Marin County ( ) is a
county
A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
located in the northwestern part of the
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...
of the U.S. state of
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. As of the
2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its
county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...
and largest city is
San Rafael.
Marin County is across the
Golden Gate Bridge
The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean in California, United States. The structure links San Francisco—the northern tip of the San Francisco Peni ...
from San Francisco, and is included in the
San Francisco–Oakland–Berkeley, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Marin County's natural sites include the
Muir Woods redwood
Sequoioideae, commonly referred to as redwoods, is a subfamily of Pinophyta, coniferous trees within the family (biology), family Cupressaceae, that range in the Northern Hemisphere, northern hemisphere. It includes the List of superlative tree ...
forest, the
Marin Headlands,
Stinson Beach, the
Point Reyes National Seashore, and
Mount Tamalpais
Mount Tamalpais (; ; Miwok languages, Miwok: ''Támal Pájiṣ''), known locally as Mount Tam, is a mountain, peak in Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States, often considered symbolic of Marin County. Much of Mount Tama ...
. Marin is one of the
highest-income counties by per capita income and median household income. The county is governed by the
Marin County Board of Supervisors.
The
Marin County Civic Center was designed by
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright Sr. (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed List of Frank Lloyd Wright works, more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key ...
and draws thousands of visitors a year to guided tours of its
arch
An arch is a curved vertical structure spanning an open space underneath it. Arches may support the load above them, or they may perform a purely decorative role. As a decorative element, the arch dates back to the 4th millennium BC, but stru ...
and
atrium design. In 1994, a new county jail facility was embedded into the hillside nearby.
The United States' oldest
cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and soil, earth, pass through woodlands and ope ...
event, the
Dipsea Race, takes place annually in Marin County, attracting thousands of athletes. Modern
mountain biking has many early origins on the slopes of Mount Tamalpais in Marin.
San Quentin State Prison is located in the county.
History
Native American settlement
Thousands of years ago,
Coast Miwok people first populated the area today known as Marin County.
In 1770, Coast Miwok population ranged from 1,500 to 2,000,
[Cook, 1976:182.] with about 600 village sites throughout the county.
In 1967, the
Marin Museum of the American Indian was established, with exhibits focusing on Coast Miwok artifacts, crafts, and artwork. As of 2021, Indigenous-led events include healing drumming,
dogbane cordage demonstrations, trade feasts, and traditional dancing.
History of Marin
During the
Mexican-American war, areas of Marin County were seized by Americans as part of the
conquest of California (1846–1847). Marin County is one of the original 27 counties of California, created February 18, 1850, following adoption of the
California Constitution of 1849 and just months before the state was admitted to the Union.

According to
General Mariano Vallejo, who headed an 1850 committee to name California's counties, the county was named for
"Marin," great chief of the tribe Licatiut." Marin had been named "Huicmuse" until he was baptized as "Marino" at about age 20. Marin / Marino was born into the Huimen people, a
Coast Miwok tribe of Native Americans who inhabited the San Rafael area. Vallejo believed that "Chief Marin" had waged several fierce battles against the Spanish. Marino definitely did reside at Mission Dolores (in modern San Francisco) much of the time from his 1801 baptism and marriage until 1817, frequently serving as a baptism witness and godfather; he may have escaped and been recaptured at some point during that time. Starting in 1817, he served as an
alcalde
''Alcalde'' (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and Administration (government), administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor (position), corregidor, the presiding officer o ...
(in effect, an overseer) at the San Rafael Mission, where he lived from 1817 off and on until his death. In 1821, Marino served as an expedition guide for the Spanish for a couple of years before escaping and hiding out for some months in the tiny
Marin Islands (also named after him); his recapture resulted in a yearlong incarceration at the Presidio before his return to the Mission San Rafael area for about 15 years until his death in 1839. In 2009, a plaque commemorating Chief Marin was placed in Mill Valley.
Another version of the origin of the county name is that the bay between San Pedro Point and San Quentin Point was named ''Bahía de Nuestra Señora del Rosario la Marinera'' in 1775, and that Marin is simply an abbreviation of this name.
Francis Drake
Sir Francis Drake ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...
and the crew of the ''
Golden Hind'' was thought to have landed on the Marin coast in 1579 claiming the land as ''
Nova Albion''. A bronze plaque inscribed with Drake's claim to the new lands, fitting the description in Drake's own account, was discovered in 1933. This so-called ''
Drake's Plate of Brass'' was revealed as a hoax in 2003.

