San Francisco, California had 826,079 residents as of July 1, 2025 (U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025), ranking #17 nationally and #4 in California. cost of living runs 16% above the U.S. average (BEA RPP 2024); a family of four needs roughly $216,454/yr to break even (2025 modeled). This profile draws on 12 federal datasets covering population, housing, income, employment, climate, and risk.
Population shrank 6.0% from the April 2020 base to mid-2025.
Vintage 2025 · annual estimates
Recent history (V2025 series, 2020 base → 2025).
2020 base: 878,550 → 2025: 826,079 (-6.0%)
Year
Population
Reference date
2020 base
878,550
April 1, 2020
2020
875,139
July 1, 2020
2021
816,169
July 1, 2021
2022
813,266
July 1, 2022
2023
816,926
July 1, 2023
2024
820,945
July 1, 2024
2025
826,079
July 1, 2025
Earlier history (2010–2019, prior Census vintage)
These figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Vintage 2019 release — a separate, earlier methodology. They’re shown here as historical context only; the 2010 and 2019 values aren’t directly comparable to the 2020–2025 series above.
Population grew 9.5% from 2010 to 2019 (V2019 — see seam note below).
2010 base: 805,184 → 2019: 881,549 (+9.4%)
Year
Population
Reference date
2010 base
805,184
April 1, 2010
2010
805,505
July 1, 2010
2011
815,650
July 1, 2011
2012
828,876
July 1, 2012
2013
839,572
July 1, 2013
2014
850,750
July 1, 2014
2015
863,010
July 1, 2015
2016
871,512
July 1, 2016
2017
878,040
July 1, 2017
2018
880,696
July 1, 2018
2019
881,549
July 1, 2019
What's the median income in San Francisco?
Median household income is 81% above the U.S. median ($140,970 vs $77,719); 11.2% live in poverty — 1.3 points below the 12.5% U.S. rate.
Income and poverty estimates for San Francisco from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year estimates (window 2020–2024). Every figure is shown with its 90% margin of error (MOE). Cells where the ± margin exceeds half the estimate are flagged "low precision." See methodology §12.
Measure
Estimate
± margin / note
Median household income
140,970+81.4% vs US
±2,593
Per capita income
92,289+113.2% vs US
±1,250
Population in poverty
11.2%
share of population for whom poverty status is determined
Median home value is 360% above the U.S. median ($1,394,500 vs $303,400); median rent is 84% above ($2,476 vs $1,348); price-to-income ratio is 9.9×, making it 2.5× as cost-burdened as the typical U.S. city (3.9×).
Poverty (Census SAIPE 2024, model-based), unemployment (BLS LAUS 2024 annual averages), and remote-work share (ACS 2020–2024) for San Francisco. Numbers are labeled at their native grain — place-grain when BLS publishes it, otherwise per-county. We do not compute population-weighted county averages. See methodology §13.
Measure
Value
Grain
Unemployment rate (annual avg)
3.9%
San Francisco (BLS sub-state LAUS)
Civilian labor force
510,384
2024 annual avg
Worked from home
31.0%+121.4% vs US
share of workers 16+ commuting from home · U.S. median: 14% · ACS
County context — San Francisco sits in San Francisco County:
County
Poverty rate
Median HH income
Unemployment
San Francisco County
11.3%
$137,184
3.9%
Top industries by private employment — NAICS supersectors rolled up from San Francisco's linked county in the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW, 2024 annual averages). See methodology §11.
#
Industry (NAICS supersector)
Private employment
Avg weekly wage
#1
Professional and technical services (54)
134,774
$4,901 / wk
#2
Health care and social assistance (62)
83,484
$1,360 / wk
#3
Accommodation and food services (72)
66,739
$900 / wk
#4
Information (51)
59,506
$6,592 / wk
#5
Finance and insurance (52)
38,782
$7,320 / wk
What workers earn in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro — top occupations by employment plus six curated benchmarks (registered nurse, software developer, elementary teacher, general manager, retail salesperson, truck driver). Wages are metro-area medians from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2024). See methodology §25.
Occupation
Employment
Median annual
Median hourly
Home Health and Personal Care Aides
109,070
$35,870
$17.24
Fast Food and Counter Workers
47,330
$40,470
$19.46
Cashiers
40,350
$39,520
$19.00
Office Clerks, General
35,750
$55,790
$26.82
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand
33,130
$48,220
$23.18
Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners
31,140
$43,530
$20.93
Software Developers · benchmark
76,900
$174,910
$84.09
General and Operations Managers · benchmark
42,330
$152,090
$73.12
Registered Nurses · benchmark
40,750
$188,020
$90.40
Retail Salespersons · benchmark
37,380
$42,490
$20.43
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers · benchmark
16,870
$64,210
$30.87
Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education · benchmark
All items run 15.6% above the U.S. average (RPP 115.6); rents run 94.7% above (RPP 194.7) — the metro's housing premium is the main driver.
