San Francisco

This article is about the city and county in California. For other uses, see San Francisco (disambiguation).

San Francisco
Consolidated city-county
City and County of San Francisco
San Francisco skyline from the Marin Headlands
San Francisco skyline from the Marin Headlands
Flag of San Francisco
Flag
Official seal of San Francisco
Seal
Nicknames: 
See list[1]
Motto(s): 
Oro en Paz, Fierro en Guerra
(Spanish for 'Gold in Peace, Iron in War')
Anthem:
Official song: Theme from San Francisco ("Open your Golden Gate")
Official ballad: "I Left My Heart in San Francisco"[2][3]
Map
Interactive map outlining San Francisco
San Francisco is located in California
San Francisco
San Francisco
Location within California
San Francisco is located in the United States
San Francisco
San Francisco
Location within the United States
San Francisco is located in North America
San Francisco
San Francisco
San Francisco (North America)
Coordinates: 37°46′39″N 122°24′59″W / 37.77750°N 122.41639°W / 37.77750; -122.41639
Country United States
State California
CountySan Francisco
MetroSan Francisco–Oakland–Hayward
CSASan Jose–San Francisco–Oakland
MissionJune 29, 1776 (248 years ago) (June 29, 1776)[4]
IncorporatedApril 15, 1850 (174 years ago) (April 15, 1850)[5]
Founded byJuan Bautista de Anza
José Joaquín Moraga
Francisco Palóu
Named forSt. Francis of Assisi
Government
 • TypeStrong Mayor
 • BodyBoard of Supervisors
 • MayorLondon Breed (D)[6]
Daniel Lurie (D) (elect)
 • Supervisors[10]
List
 • Assembly members[11][12]Matt Haney (D)
Phil Ting (D)
 • State senatorScott Wiener (D)[7]
 • United States RepresentativesNancy Pelosi (D)[8]
Kevin Mullin (D)[9]
Area
[13]
 • City and county
231.89 sq mi (600.59 km2)
 • Land46.9 sq mi (121.48 km2)
 • Water184.99 sq mi (479.11 km2)  80.00%
 • Metro
3,524.4 sq mi (9,128 km2)
Elevation
[14]
52 ft (16 m)
Highest elevation
[15] (Mount Davidson)
934 ft (285 m)
Lowest elevation
[15] (Pacific Ocean)
0 ft (0 m)
Population
 (2020)[16]
 • City and county
873,965
 • Estimate 
(2023)[16]
808,988
 • Rank39th in North America
17th in the United States
4th in California
 • Density18,634.65/sq mi (7,194.88/km2)
 • Urban
[17][α]
3,515,933 (US: 14th)
 • Urban density6,843.0/sq mi (2,642.1/km2)
 • Metro
[18]
4,566,961 (US: 13th)
 • CSA
[19]
9,225,160 (US: 5th)
DemonymSan Franciscan[20]
Languages
 • Official[21]English, Spanish, Chinese, Filipino, Vietnamese
 • Other non-official spoken languagesRussian, Persian, Portuguese, and others
GDP
[22]
 • City and county$252.2 billion (2022)
 • Metro$729.1 billion (2022)
 • CSA$1.318 trillion (2022)
Time zoneUTC−08:00 (PST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−07:00 (PDT)
ZIP Codes[23]
List
  • 94102–94105
  • 94107–94112
  • 94114–94134
  • 94137
  • 94139–94147
  • 94151
  • 94158–94161
  • 94163–94164
  • 94172
  • 94177
  • 94188
Area codes415/628[24]
FIPS code06-67000
GNIS feature IDs277593, 2411786
Websitesf.gov
  1. ^ Urban area population/density are for the San Francisco–Oakland, CA urban area as of the 2020 Census.
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San Francisco,[25] officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, financial, and cultural center within Northern California. With a population of 808,988 residents as of 2023,[16] San Francisco is the fourth-most populous city in the U.S. state of California behind Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Jose. It covers a land area of 46.9 square miles (121 square kilometers)[26] at the upper end of the San Francisco Peninsula, making it the second-most densely populated major U.S. city behind New York City and the fifth-most densely populated U.S. county, behind four of New York City's boroughs. Among the 92 U.S. cities proper with over 250,000 residents, San Francisco is ranked first by per capita income and sixth by aggregate income as of 2022.[27] San Francisco anchors the 13th most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States, with almost 4.6 million residents in 2023. The larger San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland combined statistical area, the fifth-largest urban region in the U.S., had a 2023 estimated population of over 9 million.

