recreation Area (part)
• Marin Islands National Wildlife Refuge
• Muir Woods National Monument
• Point Reyes National Seashore
• San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge (part)
• Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary (part)

State and local protected areas

The Marin County Department of Parks and Open Space manages many parks and open spaces, including Stafford Lake County Park. The Marin Municipal Water District has 130 mi (209 km) of trails.

State parks

• Angel Island State Park
• China Camp State Park
• Mount Tamalpais State Park
• Olompali State Historic Park
• Samuel P. Taylor State Park
• Tomales Bay State Park

Marine protected areas

These special areas help protect ocean life and ecosystems:

• Estero Americano State Marine Recreational Management Area
• Estero de San Antonio State Marine Recreational Management Area
• Point Reyes State Marine Reserve & Point Reyes State Marine Conservation Area
• Estero de Limantour State Marine Reserve & Drakes Estero State Marine Conservation Area
• Duxbury Reef State Marine Conservation Area

Ecology

Marin County is part of the California Floristic Province, an area with lots of different plants and animals. You can find many types of natural areas there, like places where oak trees grow, forests with evergreens, and areas with redwood trees.

The county is also home to special animals such as the California red-legged frog and certain kinds of shrimp in the water. Some unique plants grow there too, like Marin Dwarf Flax and Tiburon Jewelflower.

There are several important water areas in Marin County, including Walker Creek, Lagunitas Creek, Miller Creek, and Novato Creek. The Lagunitas Creek area has one of the biggest groups of a special type of salmon called coho salmon. People work hard to help these fish and their homes stay safe.

Even when there isn’t much rain, many young salmon still travel to the ocean each year. Marin County’s beaches are known for being very clean. Long ago, there were big groups of tule elk near the area, though we don’t know exactly where they were.

Demographics

2020 census

In the year 2020, Marin County had 262,321 people living there. The average age was 46.5 years. About 20.2% of the people were younger than 18, and 22.6% were 65 years or older. For every 100 girls and women, there were 96.2 boys and men, and for every 100 girls and women aged 18 and above, there were 93.9 boys and men aged 18 and above.

Most people in Marin County were White. A smaller number were Black or African American, American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, or from two or more races. Some people were also Hispanic or Latino.

Almost all people lived in towns and cities. Only a few lived in the countryside.

There were many homes in the county. Some of these homes had children under 18 living in them. Some homes were lived in only by one person, especially older people.

There were also many places to stay, but not all of them were being used. Most of the places that people lived in were owned by the people who lived there. Some were rented.

2010 census

In 2010, the people in Marin County looked a little different. Most were White, some were Hispanic or Latino, some were Asian, and smaller numbers were Black, Native American, Pacific Islander, or from two or more races.

2000 census

In 2000, there were 247,289 people living in Marin County. Most were White, with smaller numbers of Black or African American, Native American, Asian, Pacific Islander, and people from other races or two or more races. Some people were also Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Religion

Many people in Marin County followed different beliefs. Some were Roman Catholic, some were Protestant, and some followed Mormon, Judaism, Eastern religions, or Islam. Many people did not follow any particular belief.

Place of birth

Most people in Marin County were born in the United States. Some were born in other places, like Latin America, Europe, or Asia.

Language

Most people spoke English at home. Some people spoke Spanish or other Indo-European languages, Asian languages, or languages from the Pacific islands.

Ancestry

Many people in Marin County came from different places. Some had Italian, German, English, Irish, Russian, Scottish, French, Swedish, Polish, Scotch-Irish, American, Norwegian, Dutch, Portuguese, Danish, or Swiss family backgrounds.

Income

In Marin County, the money that families usually made was $71,306 for a house and $88,934 for a family. By 2007, these numbers had gone up to $83,732 and $104,750.

In May 2010, Marin had the lowest number of people without jobs in California. But by July 2010, the number of people without jobs had gone up to 8.3%.

Government and infrastructure

Government

Marin County is run by a group of five elected leaders called the Board of Supervisors. The county helps all its residents with important services and manages voting for elections.

Law enforcement

The main police force for Marin County is the Marin County Sheriff's Office. There is also a special police team called the Central Marin Police Authority that helps keep Larkspur, Corte Madera, and San Anselmo safe.

Fire protection

The Marin County Fire Department began helping keep the area safe in 1941 after the county leaders approved it.

Politics

Marin County is part of California's 2nd congressional district and is represented in the United States House of Representatives by Democrat Jared Huffman. From 2008 to 2012, Huffman also served Marin County in the California State Assembly.