In 1595, Sebastian Cermeno lost his ship, the ''San Agustin'', while exploring the Marin Coast. The Spanish explorer
Vizcaíno landed about twenty years after Drake in what is now called
Drakes Bay. However the first Spanish settlement in Marin was not established until 1817 when
Mission San Rafael Arcángel was founded partly in response to the Russian-built
Fort Ross to the north in what is now
Sonoma County.
Mission San Rafael Arcángel was founded in what is now downtown
San Rafael as the 20th Spanish mission in the colonial
Mexican province of ''
Alta California
Alta California (, ), also known as Nueva California () among other names, was a province of New Spain formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but was made a separat ...
'' by four priests, Father Narciso Duran from
Mission San Jose, Father Abella from
Mission San Francisco de Asís, Father Gil y Taboada and Father
Mariano Payeras, the President of the Missions, on December 14, 1817, four years before Mexico gained independence from Spain.
Geography
According to the
U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and , comprising 37.2%, is water.
It is the fourth-smallest county in California by land area. According to the records at the Count
Assessor-Recorder's Office as of June 2006, Marin had of taxable land, consisting of 79,086 parcels with a total tax basis of $39.8 billion. These parcels are divided into the following classifications:

Geographically, the county forms a large, southward-facing peninsula, with the Pacific Ocean to the west,
San Pablo Bay, and
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay (Chochenyo language, Chochenyo: 'ommu) is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the cities of San Francisco, California, San ...
to the east, and – across the
Golden Gate
The Golden Gate is a strait on the west coast of North America that connects San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. It is defined by the headlands of the San Francisco Peninsula and the Marin Peninsula, and, since 1937, has been spanned by ...
– the city of San Francisco to the south. Marin County's northern border is with
Sonoma County.
Most of the county's population resides on the eastern side, with a string of communities running along
U.S. Route 101 and the San Francisco Bay, from
Sausalito to
Tiburon to
Corte Madera to
San Rafael and
Novato. The interior contains large areas of agricultural and open space;
West Marin, through which
State Route 1 runs alongside the California coast, contains many small unincorporated communities whose economies depend on agriculture and tourism. West Marin has beaches which are popular destinations for surfers and tourists year-round.
Notable features of the shoreline along the
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay (Chochenyo language, Chochenyo: 'ommu) is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the cities of San Francisco, California, San ...
include the
Sausalito shoreline,
Richardson Bay
Richardson Bay (originally Richardson's Bay) is a shallow, ecology, ecologically rich arm of San Francisco Bay, managed under by the Richardson Bay Regional Agency, created under a joint powers agreement by the County of Marin, Town of Tiburon, C ...
, the
Tiburon Peninsula,
Ring Mountain, and
Triangle Marsh at
Corte Madera. Further north lies
San Quentin State Prison along the
San Rafael shoreline.
Adjacent counties
*
Sonoma County – north
*
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
– 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 numerous county parks and open spaces, including
Stafford Lake County Park. The
Marin Municipal Water District
The Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD) is the government agency that provides drinking water to southern and central Marin County, California. Chartered in 1912, it became California's first municipal water district. It serves 191,000 customers ...
has of trails.
State parks
*
Angel Island State Park
*
China Camp State Park
*
Mount Tamalpais
Mount Tamalpais (; ; Miwok languages, Miwok: ''Támal Pájiṣ''), known locally as Mount Tam, is a mountain, peak in Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States, often considered symbolic of Marin County. Much of Mount Tama ...
State Park
*
Olompali State Historic Park
*
Samuel P. Taylor State Park
*
Tomales Bay State Park
Marine protected areas
Like underwater parks, these marine protected areas help conserve ocean wildlife and marine 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 considered in the
California Floristic Province, a zone of extremely high
biodiversity
Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...
and
endemism
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
. There are numerous
ecosystem
An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...
s present, including
Coastal Strand,
oak woodland,
mixed evergreen forest, and
Coast Redwood Forests chaparral
Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant plant community, community found primarily in California, southern Oregon, and northern Baja California. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate (mild wet winters and hot dry summers) and infrequent, high-intens ...
and
riparian zone
A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. In some regions, the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone, riparian corridor, and riparian strip are used to characterize a ripari ...
s. There are also a considerable number of protected plant and animal species present:
Fauna
Fauna (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and '' funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively ...
include the
California red-legged frog (''Rana draytonii'') and
California freshwater shrimp while
flora
Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...
include Marin Dwarf Flax, ''
Hesperolinon congestum''; Tiburon Jewelflower, ''
Streptanthus niger''; and Tiburon Indian paintbrush, ''
Castilleja neglecta''.
