San Francisco County, CA

County Profile

830,235 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for San Francisco County, CA.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

58out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 47% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
OpportunityTop 42% of 1,463 counties measured59
SchoolsTop 34% of 1,377 counties measured63
Growth1,100th of 1,453 counties measured36
Housing affordability1,378th of 1,462 counties measured48
ClimateTop 2% of 1,463 counties measured89
Physical resilience1,008th of 1,463 counties measured45
AccessTop 49% of 1,463 counties measured81
Economic stabilityTop 34% of 1,463 counties measured71
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.9% and median household income $140,970, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

In the public schools here, 47% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 21.5 students for every teacher.

Buying strains owner incomes far more than renting strains renter incomes — the median home is 7.3 times what its owners earn, against a historic benchmark near three — while rent takes 25% of renter income.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
830,235
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$140,970
Top 1% nationally
Density
17,784/sq mi
46.7 sq mi of land
Median age
40.0
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
San Francisco County
California
Nearest major airport
SFO
37 mi · San Francisco Intl
Median home value
$1,394,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.9%, lower than in 57% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 1.7% over the past year, to 478,682 employed residents.

60% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 99% of measured US counties.

Median household income of $140,970 is higher than in 99% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$140,65298th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$196,94499th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$2,5932024 ACS 5-Year$140,970Top 1%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,2502024 ACS 5-Year$92,289Top 1%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$162,335Top 1%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year10.6%Top 31%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.3 min2024 ACS 5-Year33.1 minBottom 12%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year60.3%Top 1%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year28.6%1st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 2026478,682Top 4%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−4.5%Bottom 8%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−1.7%Bottom 29%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 2026498,29296th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year85.1%Top 6%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year18.7%99th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.5%Top 27%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.9%Top 43%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year31.0%99th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/075.92.6
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.9% in July 2026. It has been rising for the last 2 months, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

2021202220232024141k126k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $140,970 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides119,120$35,950
Software Developers69,030$186,640
Fast Food and Counter Workers49,970$43,870
General and Operations Managers43,520$149,990
Registered Nurses41,750$186,610
Retail Salespersons39,460$43,850

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

47% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 55% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 21.5 students for every full-time teacher across 116 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
128
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
21.5
across 116 of them
Math proficiency
46.6%
Top 17% in California
Reading proficiency
55.4%
Top 29% in California
The 12 largest of 128 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Five Keys Independence HS (SF Sheriff's) · charterFive Keys Independence HS (SF Sheriff's) District3,44733.53%32%
Lowell HighSan Francisco Unified2,57121.183%92%
Lincoln (Abraham) HighSan Francisco Unified2,07422.549%65%
Washington (George) HighSan Francisco Unified2,06822.555%65%
Galileo HighSan Francisco Unified1,75019.952%70%
Balboa HighSan Francisco Unified1,23820.339%62%
Giannini (A.P.) MiddleSan Francisco Unified1,18323.769%78%
Burton (Phillip and Sala) Academic HighSan Francisco Unified1,04719.429%58%
Mission HighSan Francisco Unified99316.88%30%
Presidio MiddleSan Francisco Unified99221.168%73%
Hoover (Herbert) MiddleSan Francisco Unified96323.557%61%
Aptos MiddleSan Francisco Unified91121.250%58%

54.3% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against California’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 18% above the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 117.6, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, CA Metropolitan Division is up 18% over five years, but down 0.3% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $9,862 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.71% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $3,604, some 46% above the $2,476 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $3,604 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $144,200 a year, about 102% of the median household income here of $140,970.

The typical renter household here spends 25% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $2,476 a month.

A median home at $1,394,500 costs 7.3 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $190,856, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Cost of living
117.6

Prices here run about 18% above the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
25.1%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
7.3×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$3,604
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$2,476
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$1,394,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against San Francisco County’s median household income of $140,970, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA Metro Area’s figure2023117.6Bottom 1%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, CA Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2−0.3%4th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, CA Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+17.5%2nd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, CA Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+31.6%1st percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year7.3Bottom 1%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year38.2%1st percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±4032024 ACS 5-Year414,60298th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$2,977Bottom 1%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$4,604Bottom 1%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$3,604Bottom 1%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$302024 ACS 5-Year$2,476Bottom 1%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$20,6422024 ACS 5-Year$1,394,50099th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$2152024 ACS 5-Year$9,86299th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$4,6992024 ACS 5-Year$190,856Top 1%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.02%2024 ACS 5-Year0.71%41st percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year25.1%Top 27%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±9182024 ACS 5-Year8,56497th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year2.1%43rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year10.1%57th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2,0632024 ACS 5-Year50,63299th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

36/ 100
Ranks 1,100 of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was upward, in a series running from 2020 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has fallen 5% since 2020, to 827,526 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 1,644 units authorized in 2025, up 119% on the prior year.

96% of the 1,622 units permitted over the past twelve months are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

Federal tax returns show San Francisco County lost about 1.0% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $140,652, below the $196,944 of households that moved out.

At 2.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
1,622
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.0
Bottom 36% nationally
Year over year
+28%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
95.9%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024875k814k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been rising for the last 2 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−1.0%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
37%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$140,652
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$196,944
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. San Mateo County, CA 5,242 people · 13% of arrivals
  2. Alameda County, CA 4,335 people · 11% of arrivals
  3. Santa Clara County, CA 3,924 people · 9.7% of arrivals
  4. Contra Costa County, CA 2,309 people · 5.7% of arrivals
  5. Los Angeles County, CA 2,162 people · 5.3% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. San Mateo County, CA 7,071 people · 15% of departures
  2. Alameda County, CA 5,527 people · 12% of departures
  3. Contra Costa County, CA 3,554 people · 7.5% of departures
  4. Santa Clara County, CA 2,813 people · 6.0% of departures
  5. Los Angeles County, CA 2,621 people · 5.6% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2020202120222023202420253k750
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−18%).

Weather & climate

9 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 66°F and January a low of 47°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 22.9 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 33, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.

40°60°80°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station SAN FRANCISCO DWTN, 33.2 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year562024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals22.9"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals47°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals66°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals91991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year02024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year332024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals11°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
33
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
56
90th percentile index
Days above 100
0
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

45 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are earthquake, inland flooding and tsunami, with earthquake alone responsible for 78% of it.

EarthquakeElevated
Inland floodingModerate
TsunamiModerate
DroughtModerate

Low or minimal exposure: landslide, heat wave, coastal flooding, tornado, lightning, wildfire, volcanic activity, hail, strong wind, winter weather, cold wave, ice storm, hurricane, avalanche.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

San Francisco County records 3.7 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 4.7 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 52.9 per 100,000 residents in San Francisco County.

Homicide
3.7
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
4.7
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
52.9
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
9.0
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe San Francisco County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest San Francisco Intl at 37 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year93.0%Top 8%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle37 miBottom 48%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle4Top 43%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year4.3%Top 7%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
San Francisco IntlSFO37 mi11,870 ft
Oakland San Francisco BayOAK44 mi10,520 ft
Mineta San Jose IntlSJC65 mi11,000 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
58
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
Housing, IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

Cities in San Francisco County, CA

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.