In 2023, the population of the San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley metropolitan area in the United States was about 4.57 million people. This is a slight decrease from the previous year, when the population was about 4.58 million people.

Chart and table of population level and growth rate for the San Francisco metro area from 1950 to 2025.

Graph and download economic data for Resident Population in San Francisco County/city, CA (CASANF0POP) from 1970 to 2024 about San Francisco County/City, CA; San Francisco; residents; CA; population; and USA.

VITAL SIGNS INDICATOR Population (LU1)

FULL MEASURE NAME Population estimates

LAST UPDATED October 2019

DESCRIPTION Population is a measurement of the number of residents that live in a given geographical area, be it a neighborhood, city, county or region.

DATA SOURCES U.S Census Bureau: Decennial Census No link available (1960-1990) http://factfinder.census.gov (2000-2010)

California Department of Finance: Population and Housing Estimates Table E-6: County Population Estimates (1961-1969) Table E-4: Population Estimates for Counties and State (1971-1989) Table E-8: Historical Population and Housing Estimates (2001-2018) Table E-5: Population and Housing Estimates (2011-2019) http://www.dof.ca.gov/Forecasting/Demographics/Estimates/

U.S. Census Bureau: Decennial Census - via Longitudinal Tract Database Spatial Structures in the Social Sciences, Brown University Population Estimates (1970 - 2010) http://www.s4.brown.edu/us2010/index.htm

U.S. Census Bureau: American Community Survey 5-Year Population Estimates (2011-2017) http://factfinder.census.gov

U.S. Census Bureau: Intercensal Estimates Estimates of the Intercensal Population of Counties (1970-1979) Intercensal Estimates of the Resident Population (1980-1989) Population Estimates (1990-1999) Annual Estimates of the Population (2000-2009) Annual Estimates of the Population (2010-2017) No link available (1970-1989) http://www.census.gov/popest/data/metro/totals/1990s/tables/MA-99-03b.txt http://www.census.gov/popest/data/historical/2000s/vintage_2009/metro.html https://www.census.gov/data/datasets/time-series/demo/popest/2010s-total-metro-and-micro-statistical-areas.html

CONTACT INFORMATION vitalsigns.info@bayareametro.gov

METHODOLOGY NOTES (across all datasets for this indicator) All legal boundaries and names for Census geography (metropolitan statistical area, county, city, and tract) are as of January 1, 2010, released beginning November 30, 2010, by the U.S. Census Bureau. A Priority Development Area (PDA) is a locally-designated area with frequent transit service, where a jurisdiction has decided to concentrate most of its housing and jobs growth for development in the foreseeable future. PDA boundaries are current as of August 2019. For more information on PDA designation see http://gis.abag.ca.gov/website/PDAShowcase/.

Population estimates for Bay Area counties and cities are from the California Department of Finance, which are as of January 1st of each year. Population estimates for non-Bay Area regions are from the U.S. Census Bureau. Decennial Census years reflect population as of April 1st of each year whereas population estimates for intercensal estimates are as of July 1st of each year. Population estimates for Bay Area tracts are from the decennial Census (1970 -2010) and the American Community Survey (2008-2012 5-year rolling average; 2010-2014 5-year rolling average; 2013-2017 5-year rolling average). Estimates of population density for tracts use gross acres as the denominator.

Population estimates for Bay Area PDAs are from the decennial Census (1970 - 2010) and the American Community Survey (2006-2010 5 year rolling average; 2010-2014 5-year rolling average; 2013-2017 5-year rolling average). Population estimates for PDAs are derived from Census population counts at the tract level for 1970-1990 and at the block group level for 2000-2017. Population from either tracts or block groups are allocated to a PDA using an area ratio. For example, if a quarter of a Census block group lies with in a PDA, a quarter of its population will be allocated to that PDA. Tract-to-PDA and block group-to-PDA area ratios are calculated using gross acres. Estimates of population density for PDAs use gross acres as the denominator.

Annual population estimates for metropolitan areas outside the Bay Area are from the Census and are benchmarked to each decennial Census. The annual estimates in the 1990s were not updated to match the 2000 benchmark.

The following is a list of cities and towns by geographical area: Big Three: San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland Bayside: Alameda, Albany, Atherton, Belmont, Belvedere, Berkeley, Brisbane, Burlingame, Campbell, Colma, Corte Madera, Cupertino, Daly City, East Palo Alto, El Cerrito, Emeryville, Fairfax, Foster City, Fremont, Hayward, Hercules, Hillsborough, Larkspur, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Menlo Park, Mill Valley, Millbrae, Milpitas, Monte Sereno, Mountain View, Newark, Pacifica, Palo Alto, Piedmont, Pinole, Portola Valley, Redwood City, Richmond, Ross, San Anselmo, San Bruno, San Carlos, San Leandro, San Mateo, San Pablo, San Rafael, Santa Clara, Saratoga, Sausalito, South San Francisco, Sunnyvale, Tiburon, Union City, Vallejo, Woodside Inland, Delta and Coastal: American Canyon, Antioch, Benicia, Brentwood, Calistoga, Clayton, Cloverdale, Concord, Cotati, Danville, Dixon, Dublin, Fairfield, Gilroy, Half Moon Bay, Healdsburg, Lafayette, Livermore, Martinez, Moraga, Morgan Hill, Napa, Novato, Oakley, Orinda, Petaluma, Pittsburg, Pleasant Hill, Pleasanton, Rio Vista, Rohnert Park, San Ramon, Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, Sonoma, St. Helena, Suisun City, Vacaville, Walnut Creek, Windsor, Yountville Unincorporated: all unincorporated towns

In 2022, the total population of the Guangdong - Hong Kong - Macao Greater Bay Area reached around 86.6 million. In terms of population, China's Greater Bay Area was larger than other major Bay Areas in the world. However, per capita GDP was only about half of that in the Tokyo Bay Area and only one seventh of that in the San Francisco Bay Area.

This feature set contains household and population projections from Projections 2040 for the San Francisco Bay Region. This forecast represents household and population projections resulting from Plan Bay Area 2040. Numbers are provided by jurisdiction (incorporated places (cities and towns) and unincorporated county lands). Household and population numbers are included for 2010 (two versions), 2015, 2020, 2025, 2030, 2035, and 2040. For 2010, two data points are provided:A tabulation (base year A) from the 2010 model simulation (base year A); and(Preferred) A tabulation (base year B) from the 2010 pre-run microdata, designed to approximate (but may still differ from) Census 2010 counts.Projection data is included for total households, group quarter population, household population, persons per household, and total population.This feature set was assembled using unclipped jurisdiction features. For those who prefer Projections 2040 data using jurisdiction features with ocean and bay waters clipped out, the data in this feature service can be joined to San Francisco Bay Region Jurisdictions (Incorporated Places and Unincorporated County Lands) (clipped).Other Projections 2040 feature sets:Households and population per countyHouseholds and population per Census TractJobs and employment per countyJobs and employment per jurisdiction (incorporated place and unincorporated county)Jobs per Census TractFemale population, by age range, per countyFemale population, by age range, per jurisdiction (incorporated place and unincorporated county)Male population, by age range, per countyMale population, by age range, per jurisdiction (incorporated place and unincorporated county)Total population, by age range, per countyTotal population, by age range, per jurisdiction (incorporated place and unincorporated county)