A number of watersheds exist in Marin County, including
Walker Creek,
Lagunitas Creek,
Miller Creek, and
Novato Creek.
Notably, the Lagunitas Creek Watershed is home to the largest remaining wild run of
coho salmon
The coho salmon (''Oncorhynchus kisutch;'' Karuk: achvuun) is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family (biology), family and one of the five Pacific salmon species. Coho salmon are also known as silver salmon (or "silvers") and is often ...
(''Oncorhynchus kisutch'') in Central California. These coho are part of the "Central California Coast Evolutionarily Significant Unit, " or CCC ESU, and are listed as "endangered" at both the state and federal level.
Significant efforts to protect and restore these fish have been underway in the Watershed since the 1980s. Fifty percent of historical salmon habitat is now behind dams. Strong efforts are also being made to protect and restore undammed, headwater reaches of this Watershed in the
San Geronimo Valley, where upwards of 40% of the Lagunitas salmon spawn each year and where as much as 1/3 of the juvenile salmon (or fry) spend their entire freshwater lives. The "Salmon Protection and Watershed Network" leads winter tours for the public to learn about and view these spawning salmon, and also leads year-round opportunities for the public to get involved in stream restoration, monitoring spawning and smolt outmigration, juvenile fish rescue and relocation in the summer, and advocacy and policy development. Around 490 different species of birds have been observed in Marin County.

Despite the lack of rain in the Marin County area due to historic drought levels, in 2014, an estimated 20,000 juvenile Coho salmon made the migration from their spawning grounds in the
Lagunitas Creek area to the Pacific Ocean. This increase in migration was significantly up from the previous historic record for the same migration measured in 2006 at 11,000.
In 2010, all of the county's beaches were listed as the cleanest in the state.
[Bay Area beaches grade well for safe swimming](_blank)
May 27, 2010, by Carolyn Jones, San Francisco Chronicle
When
Richard Henry Dana Jr. visited San Francisco Bay in 1835, he wrote about vast
tule elk (''Cervus canadensis nannodes'') herds near the
Golden Gate
The Golden Gate is a strait on the west coast of North America that connects San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. It is defined by the headlands of the San Francisco Peninsula and the Marin Peninsula, and, since 1937, has been spanned by ...
on December 27: "...we came to anchor near the mouth of the bay, under a high and beautifully sloping hill, upon which herds of hundreds and hundreds of red deer
ote: "red deer" is the European term for "elk" and the stag, with his high branching antlers, were bounding about...," although it is not clear whether this was the Marin side or the San Francisco side.
Demographics
2020 census
2011
Places by population, race, and income
2010 Census
The
2010 United States census reported that Marin County had a population of 252,409. The racial makeup of Marin County was 201,963 (80.0%)
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 6,987 (2.8%)
African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 1,523 (0.6%)
Native American, 13,761 (5.5%)
Asian, 509 (0.2%)
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 16,973 (6.7%) from
other races, and 10,693 (4.2%) from two or more races. There were 39,069 people of
Hispanic
The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or
Latino origin, of any race (15.5%).
2000
As of the census
of 2000, there were 247,289 people, 100,650 households, and 60,691 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 104,990 housing units at an average density of . The
racial makeup of the county was 84.0%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 2.9% Black or
African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.4% Native American, 4.5%
Asian, 0.2%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 4.5% from other races, and 3.5% from two or more races. 11.1% of the population were
Hispanic
The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino of any race.
In 2000, there were 100,650 households, out of which 27.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.4% were married couples living together, 8.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.7% were non-families. 29.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.90.
In the county, 20.3% of the population was under the age of 18, 5.5% from 18 to 24, 31.0% from 25 to 44, 29.7% from 45 to 64, and 13.5% was 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 98.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.4 males.
Life expectancy
According to the most recent data on U.S. life expectancy, published in 2010 by the
Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation
The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) is a public health research institute of the University of Washington in Seattle. Its research fields are global health statistics and impact evaluation.
IHME is headed by Christopher J.L. ...
, a female in Marin County could expect to live 85.0 years, the longest for any county in the United States. The national average is 80.8 years for a female.
Race and ethnicity
According to the
2010 United States Census, the racial composition of Marin County was as follows:
*
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
: 72.8% (non-Hispanic)
*
Hispanic or Latino (of any race): 15.5%
*
Asian: 5.4%
*
Two or more races: 2.9%
*
Black
Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
: 2.6% (non-Hispanic)
* Native American: 0.2%
*
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
: 0.2%
* Other: 0.4%
Religion
*
Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
: 31.16%
*
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
: 6.38%
*
Mormon: 1.04%
* Other
Christian
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
: 1.36%
*
Judaism
Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
: 1.8%
*
Eastern religions: 1.33%
*
Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
: 0.44%
* No religion: 56.5%
Place of birth
According to the 2006–2008
American Community Survey
The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...
(ACS), 81.3% of Marin County's residents were born in the United States. Approximately 80.0% of the county's residents were born in one of the fifty states or born abroad to American parents.
Foreign-born individuals made up the remaining 18.7% of the population. Latin America was the most common birthplace of foreign-born residents; those born in Latin America made up the plurality (42.2%) of Marin County's foreign population. Individuals born in Europe were the second largest foreign-born group; they made up 25.3% of Marin County's foreign population. Immigrants from Asia made up 23.7% of the county's foreign population. Those born in other parts of North America and Africa made up 3.9% and 3.8% of the foreign-born populace respectively. Lastly, residents born in Oceania made up a mere 1.2% of Marin County's foreign population.
Source:
Language
According to the 2006–2008 ACS, English was the most commonly spoken language at home by residents over five years of age; those who spoke only English at home made up 77.1% of Marin County's residents. Speakers of non-English languages accounted for the remaining 22.9% of the population. Speakers of Spanish made up 11.7% of the county's residents, while speakers of other
Indo-European language
The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia ( ...
s made up 7.1% of the populace. Speakers of
Asian languages
Asia is home to hundreds of languages comprising several families and some unrelated isolates. The most spoken language families on the continent include Austroasiatic, Austronesian, Japonic, Dravidian, Indo-European, Afroasiatic, Turkic, ...
and indigenous languages of the Pacific islands made up 3.4% of the population. The remaining 0.7% spoke other languages.
Source:
Ancestry
According to the 2007–2009 ACS, there were 16 ancestries in Marin County that made up over 0.9% of its population each.
The 16 ancestries are listed below:
*
Italian: 16.2%
*
German: 15.4%
*
English: 13.5%
*
Irish: 9.1%
*
Russian: 3.6%
*
Scottish: 3.5%
*
French: 3.4%
*
Swedish: 2.6%
*
Polish: 2.3%
*
Scotch-Irish: 2.3%
*
American: 2.3%
*
Norwegian: 2.1%
*
Dutch: 1.5%
*
Portuguese: 1.3%
*
Danish: 1.3%
*
Swiss
Swiss most commonly refers to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Swiss may also refer to: Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
* Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
* Swiss Café, an old café located ...
: 0.9%
Income
220px, Ross is the 4th most expensive
in the United States.">zip code in the United States.
The median income for a household in the county was $71,306 and the median income for a family was $88,934. As of 2007, these figures had risen to $83,732 and $104,750.
In May 2010, the county had the lowest unemployment rate in
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, however, in July 2010, Marin's unemployment rate rose to 8.3%.
Government and infrastructure
Law enforcement
San Quentin State Prison of the
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is the penal law enforcement agency of the government of California responsible for the operation of the California state prison and parole systems. Its headquarters are in Sacra ...
is in the county. San Quentin houses the male death row and the execution chamber of
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
.
The Marin County Sheriff's Office serves as the county's main law enforcement agency.
The
Central Marin Police Authority is responsible for law enforcement in
Larkspur,
Corte Madera, and
San Anselmo.
Fire protection
The first formal fire department in what is now Marin County was The Tamalpais Forestry Association, formed around the turn of the 19th century. The California State Legislature had been discussing legislation for forest-fire suppression as early as 1881, but the formal department did not come into being until approximately 1901. The Marin County Fire Department came into existence in its current incarnation on July 1, 1941, with passage of an ordinance and two resolutions by the Board of Supervisors.
Politics
In the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
, Marin County is in . From 2008 to 2012, Huffman represented Marin County in the
California State Assembly
The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature (the upper house being the California State Senate). The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Califor ...
