The estimated population of San Francisco proper has crossed the 880K mark, hitting 880,418 on the first of July, according to data from California’s Department of Finance.

That’s an increase of 7,955 or 0.91 percent since July 1, 2016, matching the population growth rate over the previous year which had slipped from an average annual rate of 1.3 percent since 2010 and peaked at 1.6 percent from 2011 to 2012.

Across the greater Bay Area, the estimated population ticked up 0.68 percent to 7,733,001 with Alameda County leading the way in terms of growth in the absolute (up 13,642 to 1,650,818) and the populations in Marin and Napa relatively unchanged as we tabled below:

July 1, 2016 July 1, 2017 YOY Growth Rate
Alameda 1,637,176 1,650,818 13,642 0.83%
Contra Costa 1,129,332 1,138,039 8,707 0.77%
Marin 262,706 262,545 -161 -0.06%
Napa 141,569 141,624 55 0.04%
San Francisco 872,463 880,418 7,955 0.91%
San Mateo 768,507 772,900 4,393 0.57%
Santa Clara 1,932,827 1,945,465 12,638 0.65%
Solano 433,412 437,309 3,897 0.90%
Sonoma 503,152 503,883 731 0.15%
Total 7,681,144 7,733,001 51,857 0.68%
9 thoughts on “San Francisco Population Hits 880,000; Bay Area Over 7.7 Million”
  1. It has been pretty amazing in this cycle to see SF as the fastest growing (in percentage terms) of any bay area county. I’m not sure that’s EVER been true before (since the 1850’s anyway…lol), certainly not in my memory. The post-war pattern was that the suburbs were always growing faster than the central city, and in fact often grew as the central city shrunk.

    1. Yes, that is amazing, mostly because two of the other big job centers (Santa Clara and San Mateo) are relatively slacking off in providing housing. There’s plenty of space in both of those counties for infill.

      San Jose should show a noticeable bump in 2018 as hundreds of new units are about to come online in both the downtown/midtown area as well as North First Street.

      And what’s the story with Marin losing population?

      Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

    2. On a percentage basis, the 2010-2017 growth rates were actually equal in San Francisco and Alameda Counties at 9.3 percent (okay, 9.34 versus 9.31), with the growth rate in Santa Clara a close second at 9.2 percent, versus 8.1 percent for the Bay Area overall.

      Marin has the current lowest birth rate in the Bay Area and is approaching parity in the number of births versus deaths, with Napa being even closer (net natural growth of 99 people over the past year).

  2. Greater Bay Area is 8.5 million…including Santa Cruz county, parts of San Joachin county, etc. CSA lists GBA at ~8.9 million.

    1. It depends on how someone wants to present their statistics. The Greater Bay Area was always the 9 county bay area. Population movement, a cities sphere of influence, and costs of living have caused the US Census Bureau in some urban centers to adjust the size of the metro area for better appropriation of federal monies. So yes, SF CSA is actually called the San Jose/San Francisco/Oakland Combined Statistical Area making it the 5th largest urban agglomeration in the United States. Stanislaus County may be added soon because of the amount of people living there and working in the more immediate bay area.

  3. Maybe it is just me, but I think there should be fewer cities in the Bay Area and SF should been expanded. That was what happened in Toronto. They made 5 or 6 former cities into one big Toronto about 20 years ago. I know it would never happen but I would love that.

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