INTRODUCTION: As California’s homeless population continues to grow at an alarming rate, large metropolitan regions like the San Francisco Bay Area face unique challenges in coordinating efforts to track and improve homelessness. As an interconnected region of nine counties with diverse community needs, identifying homeless population trends across San Francisco Bay Area counties can help direct efforts more effectively throughout the region, and inform initiatives to improve homelessness at the city, county, and metropolitan level. OBJECTIVES: The primary objective of this research is to compare the annual Point-in-Time (PIT) counts of homelessness across San Francisco Bay Area counties between the years 2018-2022. The secondary objective of this research is to compare the annual Point-in-Time (PIT) counts of homelessness among different age groups in each of the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties between the years 2018-2022. METHODS: Two datasets were used to conduct research. The first dataset (Dataset 1) contains Point-in-Time (PIT) homeless counts published by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Dataset 1 was cleaned using Microsoft Excel and uploaded to Tableau Desktop Public Edition 2022.4.1 as a CSV file. The second dataset (Dataset 2) was published by Data SF and contains shapefiles of geographic boundaries of San Francisco Bay Area counties. Both datasets were joined in Tableau Desktop Public Edition 2022.4 and all data analysis was conducted using Tableau visualizations in the form of bar charts, highlight tables, and maps. RESULTS: Alameda, San Francisco, and Santa Clara counties consistently reported the highest annual count of people experiencing homelessness across all 5 years between 2018-2022. Alameda, Napa, and San Mateo counties showed the largest increase in homelessness between 2018 and 2022. Alameda County showed a significant increase in homeless individuals under the age of 18. CONCLUSIONS: Results from this research reveal both stark and fluctuating differences in homeless counts among San Francisco Bay Area Counties over time, suggesting that a regional approach that focuses on collaboration across counties and coordination of services could prove beneficial for improving homelessness throughout the region. Results suggest that more immediate efforts to improve homelessness should focus on the counties of Alameda, San Francisco, Santa Clara, and San Mateo. Changes in homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic years of 2020-2022 point to an urgent need to support Contra Costa County.

This raster dataset depicts the population denisty of the nine county San Francisco Bay Area Region, California produced with a Dasymetric Mapping Technique, which is used to depict quantitative areal data using boundaries that divide an area into zones of relative homogeneity with the purpose of better portraying the population distribution. The source data was then adjusted in order to get convert the units to persons per acre. This dataset is an accurate representation of population distribution within census boundaries and can be used in a number of ways, including as the Conservation Suitability layer for the Marxan inputs and the watershed integrity analysis.

Table of population and demographic forecast numbers from Plan Bay Area 2040 for the San Francisco Bay Region. Population and demographic numbers are included for 2005, 2010, 2015, 2020, 2030, 2035, and 2040. There are no forecast numbers for 2025.The Plan Bay Area forecast numbers were generated by Transportation Analysis Zone (TAZ). The Population and Demographics forecast table will need to be joined to TAZ features in order to spatially visualize the data. The TAZ features are available for download here.2005-2040 data in this table:Total PopulationHousehold PopulationGroup Quarters Population0 - 4 Age Group5 - 19 Age Group20 - 44 Age Group44 - 64 Age Group65+ Age GroupShare of Total Population that is 62 and OverHigh School EnrollmentCollege Enrollment (full-time)College Enrollment (part-time)Other Plan Bay Area 2040 forecast tables:Employment (total employment, TAZ resident employment, retail employment, financial and professional services employment, health, educational, and recreational employment, manufacturing, wholesale, and transportation employment, agricultural and natural resources employment, and other employment)Households (number of households and household income quartile)Land Use and Transportation (area type, commercial or industrial acres, residential acres, number of single-family and multi-family dwelling units, time to get from automobile storage location to origin/destination, and hourly parking rates)

Incorporated Places (cities and towns) are those reported to the Census Bureau as legally in existence as of May 28, 2021, under the laws of their respective states. Features were extracted from, and clipped using, California 2020 TIGER/Line shapefiles by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. An incorporated place provides governmental functions for a concentration of people, as opposed to a minor civil division, which generally provides services or administers an area without regard, necessarily, to population. Places may extend across county and county subdivision boundaries, but never across state boundaries. An incorporated place usually is a city, town, village, or borough, but can have other legal descriptions.