.
In the
California State Legislature
The California State Legislature is the bicameral state legislature of the U.S. state of California, consisting of the California State Assembly (lower house with 80 members) and the California State Senate (upper house with 40 members). ...
, Marin County is in:
* the
12th Assembly District, represented by
Democrat Damon Connolly
* .
Voter registration statistics
Cities by population and voter registration
Overview
For most of the 20th century, Marin County was a
Republican stronghold in presidential elections. From 1880 until 1984, the only Democrats to win there were
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...
,
Franklin Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
and
Lyndon Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after assassination of John F. Kennedy, the assassination of John F. Ken ...
. However, the brand of Republicanism prevailing in Marin County was historically a moderate one. Like most of the historically Republican suburbs of the Bay Area, it became friendlier to
Democrats as the demographics of the area changed and the national party embraced social and religious conservatism. In 1984, it very narrowly voted for
Walter Mondale
Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale (January 5, 1928April 19, 2021) was the 42nd vice president of the United States serving from 1977 to 1981 under President Jimmy Carter. He previously served as a U.S. senator from Minnesota from 1964 to 1976. ...
and has supported the Democratic candidate in every presidential election since then. In the
2024 presidential election, Kamla Harris received 80.59% of the vote in Marin County, which was her highest vote share in any
California county, and the only one higher than notably liberal
San Francisco County.
Marin has voted for many gubernatorial candidates who went on to become high-profile national figures, including
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
,
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...
,
Jerry Brown
Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic P ...
, and
Dianne Feinstein.
On November 4, 2008, the citizens of Marin County voted strongly against
Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment which eliminated the right of same-sex couples to marry, by a 75.1 percent to 24.9 percent margin. The official tally was 103,341 against and 34,324 in favor. Only
San Francisco County voted against the measure by a wider margin (75.2% against).
According to the
California Secretary of State
The secretary of state of California is the chief clerk of the U.S. state of California, overseeing a department of 500 people. The Secretary of state (U.S. state government), secretary of state is elected for four year terms, like the state's o ...
, as of February 10, 2019, Marin County has 161,870 registered voters. Of those, 89,526 (55.31%) are registered Democrats, 23,380 (14.44%) are registered
Republicans, 7,020 (4.35%) are registered with other political parties, and 41,908 (25.89%) have
declined to state a political party. Democrats hold wide voter-registration majorities in all political subdivisions in Marin County. Democrats' largest registration advantage in Marin is in the town of
Fairfax, wherein there are only 344 Republicans (6.1%) out of 5,678 total voters compared to 3,758 Democrats (66.2%) and 1,276 voters who have declined to state a political party (22.5%).
The last time Marin elected a Republican to represent them in the United States House of Representatives was
William S. Mailliard in 1972. The last competitive race for the U.S. House of Representatives in Marin was in 1982 when
Barbara Boxer
Barbara Sue Boxer (née Levy; born November 11, 1940) is a retired American politician, lobbyist, and former reporter who served in the United States Senate, representing California from 1993 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United St ...
was first elected. The longest serving representative of Marin in congress was
Clarence F. Lea who served in the
House
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...
from 1917 to 1949.
Due to the dynamic nature of California's population, Marin's congressional district has changed numerous times over the decades. The county has been part of the
2nd congressional district of California since 2012; the only other time it was part of the 2nd district was 1902–12. It has also been part of the
1st (1894–1902 and 1912–66),
3rd (1864–94),
5th (1974–82), and the
6th (1972–74 and 1982–2012). The only time the county has not been in a single congressional district was between 1966 and 1972, when it was divided between the northern half in the 1st district and the southern half in the 6th district.
"Marin County hot-tubber"
In 2002, former U.S. President
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...
denounced convicted American Taliban associate
John Walker Lindh as "some misguided Marin County hot-tubber," as a reference to the county's liberal, "
hippie" political culture, mispronouncing "Marin" as he did so. Outraged by the label, some local residents wrote scathing letters to the ''
Marin Independent Journal'', complaining of Bush's remarks. In response, Bush wrote a letter to readers in the same newspaper, admitting regret and promising to not use the phrases ''Marin County'' and ''hot tub'' "in the same sentence again."
