State
Land Area
46.9 sq mi
Density
18,831.60/sq mi
2020 Growth Rate
0.10%
Growth Since 2010
9.69%
Rank in State
Rank in Country
Metro Population
4,742,780
San Francisco is a city located in California. With a 2020 population of 883,255, it is the 4th largest city in California (after , , and ) and the 17th largest city in the United States. San Francisco is currently growing at a rate of 0.10% annually and its population has increased by 9.69% since the most recent census, which recorded a population of 805,235 in 2010. San Francisco reached it's highest population of 883,255 in 2021. Spanning over 232 miles, San Francisco has a population density of 18,832 people per square mile.
The average household income in San Francisco is $160,396 with a poverty rate of 10.34%. The median rental costs in recent years comes to $1,895 per month, and the median house value is $1.10 Mn. The median age in San Francisco is 38.2 years, 37.9 years for males, and 38.6 years for females. For every 100 females there are 104.1 males.
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is located in Northern California and the San Francisco Bay. It's the state's only consolidated city-county, and it's the most densely populated large city in the state of California.
San Francisco is also the 4th most populous city in California (behind Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Jose).
San Francisco experienced its largest population boom from 1848 to 1849, when its population grew a massive 2,400% because of the California Gold Rush. Its population has grown very steadily since then, except for declines during the 1960s through the 1980s, and its population in 2016 is now 864,816. This population only represents the city proper, with a metropolitan area population of around 4.6 million.
San Francisco is also the hub of the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland metropolitan area, which has a population of 8.7 million.
San Francisco is the 13th most populous city in the country with a density of 6,266 people per square mile. It's the second most densely populated city in the country after New York City.
The Chinese population of San Francisco represents the single largest ethnic minority group with 21.4% of the population. Other major Asian groups include: Filipinos (4.5%), Vietnamese (1.6%), Japanese (1.3%), Asian Indians (1.2%), Koreans (1.2%), Thais (0.3%), Burmese (0.2%) and Cambodians (0.2%).
Those of Chinese ancestry are concentrated mostly in Chinatown, Sunset District, and Richmond District. Filipinos are concentrated heavily in Crocker-Amazon and SoMa, and the city has one of the largest Filipino communities outside of the Philippines.
San Francisco's age distribution shows that 13.4% of its population is under 18, 9.6% are 18 to 24, 37.5% are 25 to 44, 25.9% are 45 to 64 and 13.6% are 65 or older. The average age is 38.5 years, and San Francisco has a smaller percentage of children than any other major metropolitan area in the United States.
Interestingly, native-born Californians make up a relatively small percentage of San Francisco's population, as only 37.7% of its people were born in the state, while 25.2% were born in another state in the country. Over one-third of San Francisco's population were born outside the country.
Because San Francisco's non-Hispanic whites make up less than half of its total population, San Francisco is now a minority-majority city. The most common Hispanic groups include Mexicans (7.4%), Salvadoran (2.0%), Nicaraguan (0.9%) and Guatemalan (0.8%). The African American population of the city has dropped over the past few decades. In 1970, 13.4% of San Francisco's population was African American, although today that number is just 6.1%.
San Francisco is also home to the largest percentage of gay and lesbian people in the United States at 15.4%, as well as the highest percentage of same-sex households.
San Francisco is one of the 20 fastest growing cities in the United States. It's estimated that thousands of new residents will call San Francisco home by 2040, and the city Planning Director said that the city would need more than 92,000 more housing units and 191,000 new jobs to accommodate this growth. The Bay Area as a whole will need 1.1 million additional jobs and 660,000 new housing units to provide for an estimated 2.1 million more people who will move to the city by 2040.
The population of San Francisco is projected to reach 969,000 by 2035, which is nearly a 20% increase from today's population, and development is already underway to help the city grow. 80% of the city's growth is likely to occur in just 20% of the city, and the density of San Francisco will only go up.
According to the most recent ACS, the racial composition of San Francisco was:
2019 and 2020 population is estimated by projecting the raw 2018 numbers.
Year | Total Population | Growth | Annual Growth Rate |
---|---|---|---|
2021 | 4,742,780 | 5,490 | 0.12% |
2020 | 4,737,290 | 5,490 | 0.12% |
2019 | 4,731,800 | 5,490 | 0.12% |
2018 | 4,726,310 | 13,890 | 0.29% |
2017 | 4,712,420 | 24,220 | 0.51% |
2016 | 4,688,200 | 40,280 | 0.86% |
2015 | 4,647,920 | 62,940 | 1.35% |
2014 | 4,584,980 | 65,340 | 1.43% |
2013 | 4,519,640 | 64,170 | 1.42% |
2012 | 4,455,470 | 59,750 | 1.34% |
2011 | 4,395,720 | 52,090 | 1.19% |
2010 | 4,343,630 | 0.00% |
Race | Population | Percentage |
---|---|---|
White | 406,056 | 46.41% |
Asian | 301,018 | 34.40% |
Some Other Race | 67,207 | 7.68% |
Two or More Races | 48,713 | 5.57% |
Black or African American | 45,556 | 5.21% |
American Indian and Alaska Native | 3,223 | 0.37% |
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander | 3,188 | 0.36% |
Type | Count | Average Size | Owned |
---|---|---|---|
All | 362,354 | 2.36 | 37.6 |
Non Family | 188,696 | 1.54 | 23.4 |
Married | 132,229 | 3.19 | 55.6 |
Female | 28,607 | 3.5 | 42.2 |
Male | 12,822 | 3.36 | 49.5 |
3.11
Average Family Size
2.36
Average Household Size
Education Attained | Count | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Less Than 9th Grade | 48,579 | 6.99% |
9th to 12th Grade | 31,625 | 4.55% |
High School Graduate | 83,795 | 12.05% |
Some College | 92,789 | 13.34% |
Associates Degree | 34,826 | 5.01% |
Bachelors Degree | 241,699 | 34.76% |
Graduate Degree | 162,017 | 23.30% |
Name | Total | High School | Bachelors |
---|---|---|---|
White | 300,318 | 295,422 | 232,359 |
Asian | 244,388 | 193,765 | 114,133 |
Hispanic | 93,393 | 73,652 | 31,917 |
Other Race | 46,438 | 34,078 | 10,957 |
Black | 34,276 | 30,284 | 10,454 |
Multiple Races | 26,631 | 25,361 | 16,781 |
Native American | 2,422 | 1,921 | 541 |
Islander | 1,982 | 1,738 | 497 |
The highest rate of high school graduation is among white people with a rate of 98.37%.