This feature set contains total population (male and female), by age, projections from Projections 2040 for the San Francisco Bay Region. This forecast represents total population projections resulting from Plan Bay Area 2040. Numbers are provided by county. Total population numbers are included for 2010 (two versions), 2015, 2020, 2025, 2030, 2035, and 2040. For 2010, two data points are provided:A tabulation (base year A) from the 2010 model simulation (base year A); and(Preferred) A tabulation (base year B) from the 2010 pre-run microdata, designed to approximate (but may still differ from) Census 2010 counts.Projection data is included for total population for the following age ranges: 0-4 (under 5), 5-19, 20-44, 45-64, and 65+ (65 and over).This feature set was assembled using unclipped county features. For those who prefer Projections 2040 data using county features with ocean and bay waters clipped out, the data in this feature service can be joined to San Francisco Bay Region Counties (clipped).Other Projections 2040 feature sets:Households and population per countyHouseholds and population per jurisdiction (incorporated place and unincorporated county)Households and population per Census TractJobs and employment per countyJobs and employment per jurisdiction (incorporated place and unincorporated county)Jobs per Census TractFemale population, by age range, per countyFemale population, by age range, per jurisdiction (incorporated place and unincorporated county)Male population, by age range, per countyMale population, by age range, per jurisdiction (incorporated place and unincorporated county)Total population, by age range, per jurisdiction (incorporated place and unincorporated county)

2020 Census tracts for the San Francisco Bay Region. Features were extracted from California 2021 TIGER/Line shapefile by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.Census tracts are small, relatively permanent statistical subdivisions of a county or equivalent entity, and were defined by local participants as part of the 2020 Census Participant Statistical Areas Program. The Census Bureau delineated the census tracts in situations where no local participant existed or where all the potential participants declined to participate. The primary purpose of census tracts is to provide a stable set of geographic units for the presentation of census data and comparison back to previous decennial censuses.Census tracts generally have a population size between 1,200 and 8,000 people, with an optimum size of 4,000 people. When first delineated, census tracts were designed to be homogeneous with respect to population characteristics, economic status, and living conditions. The spatial size of census tracts varies widely depending on the density of settlement. Physical changes in street patterns caused by highway construction, new development, and so forth, may require boundary revisions. In addition, census tracts occasionally are split due to population growth, or combined as a result of substantial population decline.Census tract boundaries generally follow visible and identifiable features. They may follow legal boundaries such as minor civil division (MCD) or incorporated place boundaries in some States and situations to allow for census tract-to-governmental unit relationships where the governmental boundaries tend to remain unchanged between censuses. State and county boundaries always are census tract boundaries in the standard census geographic hierarchy.In a few rare instances, a census tract may consist of noncontiguous areas. These noncontiguous areas may occur where the census tracts are coextensive with all or parts of legal entities that are themselves noncontiguous.For the 2010 Census and beyond, the census tract code range of 9400 through 9499 was enforced for census tracts that include a majority American Indian population according to Census 2000 data and/or their area was primarily covered by federally recognized American Indian reservations and/or off-reservation trust lands; the code range 9800 through 9899 was enforced for those census tracts that contained little or no population and represented a relatively large special land use area such as a National Park, military installation, or a business/industrial park; and the code range 9900 through 9998 was enforced for those census tracts that contained only water area, no land area.The Census Bureau uses suffixes to help identify census tract changes for comparison purposes. Local participants have an opportunity to review the existing census tracts before each census. If local participants split a census tract, the split parts usually retain the basic number, but receive different suffixes. In a few counties, local participants request major changes to, and renumbering of, the census tracts. Changes to individual census tract boundaries usually do not result in census tract numbering changes.Relationship to Other Geographic Entities—Within the standard census geographic hierarchy, census tracts never cross state or county boundaries, but may cross the boundaries of county subdivisions, places, urban areas, voting districts, congressional districts, and American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian areas.

This polygon shapefile contains superdistrict boundaries and population statistics created by the Metropolitan Transportation Comission (MTC) using Census 2000 data. Superdistricts are used in the analysis of sub-county level demographic and travel forecasts. MTC maintains a set of regional travel analysis zones for use in MTC planning studies. These travel analysis zones (TAZs) are typically small area neighborhoods or communities that serve as the smallest geographic basis for travel demand model forecasting systems. From time to time, MTC updates the regional travel analysis zone system to reflect changes in decennial census geography, changes in computing capability, and forecasting needs for particular corridor studies. In addition to regional TAZs and counties, MTC supports an intermediate geographic scale, "superdistricts," for analysis and reporting purposes. There are 34 superdistricts in the nine-county Bay Area. This layer is part of the Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) GIS Maps and Data collection.

