Insight
Foster City, CA: 15% of residents of Indian descent, a patent-led $1M+ set
About 15% of Foster City residents are of Asian Indian descent. Patents, not home values, support most of the 84 people in our $1M+ set there.
Foster City has about 4,900 residents of Asian Indian descent, 14.9% of a city of about 32,800 [1][3]. That is the highest share among the county's places of 20,000 or more shown here (our ranking) [1][2][4]. The community was flat over five years, against about 4,900 in the 2015–2019 survey [2].
Our database places 84 people at an estimated $1M+ under the Foster City name [6]. What sets them apart is the evidence: most of these estimates rest on patents, not home values [6].
- 4,874 residents of Asian Indian descent (alone or in combination) in Foster City, California, 2020–2024 average [1], or 14.9% of the population [3].
- -1.4% versus the 2015–2019 estimate of 4,944 [1][2] (our calculation).
- 84 people in the HeyAlbert database placed in Foster City, California at an estimated $1M+, of whom fewer than 25 are in our $5M+ bands [6].
How Foster City compares with nearby places
The Census Bureau's American Community Survey counts 4,874 people who report Asian Indian ancestry, alone or with another group, in Foster City [1], against 4,944 in 2015–2019 [2]. The table compares it with the places in San Mateo County that have the largest Asian Indian communities. Figures are for whole places, and some places extend into neighboring counties [1][2][4].
| Place | 2020–2024 | 2015–2019 | Change | Share of place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foster City | 4,874 | 4,944 | -1% | 14.9% |
| San Mateo | 4,743 | 3,957 | 20% | 4.6% |
| Redwood City | 2,935 | 3,020 | -3% | 3.6% |
| Belmont | 2,388 | 1,630 | 47% | 8.7% |
| San Carlos | 2,168 | 1,132 | 92% | 7.3% |
| Burlingame | 1,813 | 1,369 | 32% | 5.9% |
| San Bruno | 1,206 | 1,403 | -14% | 2.9% |
| Menlo Park | 981 | 1,387 | -29% | 3.0% |
Asian Indian alone or in any combination. Sources: ACS 5-year estimates [1][2][4]; totals from Table B01003. Change and share are our calculations. Estimates carry margins of error.
Foster City's community is slightly larger than San Mateo's, about 4,700, in a city about three times its size (our calculation) [1][2][4]. Belmont and San Carlos grew fastest among the places shown, up 47% and 92% [1][2][4]. Menlo Park fell 29% [1][2][4].
The most concentrated communities
Raw counts favor big cities. Ranking places of 20,000+ residents by the share who report Asian Indian ancestry gives a different map [1][2][3][4][5]:
| Place | Asian Indian residents | Total population | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foster City | 4,874 | 32,792 | 14.9% |
| Belmont | 2,388 | 27,337 | 8.7% |
| San Carlos | 2,168 | 29,614 | 7.3% |
| Burlingame | 1,813 | 30,525 | 5.9% |
| San Mateo | 4,743 | 103,105 | 4.6% |
| Redwood City | 2,935 | 82,447 | 3.6% |
| San Bruno | 1,206 | 42,307 | 2.9% |
Places with 20,000+ residents and at least 1,000 Asian Indian residents. CDP = census-designated place. Sources: ACS 2020–2024 5-year, Tables B02018 and B01003 [1][2][3][4][5]; shares are our calculation.
What the HeyAlbert database shows in Foster City, California
HeyAlbert builds profiles of Indian-American individuals with an estimated net worth of $1M or more from public records, and every estimate is tied to a cited source. Our database currently places 84 such people in Foster City, California [6]. That is a count of people we have found and estimated, not a census of wealthy households: our coverage is partial and uneven.
| Estimated net-worth band | People in our database |
|---|---|
| $5M+ | <25 |
| $1M–5M | not shown |
| Total, $1M+ | 84 |
Source: HeyAlbert database [6]. Bands are estimates from public evidence; $5M+ combines our $5–15M and $25M+ tiers. Cells under 25 are suppressed. When one tier has fewer than 25 people, the other tier is not shown either, because it could be subtracted from the total.
| City | $1M+ | of which $5M+ |
|---|---|---|
| Foster City | 84 | <25 |
Source: HeyAlbert database [6]. Cities with 25+ people at $1M+; cells under 25 shown as <25. The city is where our sources place the person; for some records it is a workplace rather than a home. Our records are matched on the city name Foster City; the Census figures are for the whole place.
Our database places 84 people in Foster City at an estimated $1M+ [6]. Fewer than 25 of them are in our $5M+ bands, so this post shows the $1M+ total and does not split it by tier [6]. Fewer than 25 have a public giving signal [6].
Why our Foster City, California count looks the way it does
Each estimate in our database rests on a primary piece of public evidence [6]. In Foster City, California, most rest on one type: patent inventors (with company context). Because some evidence types here cover fewer than 25 people, and subtracting them from the total could reveal a suppressed tier, we do not show the evidence counts for this place.
Patent records support most of these estimates; home values and company filings support a few [6]. That is an engineer-and-inventor set, unlike the homeowner-led sets in most suburbs we cover.
What it means if you work with these families
For advisors, Foster City is a technical-career market: patent-based estimates point to technical careers, so stock and equity may matter more than real estate [6]. Our San Mateo County, San Mateo and Redwood City posts cover the neighbors.
Methodology
Census figures are American Community Survey 5-year estimates for 2020–2024 and 2015–2019, Table B02018, using “Asian Indian, alone or in any combination” [1][2]. Total population comes from Table B01003 [3]. The Census Bureau changed how it codes detailed race responses in 2020, so part of the change between the two periods may reflect coding rather than migration. All estimates carry margins of error. Shares and growth rates are our calculations.
HeyAlbert counts are aggregates from our database as of November 9, 2026 [6]. They include people we identified as likely of Indian origin with an estimated net worth of $1M or more, based on public records such as property assessments, professional licenses, patents, SEC filings and donor rolls. Coverage is partial and depends on which public records exist and which we have processed. These counts are not population totals. Any cell under 25 is suppressed, and we publish aggregates only, never individual records.
Related
- Indian-American wealth in San Mateo County: a small community, a large top tier
- San Mateo, CA: community up 20% to 4,700; 109 people in our $1M+ set
- Redwood City, CA: a flat community, and our set split evenly at $5M
- Indian-American wealth in the Bay Area: three in five in our data are $5M+
HeyAlbert maps 209K+ wealthy Indian-American households and tells you who to call, with every fact cited. See who is in Foster City, California at heyalbert.site.
Sources
- ACS 2020–2024 5-year estimates, Table B02018, places in California. US Census Bureau. https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B02018?g=040XX00US06$1600000 (data: machine-readable)
- ACS 2015–2019 5-year estimates, Table B02018, places in California. US Census Bureau. https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2019.B02018?g=040XX00US06$1600000 (data: machine-readable)
- ACS 2020–2024 5-year estimates, Table B01003 (total population), places in California. US Census Bureau. https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=040XX00US06$1600000 (data: machine-readable)
- ACS 2020–2024 5-year estimates, Table B02018, places in San Mateo County, California. US Census Bureau. https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B02018?g=050XX00US06081$1600000 (data: machine-readable)
- ACS 2020–2024 5-year estimates, Table B01003, places in San Mateo County, California. US Census Bureau. https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=050XX00US06081$1600000 (data: machine-readable)
- HeyAlbert database, aggregate counts (snapshot as of November 9, 2026); how we build it is described on our methodology page. HeyAlbert. https://heyalbert.site/research/methodology/
Verified floor: public records only · heyalbert.site/why-our-counts-are-a-floor
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