Transportation
Major highways
*
Interstate 580
*
U.S. Route 101 (Redwood Highway)
*
State Route 1
*
State Route 37
*
State Route 131 (Tiburon Boulevard)
Public transportation
Golden Gate Transit provides service primarily along the U.S. 101 corridor, serving cities in Marin County, as well as San Francisco and
Sonoma County. Service is also provided to
Contra Costa County
Contra Costa County (; ''Contra Costa'', Spanish language, Spanish for 'Opposite Coast') is a U.S. county, county located in the U.S. state of California, in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2020 United States census, the ...
via the
Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. Ferries to San Francisco operate from Larkspur, Sausalito and Tiburon. Ferry service from Tiburon is provided by Golden Gate Ferry, Blue and Gold Fleet and by the
Angel Island Ferry.
Local bus routes within Marin County are operated by Golden Gate Transit under contract with
Marin Transit. Marin Transit also operates the
West Marin Stage, serving communities in the western, rural areas of Marin County, the Muir Woods Shuttle, and 6 community shuttle routes.
The
Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit system, which began service in August 2017, is a
commuter rail
Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...
service and bicycle-pedestrian pathway serving Sonoma and Marin counties. service operates from Sonoma County Airport to six stations in Marin ending near Larkspur Landing. Later phases of construction will extend service further north to Cloverdale in Sonoma County.
The Marin Airporter offers scheduled bus service to and from Marin County and the San Francisco Airport.
Greyhound Lines buses service San Rafael.
Airports
Marin County Airport or
Gnoss Field (ICAO: KDVO) is a general aviation airport operated by the County Department of Public Works. The nearest airports with commercial flights are
San Francisco International Airport and
Oakland International Airport, as well as
Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport, which is located north of Marin County.
Education
Marin County Free Library is the county library system. It is headquartered in
San Rafael. In addition, the
Belvedere-Tiburon Library is in
Tiburon.
College of Marin
The College of Marin, (known as Marin Junior College, 1926–1947) is a Public college, public community college in Marin County, California, with two campuses, one in Kentfield, California, Kentfield, and the second in Novato, California, Novat ...
, established in 1926, includes two campuses. The Kentfield Campus is in
Kentfield; the Indian Valley Campus is in
Novato. The college offers more than 40 degree programs leading to an Associate of Arts or Associate of Science degree and over 20 Certificates of Achievement with various specialties. The college serves approximately 9,000 students each term. Approximately 5,700 students enroll in COM's credit program. About 1,300 students enroll in English as a Second Language classes. Approximately 1,900 enroll in community education classes. The college employs about 300 permanent staff and faculty and many part-time employees.
Marin is also home to
Dominican University of California, in San Rafael. Founded as a women's college in 1890 by the Dominican Sisters of San Rafael, it became the first Catholic institution in California to offer bachelor's degrees to women. The college became fully coeducational in 1971, and in 2000 became an independent liberal-arts university, changing from its original name of Dominican College of San Rafael. There are about 1,400 undergraduate and 500 graduate students.
Culture
*
Marin Museum of the American Indian
*
Marin Museum of Contemporary Art
*
Marin Museum of Bicycling
*
Museum of International Propaganda
*
The Space Station Museum
Economy
As of 2011, the largest private-sector employers in Marin County were:
#
Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente (; KP) is an American integrated delivery system, integrated managed care consortium headquartered in Oakland, California. Founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney Garfield, Sidney R. Garfield, the ...
(1,803 full-time employees in Marin County)
#
MarinHealth (1,100)
#
Fireman's Fund Insurance Company (950)
#
Autodesk
Autodesk, Inc. is an American multinational software corporation that provides software products and services for the architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, media, education, and entertainment industries. Autodesk is headquarte ...
(878)
#
BioMarin Pharmaceutical (871)
#
Safeway Inc. (841)
#
Comcast
Comcast Corporation, formerly known as Comcast Holdings,Before the AT&T Broadband, AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation, not th ...
(620)
#
Macy's (380)
# Bradley Real Estate (376)
#
MHN (350)
#
Dominican University of California (346)
#
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with a significant global presence. The company operates in 35 countries and serves over 70 million customers worldwide. It is a systemically important fi ...
(332)
# Kentfield Rehabilitation and Specialty Hospital (315)
# Community Action Marin (268)
#
Costco
Costco Wholesale Corporation is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only big-box warehouse club retail stores. As of 2021, Costco is the third-largest retailer in the world, and as of August 2024, Cos ...
