The elevation of the city ranges from approximately above sea level; the relief transitions from warm lowland to cool upland as one goes eastward. This is because the city is part of the Sierra Madre mountain range. Plains and river valley flats characterize the western and southwestern quadrant. The central portion and much of its eastern section are made up of undulating hills with low relief. High relief areas and moderate slopes best describe its extreme eastern and northwestern quadrant. Slopes of 3%-8% are extensively found in the city, particularly in the western half. Slopes of 30%-50% comprise the smallest portion of the total land area. The rivers and creeks that flow in San Jose del Monte are from the Sierra Madre montain range. Major natural waterways of San Jose del Monte are the Kipungok, Santo Cristo, and Santa Maria River systems. Kipungok River separates San Jose del Monte from Caloocan and Rodriguez. It is directly connected to the Marilao River, which flows downwards to
Manila Bay. Draining to these rivers are creeks and streams, which act as catchment areas for the surface water runoff of the city. Among these are the Bigte, Kantulot, Katinga, and Salamin creeks. Located in the southeast of the province, it is bordered by the cities of
Caloocan and
Quezon City in
Metro Manila to the south, by the municipality of
Rodríguez in
Rizal to the east, the municipalities of
Santa María and
Marilao to the west and
Norzagaray to the north. San Jose del Monte is from
Malolos and from
Manila. The city is home to some of the biggest resettlement areas in the Philippines like the Sapang Palay resettlement area spread over 36 barangays in second district, Pabahay 2000 in Barangay Muzon South, San Jose Del Monte Heights in Barangay Muzon East, Towerville I-V in Barangay Minuyan Proper, and Towerville VI in Barangay Gaya-Gaya. Most of the city's population come from former informal settlers along the creeks, esteros, riverbanks and railway tracks of Metro Manila. Many private residential subdivisions have also been established in the city.
General Land Use Growing commercial, residential, and light industrial areas, are found all over the city at major road intersections and along major thoroughfares. However, the bulk of San Jose del Monte's built-up areas are mostly west of Quirino Highway at the primary level to gently sloping 8% terrain, dividing the city into a heavily built-up western section and the largely agricultural eastern section. Most of the city's schools, government institutions, commercial developments, industries, and other urban amenities are in this section. The largest contiguous built-up area is at Sapang Palay Resettlement Project area, followed by the conurbation in Tungkong Mangga and Muzon. The developments east of the Quirino Highway are mostly scattered residential areas and agricultural lands. However, there are a few subdivisions that are some distance away from Ciudad Real and take advantage of its secluded and rural atmosphere. These are the Blessed Sacrament Seminary and an Augustinian convent. In between the built-up clusters are pockets of agricultural lands, which are continuously converted into built-up uses. Planted in these lands are crops such as
rice and
corn. The clustering pattern for both built-up and agricultural uses is partly due to the decisions made by settlers about the hilly conditions that dominate the topography. Most households in the western half of San Jose del Monte opted to convert their lands to residential uses while others maintained the farms. This left upland uses, such as those about forest use, more common towards the easternmost zones. Most vegetative outgrowths are in areas that are difficult to build on. But there are instances when these outgrowths are integrated into the built-up areas, usually found in the West: several heavily vegetated areas. Supplementing these are mini forest projects of the city government. The City Agriculture Office maintains a Mini Forest Project in Barangay Muzon along the San Jose del Monte–Marilao Road and a mahogany planting site.
Climate Barangays San Jose del Monte is politically subdivided into 62
barangays, as shown in the matrix below. Each barangay consists of
puroks and some have
sitios. It was originally made up of only five barangays: Población, Halang (Muzon), Sapang Palay, Santo Cristo, and Gaya-Gaya. Over time, these five mother barangays were divided to provide better accommodation for the people, particularly in the Sapang Palay Resettlement Area (Hacienda de Sapang Palay), which stretches to Minuyan. There is an ongoing land dispute with the municipality of Norzagaray, Bulacan regarding both territories. Such disputes can be located in the upper portion of Assumption, the eastern portion of Santo Niño II, the eastern portion of San Martín de Porres, the eastern portion of Lawang Pari, the eastern portion of Minuyan Proper, Kaybanban, San Roque, Paradise III, San Isidro, the upper portion of Tungkong Mangga, the upper portion of Ciudad Real barangays in San José del Monte and lower portion of Tigbe, the lower portion of Bitungol, the lower portion of Minuyan, lower portion of Bigte, lower portion of San Mateo (Sitio Karahume), mountainous portion of San Lorenzo in Norzagaray. Historical maps of Bulacan, before the creation of Doña Remedios Trinidad, indicate that
both territories of San José del Monte and Norzagaray stretch up to
Tayabas province. These barangays are grouped into two districts, the first with a ZIP Code of 3023, and the second with 3024. Twenty-six (26) barangays comprise the first district while the 36 barangays located in Sapang Palay compose the second district. The city's former administrative center was located in Población 1, which is now transferred to Dulong Bayan, which is now the city's new seat of government. San Jose del Monte has 4 major urban centers, called nodes: Muzon node (consisting of the four barangays of Muzon), Poblacion node (consisting of the two barangays of Población), Sapang Palay node (consisting of the barangays surrounding Sampol Market), and Tungkong Mangga node. The most recently created barangays are Muzon Proper, Muzon East, Muzon West, and Muzon South created by dividing Barangay Muzon. The four barangays were made through the approval of a law on 25 March 2023 through a referendum. ==Demographics==