The highest rate of bachelors degrees is among white people with a rate of 77.37%.
$68,040
Average Earnings
$76,050
Average Male
$60,934
Average Female
57.15% of San Francisco residents speak only English, while 42.85% speak other languages. The non-English language spoken by the largest group is Asian and Pacific Island languages, which is spoken by 25.16% of the population.
Name | Total | In Poverty | Poverty Rate |
---|---|---|---|
Asian | 297,580 | 29,049 | 9.76% |
White | 349,586 | 25,152 | 7.19% |
Hispanic | 130,021 | 17,586 | 13.53% |
Black | 44,181 | 12,667 | 28.67% |
Other | 65,548 | 10,540 | 16.08% |
Multiple | 47,675 | 4,700 | 9.86% |
Native | 3,196 | 530 | 16.58% |
Islander | 3,124 | 515 | 16.49% |
10.34%
Overall Poverty Rate
9.66%
Male Poverty Rate
11.05%
Female Poverty Rate
The race most likely to be in poverty in San Francisco is Black, with 28.67% below the poverty level.
The race least likely to be in poverty in San Francisco is White, with 7.19% below the poverty level.
The poverty rate among those that worked full-time for the past 12 months was 1.22%. Among those working part-time, it was 13.59%, and for those that did not work, the poverty rate was 25.14%.
40.3%
Overall Marriage Rate
40.6%
Male Marriage Rate
40.0%
Female Marriage Rate
The age group where males are most likely to be married is Over 65, while the female age group most likely to be married is 45-54.
Name | Veterans | % of Total |
---|---|---|
White | 13,633 | 3.77% |
Asian | 4,253 | 1.59% |
Black | 3,800 | 9.86% |
Hispanic | 2,241 | 2.12% |
Other | 948 | 1.77% |
2 or More | 811 | 2.60% |
Indian | 89 | 3.36% |
Hawaiian | 85 | 3.32% |
11.87%
Veteran Poverty Rate
30.53%
Veteran Disability Rate
71.1%
Labor Force Participation
68.1%
Employment Rate
4.2%
Unemployment Rate
Non citizens include legal permanent residents (green card holders), international students, temporary workers, humanitarian migrants, and illegal immigrants.
65.72%
Native Born
34.28%
Foreign Born
12.55%
Non Citizen
21.73%
Naturalized
65.72% of San Francisco residents were born in the United States, with 39.48% having been born in California. 12.55% of residents are not US citizens. Of those not born in the United States, the largest percentage are from Asia.
Year | Population | Growth | Annual Growth Rate |
---|---|---|---|
2021 | 883,255 | 853 | 0.10% |
2020 | 882,402 | 853 | 0.10% |
2019 | 881,549 | 853 | 0.10% |
2018 | 880,696 | 2,656 | 0.30% |
2017 | 878,040 | 6,528 | 0.75% |
2016 | 871,512 | 8,502 | 0.99% |
2015 | 863,010 | 12,260 | 1.44% |
2014 | 850,750 | 11,178 | 1.33% |
2013 | 839,572 | 10,696 | 1.29% |
2012 | 828,876 | 13,226 | 1.62% |
2011 | 815,650 | 10,145 | 1.26% |
2010 | 805,505 | 28,772 | 0.36% |
2000 | 776,733 | 52,774 | 0.71% |
1990 | 723,959 | 44,985 | 0.64% |
1980 | 678,974 | -36,700 | -0.53% |
1970 | 715,674 | -24,642 | -0.34% |
1960 | 740,316 | -35,041 | -0.46% |
1950 | 775,357 | 140,821 | 2.02% |
1940 | 634,536 | 142 | 0.00% |
1930 | 634,394 | 127,718 | 2.27% |
1920 | 506,676 | 89,764 | 1.97% |
1910 | 416,912 | 74,130 | 1.98% |
1900 | 342,782 | 43,785 | 1.38% |
1890 | 298,997 | 65,038 | 2.48% |
1880 | 233,959 | 84,486 | 4.58% |
1870 | 149,473 | 92,671 | 10.16% |
1860 | 56,802 | 26,802 | 6.59% |
1850 | 30,000 | 0.00% |