BEA Regional Price Parity (all items)
RPP 115.6
+15.6% vs U.S. average · BEA 2024 · San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro
HUD Fair Market Rent, 2-BR
$3,604/mo
FY2026 · San Francisco, CA HUD Metro FMR Area
State income tax (top marginal rate)
12.30%
9 brackets · TY2025
Family-of-four monthly budget total
$18,038/mo
3BR rent + food + childcare + taxes + transport · federal sources
Single-adult monthly budget total
$7,627/mo
1BR rent + food + taxes + transport · federal sources
Local income tax
—
not applicable in California · no modeled local income tax
Household budget figures are arithmetic floors using current federal sources at the grains documented in methodology. Not a recommended salary, not a poverty threshold, not a composite score.
34.0% foreign-born (U.S. median 14%); Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese) is the most-spoken language at home other than English (17.5% of residents 5+).
Where San Francisco's residents come from and what they speak at home, from the ACS 5-Year 2020–2024. Foreign-born is the share of residents born outside the U.S. (any citizenship status); language-at-home is reported only for residents 5 and older.
Measure
Value
± margin / note
Foreign-born share
34.0%+143.2% vs US
share of residents born outside the U.S. · U.S. median: 14% · ACS B05002
Speak only English at home
56.4%
share of population 5+ · ACS C16001 line 2
Top non-English language at home
Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)17.5%
most-spoken language other than English among residents 5+ · ACS C16001 collapsed buckets
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) for San Francisco from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. See methodology §15 for the gridded vs. station source path.
Avg July high
—
Hottest typical month, daytime
Avg January low
—
Coldest typical month, overnight
Annual precipitation
30.0 in763 mm
Sum of monthly normals
Hottest / coldest month
—
Monthly normals (12 rows)
Month
Avg high (°F)Avg high (°C)
Avg low (°F)Avg low (°C)
Precip (in)Precip (mm)
Jan
—
—
5.44138
Feb
—
—
5.79147
Mar
—
—
3.8297
Apr
—
—
2.5465
May
—
—
1.0126
Jun
—
—
0.5013
Jul
—
—
0.144
Aug
—
—
0.297
Sep
—
—
0.154
Oct
—
—
1.2632
Nov
—
—
2.8873
Dec
—
—
6.21158
Source: Nearest GHCN 1991-2020 normals station: BOLINAS 0.2 W (US1CAMR0030), 21.9 mi from city centroid · methodology →
How safe is San Francisco from natural disasters?
Composite risk score: 99.5/100 — Very High nationally; top hazard: Earthquake (99.8).
Natural-hazard exposure for San Francisco from the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index (FEMA NRI March 2023). NRI is an expected-annual-loss composite calibrated on 1996–2019 historical losses, published at the U.S. county grain. See methodology §17.
County
NRI composite
Rating
Top hazards
San Francisco County
99.5
Very High
Earthquake · score 99.8 · Very High
Riverine Flooding · score 98.6 · Relatively High
Landslide · score 98.4 · Relatively High
Source: FEMA National Risk Index · FEMA NRI March 2023 · methodology →
Internet & broadband.
23 non-satellite ISPs serve the area; 60% of locations have gigabit-capable service per ISP filings.
Fixed broadband availability for San Francisco from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's Broadband Data Collection (BDC), as of June 30, 2025. Every speed and provider count below is an ISP-reported advertised maximum — not measured throughput. Actual delivered speeds typically run 60–80% of advertised. See methodology §16.
Measure
Value
Note
Providers serving this city
23 + satellite
distinct ISPs, excluding satellite-only
Fiber providers
17
offer fiber-to-the-premises somewhere in the BDC
Units with ≥100/20 Mbps fixed
100.0%
share of broadband-serviceable units, ISP-reported max
Locations with ≥100 Mbps upload
59.6%
derived: max(fiber ≥100/20, gigabit). Fiber is symmetric; gigabit is ≥100 up by definition
Units with ≥1 Gbps fixed
59.6%
share of broadband-serviceable units, ISP-reported max
Total broadband-serviceable units
466,854
residential locations in the FCC Fabric (not households)
Source: FCC BDC · as of June 30, 2025 · methodology →
In-state context.
San Francisco sits at state rank #4 among 483 cities in California. Nearby in the state ranking:
San Francisco is ranked #17 of 19,483 U.S. cities by 2025 population.
Just above in the profiled set: Indianapolis, IN · #16 · 910,638 residents.
Just below in the profiled set: Louisville, KY · #18 · 795,222 residents.
Quick travel facts for San Francisco
Quick travel facts.
Nearest commercial airport
San Francisco International Airport(SFO) ·
37 mi 59 km from city centroid
Sources: elevation from USGS Elevation Point Query Service (3DEP) · nearest airport from OurAirports CSV (FAA-aligned, type=large/medium, scheduled_service=yes) · best months derived from NOAA 1991-2020 normals · methodology →
Sources · provenance
Every listed dataset is used on this page.
The GEOID for San Francisco is 0667000. These are the official datasets used by this profile's main data modules; click "methodology" for inclusion rules and the V2019 ↔ V2025 seam, or "source" for the raw publisher page.