(260)
# Brayton Purcell (256)
#
CVS/pharmacy (232)
#
Novato Community Hospital (227)
#
Lucasfilm (220)
#
FICO (200+)
#
Mollie Stone's Markets (190)
#
Guide Dogs for the Blind (189)
# W. Bradley Electric (185)
# Bank of Marin (178)
# Cagwin & Dorward (175)
# Ghilotti Bros. (145)
# West Bay Builders (133)
# Villa Marin (130)
The 2013 gross value of all agricultural production in Marin County was about $84 million; of this, more than $63 million was from the sale of livestock and their products (milk, eggs, wool, etc.). Only 175 acres were planted to grapes.
As of the fourth quarter 2021, Marin County had a median home value of $1,090,583, an increase of 11% from the prior year.
Media
Marin County receives
media from the rest of the Bay Area.
The county also has several media outlets that serve the local community:
* ''
Marin Magazine'', a monthly lifestyle magazine with headquarters in
Sausalito.
* ''
Marin Independent Journal'', a daily newspaper with headquarters in
San Rafael.
* ''
Pacific Sun'', a free weekly distributed throughout the county.
* ''
Novato Advance'', a weekly newspaper that serves Marin's second-largest city.
* The ''
Point Reyes Light'', a weekly newspaper.
*
KWMR radio, West Marin Radio, in
Point Reyes.
* Channel 26,
public-access television
Public-access television (sometimes called community-access television) is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is Narrowcasting, narrowcast through cable tele ...
cable TV in Marin.
* ''Marin Local Music'', Music listings for Marin's Restaurants & Venues who host live music.
*''
San Francisco Examiner'', Rick Marianetti, Marin County Culture & Events.
*''The Patch'', a local newspaper that serves Mill Valley, Marin's third-largest city.
Communities
Cities and towns
*
Belvedere
*
Corte Madera
*
Fairfax
*
Larkspur
*
Mill Valley
*
Novato
*
Ross
*
San Anselmo
*
San Rafael
*
Sausalito
*
Tiburon
Census-designated places
*
Alto
The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: '' altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In four-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in ch ...
*
Black Point-Green Point
*
Bolinas
*
Dillon Beach
*
Inverness
*
Kentfield
*
Lagunitas-Forest Knolls
*
Lucas Valley-Marinwood
*
Marin City
*
Muir Beach
*
Nicasio
*
Point Reyes Station
*
San Geronimo
*
Santa Venetia
*
Sleepy Hollow
*
Stinson Beach
*
Strawberry
The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown Hybrid (biology), hybrid plant cultivated worldwide for its fruit. The genus ''Fragaria'', the strawberries, is in the rose family, Rosaceae. The fruit ...
*
Tamalpais-Homestead Valley
*
Tomales
*
Woodacre
Unincorporated communities
*
Bel Marin Keys
*
Burdell
*
California Park
*
Dogtown
*
Fallon
*
Greenbrae
*
Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...
*
Ignacio
Ignacio is a male Spanish language, Spanish name originating in the Latin name "Ignatius" from ''ignis'' "fire". This was the name of several saints, including the Ignatius of Antioch, third bishop of Antioch (who was thrown to wild beasts by emp ...
*
Inverness Park
*
Las Gallinas
*
Los Ranchitos
*
Marconi
*
Marshall
*
Olema
*
Paradise Cay
*
San Quentin
*
Shafter
*
Tocaloma
Population ranking
The population ranking of the following table is based on the
2020 census of Marin County.
† ''county seat''
In popular culture
* The song "
Moon Over Marin" by
hardcore punk
Hardcore punk (commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc) is a punk rock music genre#subtypes, subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots ...
band
Dead Kennedys satirically depicts the pollution in Marin County
* The 1954 science fiction novel ''
The Body Snatchers'' is set in Marin County
* The 1984
Philip K. Dick novel ''
The Man Whose Teeth Were All Exactly Alike'' is set in Marin County.
* The 1992 movie ''
Radio Flyer'' took place in Marin County
See also
*
Gnoss Field
*
Harkleroad wind turbine
*
List of California counties
*
List of people from Marin County, California
*
List of school districts in Marin County, California
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Marin County, California
*
Skywalker Sound, a division of Lucasfilm in Marin County
* ''
I Want It All Now!''
Notes
References
External links
*
Hiking trails in Marin County
{{DEFAULTSORT:California, Marin County,
Marin
Marin
Counties in the San Francisco Bay Area
1850 establishments in California
Populated places established in 1850