Table of household forecast numbers from Plan Bay Area 2040 for the San Francisco Bay Region. Household numbers are included for 2005, 2010, 2015, 2020, 2030, 2035, and 2040. There are no forecast numbers for 2025.The Plan Bay Area forecast numbers were generated by Transportation Analysis Zone (TAZ). The Household forecast table will need to be joined to TAZ features in order to spatially visualize the data. The TAZ features are available for download here.2005-2040 data in this table:Total HouseholdsNumber of Households in Lowest Income QuartileNumber of Households in Second Lowest Income QuartileNumber of Households in Second highest Income QuartileNumber of Households in Highest Income QuartileOther Plan Bay Area 2040 forecast tables:Employment (total employment, TAZ resident employment, retail employment, financial and professional services employment, health, educational, and recreational employment, manufacturing, wholesale, and transportation employment, agricultural and natural resources employment, and other employment)Land Use and Transportation (area type, commercial or industrial acres, residential acres, number of single-family and multi-family dwelling units, time to get from automobile storage location to origin/destination, and hourly parking rates)Population and Demographics (total population, household and group quarter populations, population by age group, share of population that is 62+, high school enrollment, and college enrollment)

This data release is comprised of geospatial and tabular data developed for the HayWired communities at risk analysis. The HayWired earthquake scenario is a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hypothesized to occur on the Hayward Fault on April 18, 2018, with an epicenter in the city of Oakland, CA. The following 17 counties are included in this analysis unless otherwise specified: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Merced, Monterey, Napa, Sacramento, San Benito, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, and Yolo. The vector data are a geospatial representation of building damage based on square footage damage estimates by Hazus occupancy class for developed areas covering all census tracts in 17 counties in and around the San Francisco Bay region in California, for (1) earthquake hazards (ground shaking, landslide, and liquefaction) and (2) all hazards (ground shaking, landslide, liquefaction, and fire) resulting from the HayWired earthquake scenario mainshock. The tabular data cover: (1) damage estimates, by Hazus occupancy class, of square footage, building counts, and households affected by the HayWired earthquake scenario mainshock for all census tracts in 17 counties in and around the San Francisco Bay region in California; (2) potential total population residing in block groups in nine counties in the San Francisco Bay region in California (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma); (3) a subset of select tables for 17 counties in and around the San Francisco Bay region in California from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year (2012-2016) estimates at the block group level selected to represent potentially vulnerable populations that may, in the event of a major disaster, leave an area rather than stay; and (4) building and contents damage estimates (in thousands of dollars, 2005 vintage), by Hazus occupancy class, for the HayWired earthquake scenario mainshock for 17 counties in and around the San Francisco Bay region in California. The vector .SHP datasets were developed and intended for use in GIS applications such as ESRI's ArcGIS software suite. The tab-delimited .TXT datasets were developed and intended for use in standalone spreadsheet or database applications (such as Microsoft Excel or Access). Please note that some of these data are not optimized for use in GIS applications (such as ESRI's ArcGIS software suite) as-is--census tracts or counties are repeated (the data are not "one-to-one"), so not all information belonging to a tract or county would necessarily be associated with a single record. Separate preparation is needed in a standalone spreadsheet or database application like Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Access before using these data in a GIS. These data support the following publications: Johnson, L.A., Jones, J.L., Wein, A.M., and Peters, J., 2020, Communities at risk analysis of the HayWired scenario, chaps. U1-U5 of Detweiler, S.T., and Wein, A.M., eds., The HayWired earthquake scenario--Societal consequences: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5013, https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20175013.

