San Francisco, California population is 826,079 as of July 1, 2025 (U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 estimate), 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.
At a glance.
2025 population
826,079
+5,134 in the last year
Top 1% of 19,483 U.S. cities
Census Vintage 2025
Cost of living
RPP 115.6
+16% vs US
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro · BEA 2024
Family-of-4 budget
$216,454/yr
+170% vs US
Modeled 2025 · federal sources
Median HH income
$140,970
+81% vs US
ACS 2020–2024 5-yr
Median home value
$1,394,500
+360% vs US
ACS 2020–2024 5-yr
2-BR fair-market rent
$3,604/mo
HUD FY2026 · 40th pct
Gigabit broadband
60%
ISP-reported, FCC BDC
How many people live in San Francisco?
826,079 people live in San Francisco as of July 1, 2025 (U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025), the #17 largest U.S. city.
Source detail: 2025 population
2025 population
Source agency
U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division
Dataset
Census PEP
Vintage / period
Vintage 2025 (Jul 1, 2025)
Native geography
Census PEP subcounty place records for the included city universe.
Transformation
Copied from POPESTIMATE2025, joined by Census GEOID, and used for ranks, filters, and city pages.
Known limit: Annual estimate, not a decennial count; each new PEP vintage can revise the prior series.
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 9.4% from the July 2010 estimate to 2019 (V2019 — see seam note below).
San Francisco is the #17 largest of 19,483 U.S. cities and #4 in California.
▸ Show the analyst detail (9 rows)
Measure
Value
Note
2020 base
878,550
April 1, 2020 census base
5-yr change
-52,471
2020 base → 2025; within V2025
5-yr change %
-6.0%
within V2025 only
1-yr change
+5,134
2024 → 2025 estimate
1-yr change %
+0.6%
within V2025 only
Density
17,695
people per sq mi, land only
Land area
46.7
sq mi (2025 Gazetteer)
U.S. rank by population
#17
of 19,483 cities
State rank by population
#4
of 483 in California
What is the median household 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.
Median household income$140,970
US
San Francisco: $140,970 — 81% above the US median of $77,719.
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of cities with ACS income data
San Francisco
$140,970
United States
$77,719
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×).
Median home value$1,394,500
US
San Francisco: $1,394,500 — 360% above the US median of $303,400.
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of cities with ACS home-value data
HUD 2-BR fair-market rent$3,604/mo
US
San Francisco: $3,604/mo — 235% above the US median of $1,077/mo.
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of cities with a HUD Fair Market Rent
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 2025). See methodology §25.
Home Health and Personal Care Aides is the largest tracked occupation in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro (119,120 jobs, median $35,950/yr).
▸ Show all 12 occupations
Occupation
Employment
Median annual
Median hourly
Home Health and Personal Care Aides
119,120
$35,950
$17.28
Fast Food and Counter Workers
49,970
$43,870
$21.09
Cashiers
38,250
$41,270
$19.84
Office Clerks, General
37,590
$52,000
$25.00
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand
30,710
$48,400
$23.27
Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel
29,980
$96,960
$46.61
Software Developers · benchmark
69,030
$186,640
$89.73
General and Operations Managers · benchmark
43,520
$149,990
$72.11
Registered Nurses · benchmark
41,750
$186,610
$89.71
Retail Salespersons · benchmark
39,460
$43,850
$21.08
Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education · benchmark
17,860
$101,860
—
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers · 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.
Cost of living (RPP, all items)RPP 115.6
US
San Francisco's cost of living runs 15.6% above the U.S. average (RPP 115.6 vs 100).
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of metro/non-metro areas with a BEA price parity
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+).
A quick read on San Francisco's residents — nativity and languages spoken at home shown above, from the ACS 5-Year 2020–2024. The full demographic breakdown (age, race and ethnicity, household types, and educational attainment, each with its margin of error) lives on the demographics page.
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 December 2025 v1.20.0). 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 99.8 Very High · Riverine Flooding 98.6 Relatively High · Landslide 98.4 Relatively High
Source: FEMA National Risk Index · FEMA NRI December 2025 v1.20.0 · methodology →
How fast is home internet in San Francisco?
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 →
How much crime is reported in San Francisco?
In 2024, law enforcement reported 4,789 violent and 31,545 property offenses in the San Francisco jurisdiction — a violent-crime rate of 596.5 per 100,000, above the U.S. estimate of 359.1.
Reported offenses known to law enforcement from the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program (CIUS Table 8), 2024. Figures describe the FBI agency jurisdiction: San Francisco — an FBI jurisdiction population of 802,856, versus the Census place population of 826,079. The rate per 100,000 is the FBI's own (count ÷ that jurisdiction population), never divided by the Census place figure. These are reported crimes under voluntary participation — not measured or victimization crime — and the FBI cautions against using them to rank or compare places. See methodology §31.
Offenses known, 2024
Count
Rate /100k
U.S. rate
Violent crime
4,789
596.5
359.1
Property crime
31,545
3,929.1
1,760.1
▸ Offense breakdown and 3-year trend
Offense, 2024
Count
Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter
35
Rape
280
Robbery
2,145
Aggravated assault
2,329
Burglary
5,118
Larceny-theft
21,026
Motor vehicle theft
5,401
Arson (12-month reporters only)
266
Year
Violent /100k
Property /100k
Jurisdiction pop.
2022
696.1
6,245.5
764,693
2023
710.2
5,712.5
782,846
2024
596.5
3,929.1
802,856
Only years the agency reported a complete 12 months appear; the FBI does not estimate missing agency-years, so a gap is a non-reporting year, not zero crime.
U.S. rate is the FBI national estimate (imputes non-reporting agencies); the city figures are reported-only. Source: FBI UCR CIUS Table 8 (2022–2024) · FBI agency jurisdiction: San Francisco · methodology → · FBI Crime Data Explorer →
In-state context.
San Francisco sits at state rank #4 among 483 cities in California. Nearby in the state ranking:
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 →
Frequently asked questions about San Francisco.
How many people live in San Francisco, CA?
San Francisco has 826,079 residents as of July 1, 2025, making it the #17 largest city in the United States and #4 in California. Source: U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025.
Is San Francisco growing or shrinking?
San Francisco has shrunk 6.0% since the April 2020 census baseline, losing 52,471 residents. The most recent year ticked up slightly (+5,134 residents, +0.6% from 2024 to 2025). Source: Census PEP Vintage 2025.
What was San Francisco's population in the 2020 census?
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. The headline population value above includes a source-detail disclosure with publisher, dataset, vintage, native geography, transformation, and caveat.