In the California State Legislature, the county is split between the 12th Assembly District, represented by Democrat Damon Connolly, and the 2nd senatorial district, represented by Democrat Mike McGuire.

For much of the 20th century, Marin County often voted for Republican candidates. However, as the area's population changed, it began supporting Democratic candidates more strongly. Since 1984, Marin County has voted for the Democratic candidate in every presidential election. In the 2024 presidential election, Kamala Harris received over 80% of the votes there, the highest share she received in any California county.

The county has a strong Democratic presence today, with most registered voters identifying as Democrats. This shift reflects broader changes in the political views of the area's residents over time.

Transportation

Major highways

• I-580
• US 101
• SR 1
• SR 37
• SR 131

Public transportation

Golden Gate Transit helps people travel along the U.S. 101 road. It serves cities in Marin County, San Francisco, and Sonoma County. It also goes to Contra Costa County using the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. Ferries leave from Larkspur, Sausalito, and Tiburon to go to San Francisco. Different ferry services operate from Tiburon, including the Angel Island Ferry.

Local buses in Marin County are run by Golden Gate Transit for Marin Transit. Marin Transit also runs the West Marin Stage for rural areas, the Muir Woods Shuttle, and community shuttles.

The Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit started in August 2017. It is a train and path for bikes and walking that serves Sonoma and Marin counties. In 2019, it went from Sonoma County Airport to six stops in Marin County, ending near Larkspur Landing. Future plans will extend the train further north to Cloverdale in Sonoma County.

The Marin Airporter has buses that go to and from Marin County and the San Francisco Airport.

Greyhound Lines buses stop in San Rafael.

Airports

Marin County Airport or Gnoss Field is for small planes only. Bigger airports with regular flights are San Francisco International Airport, Oakland International Airport, and Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport, which is north of Marin County.

Education

Main article: Education in Marin County

The Marin County Free Library is the public library system for the area, with its main office in San Rafael. There is also a special library in Tiburon called the Belvedere-Tiburon Library.

College of Marin began in 1926 and has two campuses, one in Kentfield and another in Novato. The college helps students earn degrees or certificates in many different subjects and welcomes around 9,000 students each term.

Another school in the area is Dominican University of California in San Rafael. It started in 1890 as a school for women and later grew to include all students. Today, it has about 1,400 students studying for their bachelor’s degrees and around 500 students working on advanced degrees.

Culture

Marin County has several interesting museums. You can visit the Marin Museum of the American Indian to learn about Native American history. The Marin Museum of Contemporary Art shows modern art, while the Marin Museum of Bicycling celebrates the history of bicycles. There is also the Museum of International Propaganda and The Space Station Museum to explore.

Economy

Marin County has many jobs in different industries. Some of the biggest companies that hire people there include Kaiser Permanente, MarinHealth, and Fireman's Fund Insurance Company.

The county also grows some food, mostly animals and their products like milk and eggs. In 2021, the value of homes in Marin County was quite high.

Media

Marin County gets its media from the rest of the Bay Area.

The county also has several local media outlets. These include Marin Magazine, a monthly lifestyle magazine based in Sausalito; the Marin Independent Journal, a daily newspaper in San Rafael; and Pacific Sun, a free weekly paper. Other local papers are the Novato Advance and the Point Reyes Light. Local radio includes KWMR, and there is public-access television on Channel 26. There is also a guide called Marin Local Music for live music spots, and the San Francisco Examiner covers Marin County culture and events.

Communities

Marin County has many places where people live. Some of these places are cities and towns, like San Rafael, which is the largest city and where the county government is located. Others are smaller areas known as census-designated places, such as Bolinas and Stinson Beach. There are also many unincorporated communities, which are areas not part of a city but still have people living there, like Olema and Woodacre.

The list of places includes many options for homes and neighborhoods across the county. The order of these places is based on information from the 2020 census.

In popular culture

Marin County has been a popular setting for many stories. The science fiction novel The Body Snatchers from 1954 is set in Mill Valley, a town in Marin. The 1965 film Dear Brigitte shows life on houseboats in Sausalito, another Marin spot.

The novel The Serial from 1978 made people across the country interested in Marin’s lifestyle. It was turned into a film in 1980, also shot there. Many other movies, like On the Edge from 1986, Mother from 1996, Wildflowers from 1999, and Edge of Everything from 2023, were filmed and set in Marin County.