REPORTS. From Urban Habitat July 2025. Authored by Amanda Chang & Susie Flores. Designed by Katia Escobar.
“La Vida En El Campo: Farmworker Stories from the San Mateo County Coast” authored by Amanda Chang & Susie Flores. Designed by Katia Escobar.
From nurturing seeds to caring for livestock, farmworkers sustain life for so many in the Bay Area. They take great pride in their work, but life is not so easy for campesinos.
For decades, farmworkers on the coast of San Mateo County have endured deplorable housing conditions, rising rents, and harassment. No longer content to wait for change, farmworkers are organizing themselves to improve their community.
In partnership with Coastside Hope and Puente, we had the opportunity to speak to 22 farmworkers on the Coastside who shared their experiences in the hopes of building a future where everyone can live in a dignified home.
and
“Semillas Del Cambio: Advancing Dignified Housing for Farmworkers on the San Mateo County Coast” authored by Amanda Chang and Susie Flores.
San Mateo County is the third wealthiest county in the nation, with a median income of $156,000.1
It is also home to one of the country’s most marginalized and undervalued communities: farmworkers.
Largely indigenous and immigrant communities, farmworkers in San Mateo County typically live and work in the unincorporated coastal rural towns known as the Coastside.
The Silicon Valley Community Foundation’s 2024 report on farmworker housing estimates that there are roughly 1,300 to 1,600 farmworkers on the Coastside. A quarter of these are seasonal workers, and over 80% have lived in the Bay Area for more than six years. Although agricultural work is year-round, the amount of hours available varies depending on the time of year, with the winter months being much less busy. So, while farmworkers’ median hourly wage in the region is $16.30, this ends up only equating to $20,000 – $30,000 annually, depending on one’s hours.
With such low wages it is difficult for farmworkers to afford housing in San Mateo County, one of the most expensive real estate markets in the country. Federal sources of assistance, such as Section 8, are often not an option due to their immigration status. Many farmworkers seek assistance from local organizations such as Ayudando Latinos A Soñar (ALAS), Coastside Hope, and Puente de la Costa Sur (Puente). These nonprofits provide vital information, assistance, and a sense of community to farmworkers living on the Coastside. But their help only goes so far in the face of inadequate funding and longstanding classist, racist, and xenophobic policies that keep wages far too low and make it difficult to access social benefits.
Farmworkers live in a unique intersection of immigration, race, and class that has led to decades of abuse and poor conditions. In response, farmworkers have generated a long history of organizing for change.
This report seeks to provide policymakers, philanthropic funders, and other stakeholders with a deeper understanding of farmworkers’ housing challenges in order to craft effective policies to build a future where everyone can live in a dignified home.
In partnership with Coastside Hope and Puente, we spoke with 22 farmworkers who shared their expertise, experiences, and the solutions they seek.
Through sharing their background, their hopes, their concerns, and possible solutions, we aim to inspire meaningful action by San Mateo County funders and policymakers to improve housing on the Coastside. It is well past time to follow the lead of farmworkers to find solutions to the housing crisis.
Section 1 of this report shares farmworkers’ experiences and challenges with housing: low wages
but high costs; uninhabitable conditions; extreme overcrowding; fear of retaliation; fear of accidents and unemployment; unique challenges facing families; migration debt; and increased displacement.
Section 2 identifies problems in current laws and enforcement, and also provides recommendations on how to solve these challenges by supporting farmworkers’ organizing, implementing tenant protections, strengthening housing inspections, advancing community ownership models, and empowering farmworker administrative bodies.
More on Coastside Hope and Puente and ALAS on Coastside Buzz
Author: mdrag
x