Prior to European settlement, the modern city proper was inhabited by the Yelamu, who spoke a language now referred to as Ramaytush Ohlone. On June 29, 1776, settlers from New Spain established the Presidio of San Francisco at the Golden Gate, and the Mission San Francisco de Asís a few miles away, both named for Francis of Assisi.[4] The California gold rush of 1849 brought rapid growth, transforming an unimportant hamlet into a busy port, making it the largest city on the West Coast at the time; between 1870 and 1900, approximately one quarter of California's population resided in the city proper.[27] In 1856, San Francisco became a consolidated city-county.[28] After three-quarters of the city was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake and fire,[29] it was quickly rebuilt, hosting the Panama–Pacific International Exposition nine years later. In World War II, it was a major port of embarkation for naval service members shipping out to the Pacific Theater.[30] In 1945, the United Nations Charter was signed in San Francisco, establishing the United Nations and in 1951, the Treaty of San Francisco re-established peaceful relations between Japan and the Allied Powers.[31][32][33] After the war, the confluence of returning servicemen, significant immigration, liberalizing attitudes, the rise of the beatnik and hippie countercultures, the sexual revolution, the peace movement growing from opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War, and other factors led to the Summer of Love and the gay rights movement, cementing San Francisco as a center of liberal activism in the United States.

San Francisco and the surrounding San Francisco Bay Area are a global center of economic activity and the arts and sciences,[34][35] spurred by leading universities,[36] high-tech, healthcare, finance, insurance, real estate, and professional services sectors.[37] As of 2020, the metropolitan area, with 4.5 million residents, ranked 5th by GDP ($874 billion) and 2nd by GDP per capita ($131,082) across the OECD countries, ahead of global cities like Paris, London, and Singapore.[38][39][40] It is the fourth-largest by aggregate income and economic output, with a GDP of $729 billion in 2022.[41] The wider San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland Combined Statistical Area is the nation's fifth-most populous, with around nine million residents, and the third-largest by economic output, with a GDP of $1.32 trillion in 2022. In the same year, San Francisco proper had a GDP of $252.2 billion, and a GDP per capita of $312,000.[41] San Francisco was ranked fifth in the world and second in the United States on the Global Financial Centres Index as of September 2023.[42] Despite a continuing exodus of businesses from the downtown area of San Francisco,[43][44] the city is still home to numerous companies inside and outside of technology, including Salesforce, Uber, Airbnb, X, Levi's, Gap, Dropbox, and Lyft.

In 2022, San Francisco had more than 1.7 million international visitors – the fifth-most visited city from abroad in the United States after New York City, Miami, Orlando, and Los Angeles – and approximately 20 million domestic visitors for a total of 21.9 million visitors.[45][46] It is known for its steep rolling hills and eclectic mix of architecture across varied neighborhoods, its Chinatown and Mission districts, its cooling summers, fog, and landmarks including the Golden Gate Bridge, cable cars, and Alcatraz.[47] The city is home to a number of educational and cultural institutions, such as the University of California, San Francisco, the University of San Francisco, San Francisco State University, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the de Young Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Symphony, the San Francisco Ballet, the San Francisco Opera, the SFJAZZ Center, and the California Academy of Sciences. Two major league sports teams, the San Francisco Giants and the Golden State Warriors, play their home games within San Francisco proper. San Francisco International Airport (SFO) offers flights to over 125 destinations, while a light rail and bus network, in tandem with the BART and Caltrain systems, connects nearly every part of San Francisco with the wider region.[48][49]

