San Francisco County · San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley · population 827,526
Where San Francisco stands
Home values up 6.0% in the last year. population shrinking 1.4% per year. rents up 16.4% in the last year.
Home value trajectory · last 10 years
Zillow ZHVI · monthlyLifestyle scores
Scores are heuristic estimates from population density, state, and known transit/walkable cities. Not based on a paid Walk Score / Transit Score API — see methodology for the formula.
Rent trajectory · last 5 years
Zillow ZORI · monthlyHome value vs rent · indexed to 100
Both rebased at first month of ZORI data (~2015)Rent vs buy
At a 27.8 price-to-rent ratio, renting beats buying in San Francisco for most shorter holds. The premium you pay to own would take many years of rent savings to recoup, and that's before maintenance, taxes, and opportunity cost on the down payment.
How the momentum score breaks down
methodology →San Francisco has held up across the cycle: home values at $1,369,171 with -0.0% 5-year CAGR. The bull case is structural — population, location, employer base — and holds even if next year's print is soft.
San Francisco's population is shrinking 1.4% per year. Housing demand has to come from somewhere — if people are leaving, the buyer pool is shrinking faster than the inventory. That eventually shows up in price.
About San Francisco
San Francisco is a city in San Francisco County, California, with an estimated population of 827,526. It anchors the San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley metro area. The population has contracted 1.4% per year on average since 2020. The median home value in San Francisco is $1,369,171 as of 2026-04, up 6.0% over the last 12 months. Over the last five years, home values have averaged -0.0% annual growth (-9.8% from the 5-year peak). Rents in San Francisco average $4,101 per month, up 16.4% year-over-year. The composite momentum score is 51 of 100 (Stable). Conditions are neither hot nor cold, so the local fit matters more than market timing.
▲ Bull case
▼ Bear case
About San Francisco (Wikipedia)
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the fourth-most populous city in California and the 17th-most populous in the United States, with a population of 826,079 in 2025. Among U.S. cities with a population of 200,000 or more, San Francisco is ranked first by per capita income, second by population density, and sixth by aggregate income as of 2024. Some 4.6 million residents live in the city's metropolitan statistical area, which is the 13th-largest in the United States. Around 9.2 million live in the San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland combined statistical area, the fifth-largest in the United States.
Source: Wikipedia · this summary is contributed and licensed under CC-BY-SA.
City facts
Extracted from the Wikipedia infobox. Values may be slightly out of date relative to the latest sources.
Things to see in San Francisco(Tourism and conventions)
- Fisherman's Wharf
- Moscone Center
- Travel Channel
- Golden Gate Bridge
- Alamo Square Park
- Painted Ladies
- Full House
- Lombard Street
- Pier 39
- California sea lions
- Aquarium of the Bay
- Alcatraz Island
+4 more on Wikipedia.
Extracted from the Wikipedia article. Names linked in the source — open the city’s Wikipedia page for details.
Playbook
Lifestyle fit matters more than market timing in a Stable market. Take your time on the home and neighborhood; the macro trend isn't urgent. Negotiate normally.
Price competitively from day one or risk a 60+ day listing. Staging, photography, and presentation matter more in Stable markets than in Hot ones.
Stable cap rates, no big appreciation story to lean on. Underwrite this as a pure cash-flow play — the math has to work on rent alone.
Local safety & alerts
No active National Weather Service alerts for San Francisco County right now.
Public-safety links are official .gov sources, not curated by us. San Francisco County routes NWS alerts; check the state EM portal for non-weather emergencies.
Neighborhoods of San Francisco
107 tracked · ranked by median home valueSee the full neighborhood ranking →
Cities like San Francisco
Run the numbers for San Francisco
Sources: Zillow ZHVI (home values), Zillow ZORI (rents), US Census ACS + place population. Updated when source agencies publish revisions.
Climate & natural-disaster risk
State-level averages from NOAA Climate Normals (1991-2020) and FEMA National Risk Index. City-level conditions can vary significantly within a state.
Local sports teams
Major professional teams the San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley area cheers for. Detailed stats, schedules, and player pages on intherafters.com.
Current weather
Find rentals & listings
Open current San Francisco listings on the major real-estate sites.
Links open the live search on the destination site — results are always current.
Local news & community
Latest news
- Caltrans explores 140 mph ‘bullet buses’ between L.A. and San Francisco — they would connect the cities in just three hoursSecret Los Angeles · 1d ago
- San Francisco Bay property hits the market for just $250 – and the wettest, wildest things to do with your new dream lotNew York Post · 1d ago
- Caltrans considering high-speed bus that would take passengers from San Francisco to Los Angeles on state freeways: Here's a lookABC7 San Francisco · 1h ago
- Michelin Anoints 7 New Bay Area Restaurants in Its California GuideEater San Francisco · 11h ago
- LinkedIn to lay off more than 600 California workers this summerSan Francisco Chronicle · 1d ago
- Man Who Claimed He Was Being Forced To Sell Drugs By Human Traffickers In SF Convicted: DAPatch · 1d ago
Local chatter (Reddit)
Updated 2026-05-21 from Google News + Reddit RSS. Headlines link to original sources.
Local economy & environment
Humidity is annual average relative humidity (NOAA). Income is Census ACS 5-year estimate. Industries are largest employment sectors statewide (BLS); the local mix in a given city may vary.
Cities similar to San Francisco
Explore other places with comparable momentum or affordability.