Racial diversity is measured by a diversity index that is calculated using United States Census racial and ethnic population characteristics from the PL-94 data file. The diversity index is a quantitative measure of the distribution of the proportion of five major ethnic populations (non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, Asian and Pacific Islander, Hispanic, and Two or more races). The index ranges from 0 (low diversity meaning only one group is present) to 1 (meaning an equal proportion of all five groups is present). The diversity score for the United States in 2010 is 0.60. The diversity score for the San Francisco Bay Region is 0.84. Within the region, Solano (0.89) and Alameda (0.90) Counties are the most diverse and the remaining North Bay (0.55 - 0.64) Counties are the least diverse.

This polygon shapefile depicts a watershed integrity cluster analysis at the CalWater 2.2.1 Planning Watershed (PWS) level performed by mapping factors representing some of the most significant watershed threats. Each of the individual watershed integrity factors was individually mapped and then combined in the watershed cluster analysis. This individual threat, cultivated, was created by taking CalWater watersheds at the planning unit level (most refined) and running zonal stats, part of spatial analyst. The Calwater PWS watershed was the zone dataset (pwsname as the zone field) and Population Density as the value raster. The result gives you the mean percent population density of the nine county San Francisco Bay Area Region, California at the watershed level in a table that you can join back to the CalWater GIS layer and then symbolize as a graduated color with the mean being the value field. This analysis was done by the Conservation Lands Network Fish and Riparian Focus Team.

Demographic characteristics for Bay Area and in the study population overall–N (%) 1.

This feature layer contains census tracts for the San Francisco Bay Region for Census 2020. The features were extracted from a statewide data set downloaded from the United States Census Bureau by Metropolitan Transportation Commission staff.The purpose of this feature layer is for the production of feature sets for public access and download to avoid licensing issues related to the agency's base data.Source data downloaded from https://www.census.gov/geographies/mapping-files/time-series/geo/tiger-line-file.html_The TIGER/Line Files are shapefiles and related database files (.dbf) that are an extract of selected geographic and cartographic information from the United States Census Bureau's Master Address File/Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (MAF/TIGER) Database (MTDB). The MTDB represents a seamless national file with no overlaps or gaps between parts, however, each TIGER/Line File is designed to stand alone as an independent data set, or they can be combined to cover the entire nation.Census tracts are small, relatively permanent statistical subdivisions of a county or equivalent entity, and were defined by local participants as part of the Census 2020 Participant Statistical Areas Program (PSAP). The Census Bureau delineated the census tracts in situations where no local participant existed or where all the potential participants declined to participate. The primary purpose of census tracts is to provide a stable set of geographic units for the presentation of census data and comparison back to previous decennial censuses. Census tracts generally have a population size between 1,500 and 8,000 people, with an optimum size of 4,000 people.When first delineated, census tracts were designed to be homogeneous with respect to population characteristics, economic status, and living conditions. The spatial size of census tracts varies widely depending on the density of settlement. Physical changes in street patterns caused by highway construction, new development, etc. may require boundary revisions before a census. In addition, census tracts occasionally are split due to population growth, or combined as a result of substantial population decline. Census tract boundaries generally follow visible and identifiable features. They may follow legal boundaries such as minor civil division (MCD) or incorporated place boundaries in some States and situations to allow for census tract-to-governmental unit relationships where the governmental boundaries tend to remain unchanged between censuses. State and county boundaries are always census tract boundaries in the standard census geographic hierarchy. In a few rare instances, a census tract may consist of noncontiguous areas. These noncontiguous areas may occur where the census tracts are coextensive with all or parts of legal entities that are themselves noncontiguous.

This data layer depicts, by census block group, race for the San Francisco Bay Region. The source data, from the United States Census Bureau, has been reprocessed by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.

To produce this feature set, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission pulled data from the Decennial Census API P2 Table, and re-tabulated race and ethnicity population totals into following categories: ● Non-Hispanic White ● Hispanic ● Non-Hispanic Asian (includes Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander) ● Non-Hispanic Black/African American ● Non-Hispanic Other Race and Multiple Races

The resulting attribute table had all margin of error fields deleted, Hispanic subcategories deleted, percentage fields added, county code field added, and the source field names were changed.

The source table used to develop this feature service is from the United States Census Bureau, 2020 Decennial Census.