  1. ^ Garling, Caleb (June 30, 2013). "Don't Call It Frisco: The History of San Francisco's Nicknames". The Bold Italic. Retrieved June 18, 2016.
  2. ^ "San Francisco's Official Songs". Museum of San Francisco. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  3. ^ 'Be it resolved: The official song of the City and County of San Francisco is, and shall remain, "San Francisco." Be it further resolved that henceforth: "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" shall be the official ballad.' San Francisco Administrative Code — Steven Short, KALW Public Media, May 10, 2021, "San Francisco's Two Official Songs Or, The Day Tony Bennett Hid In His Hotel" [1]
  4. ^ a b O'Day, Edward F. (October 1926). "The Founding of San Francisco". San Francisco Water. Spring Valley Water Authority. Archived from the original on July 27, 2010. Retrieved February 14, 2009.
  5. ^ "San Francisco: Government". SFGov.org. Archived from the original on March 16, 2012. Retrieved March 8, 2012. San Francisco was incorporated as a City on April 15th, 1850 by act of the Legislature.
  6. ^ "Office of the Mayor : Home". City & County of San Francisco. Archived from the original on October 24, 2009. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
  7. ^ "Statewide Database". UC Regents. Archived from the original on February 1, 2015. Retrieved November 21, 2014.
  8. ^ "California's 11th Congressional District". GovTrack. Retrieved January 8, 2023.
  9. ^ "California's 15th Congressional District". GovTrack. Retrieved January 8, 2023.
  10. ^ "Board of Supervisors". City and County of San Francisco. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
  11. ^ "Communities of Interest – City". California Citizens Redistricting Commission. Archived from the original on October 23, 2015. Retrieved September 23, 2014.
  12. ^ "Members Assembly". California State Assembly. Retrieved September 23, 2014.
  13. ^ "2019 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  14. ^ "San Francisco". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  15. ^ a b "Elevations and Distances in the United States". US Geological Survey. April 29, 2005. Archived from the original on November 9, 2013. Retrieved October 29, 2014.
  16. ^ a b c "QuickFacts: San Francisco city, California". www.census.gov. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  17. ^ "List of 2020 Census Urban Areas". census.gov. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 8, 2023.
  18. ^ "Personal Income by County, Metro, and Other Areas". United States Bureau of Economic Analysis. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
  19. ^ "Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas Population Totals and Components of Change: 2020–2021". United States Census Bureau. February 24, 2022. Retrieved August 13, 2022.
  20. ^ Massara, Graph (February 20, 2018). "If you're from SF, you're a 'San Franciscan.' But what if you're from Fremont? Berkeley? Livermore?". SFGATE. San Francisco. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  21. ^ Yip, Isabel (June 20, 2024). "Vietnamese becomes one of San Francisco's official languages". NBC News. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
  22. ^ "Gross Domestic Product by County and Metropolitan Area". fred.stlouisfed.org.
  23. ^ "ZIP Codes for City of San Francisco, CA". 2010 United States census. 2010. Archived from the original on October 30, 2020. Retrieved March 14, 2021 – via Zip-Codes.com.
  24. ^ "NPA City Report". North American Numbering Plan Administration. Archived from the original on November 4, 2014. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  25. ^
  26. ^ Cite error: The named reference Census 2010-GCT-PH1-density was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  27. ^ a b "IPUMS NHGIS". www.nhgis.org. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
  28. ^ Coy, Owen Cochran (1919). Guide to the County Archives of California. Sacramento, California: California Historical Survey Commission. p. 409.
  29. ^ Cite error: The named reference Montagne was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  30. ^ Cite error: The named reference WWII was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  31. ^ "Charter of the United Nations". Un.org. August 10, 2015. Retrieved December 29, 2016.
  32. ^ "History of the United Nations". Un.org. United Nations. August 21, 2015. Archived from the original on December 12, 2016. Retrieved December 29, 2016.
  33. ^ Schlesinger, Stephen (June 19, 2015). "San Francisco – the birthplace of the United Nations". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved December 29, 2016.
  34. ^ "Top 200 Science cities". Nature Index. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
  35. ^ "The Global Creative Economy Is Big Business". Retrieved August 17, 2019.
  36. ^ "2022 Best Global Universities Rankings". U.S. News & World Report.
  37. ^ "Regional Data: GDP and Personal Income". apps.bea.gov. Retrieved June 18, 2022.
  38. ^ "Metropolitan areas". stats.oecd.org. Retrieved September 17, 2022.
  39. ^ U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (January 1, 1947). "Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All Items in U.S. City Average". FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Retrieved June 18, 2022.
  40. ^ "World Economic Outlook Database, April 2022". IMF. Retrieved June 18, 2022.
  41. ^ a b "Gross Domestic Product by County, 2022". www.bea.gov. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
  42. ^ "The Global Financial Centres Index 34". www.longfinance.net. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
  43. ^ Cite error: The named reference SanFranDoomLoopRefute was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  44. ^ Wiley, Hannah (May 22, 2024). "All is lost in San Francisco? City loyalists take issue with naysayers. Data may back them up". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  45. ^ "America's 10 most visited cities", World Atlas, November 14, 2023
  46. ^ "San Francisco Travel Association Announces 2022 Results and 2023 Forecast" (Press release). San Francisco Travel. March 21, 2023. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  47. ^ "Top U.S. Destinations for International Visitors". The Hotel Price Index. Archived from the original on March 27, 2014. Retrieved April 12, 2014.
  48. ^ Leins, Casey (April 3, 2019). "The 10 Best Cities for Public Transportation". USNews. Retrieved February 7, 2023.
  49. ^ "Direct flights from San Francisco (SFO) – FlightConnections". www.flightconnections.com. Retrieved February 7, 2023.