Why look at South San Francisco?
- High-cost housing. Median home is $1.2M — expensive market.
- Stable market. Home values +1.1% year-over-year — neither overheated nor falling.
- Higher tax state. Top marginal income tax rate around 13.3% — factor into salary comparisons.
Where South San Francisco stands
Population shrinking 0.6% per year. rents up 6.3% 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 26.7 price-to-rent ratio, renting beats buying in South San Francisco for most shorter stays. The premium you pay to own would take many years of saved rent to recover, and that's before maintenance, taxes, and what your down payment could earn elsewhere.
How the momentum score breaks down
methodology →About South San Francisco (Wikipedia)
South San Francisco is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area. The city is colloquially termed "South City". The population was 66,105 at the 2020 census.
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 Values may be slightly out of date relative to the latest sources.
Local safety & alerts
No active National Weather Service alerts for San Mateo County right now.
Public-safety links are official .gov sources, not curated by us. San Mateo County routes NWS alerts; check the state EM portal for non-weather emergencies.
Neighborhoods of South San Francisco
13 tracked · ranked by median home valueRun the numbers for South San Francisco
California context
Schools
South San Francisco is served by 14 public schools enrolling about 6,707 students, with a student-teacher ratio of 19.4:1 — larger classes than the US average of ~15:1. Public-school facts are from the NCES Common Core of Data; check ratings and attendance boundaries by exact address below.
Ratings, districts & boundaries:
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 South 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 in South San Francisco
3 from local press- South San Francisco’s plans for 800 housing units close to breaking ground, but funding remains a challengeLOCALSan Mateo Daily Journal1w ago
- Search Underway For Missing Hiker Near South Lake TahoeLOCALPatch22h ago
- San Francisco could reach the 80s again today. Here’s when — and whyLOCALsfchronicle.com1w ago
- South San Francisco Baseball ScheduleMaxPreps1w ago
- Update: 2.9 magnitude earthquake shakes near San Francisco Zoo, CA on April 25Sacramento Bee1w ago
- Ssf: Police Seek Help Locating Missing 54-Year-Old WomanSFGATE1w ago
Updated 2026-05-28 from Google News + Reddit RSS. Filtered for South San Francisco-specific coverage. 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.
Find more cities like South San Francisco
Open the matchmaker pre-filled to match South San Francisco’s price band, region, and size — refine to taste.
Find more like South San Francisco →Cities similar to South San Francisco
Explore other places with comparable momentum or affordability.
Cost-of-ownership at the median
Snapshot assumes a $150k single earner buying at the median home. Your real numbers depend on bracket, deductions, school district, and HOA. Use the affordability calculator and net-pay calculator for your specific case.
Schools & crime context
School quality is district-by-district and varies dramatically within a city. Check GreatSchools or your state DOE rankings for specific schools before deciding. City-level school data coming soon.
California: 499 violent crimes per 100K residents (state avg, FBI UCR). Neighborhood-level rates can vary 10× within one city — research specific areas via CrimeGrade or local police data.
Compare to where you live now
Set your current city once and we’ll show the cost delta on every city profile.
Jobs & hiring
In South San Francisco, unemployment is very low at 2.8%, and hiring momentum has been steady. The strongest local sectors are tech, healthcare and hospitality & tourism.
Search current openings: