Best PlacesSan Francisco, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the San Francisco metro, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Photo by Christian Mehlführer, User:Chmehl, CC BY 2.5, via commons
San Francisco ranks 54th of 387 U.S. metro areas on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $147,691, wages outrun the cost of living, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are childcare costs, noise, and long commutes.
The best neighborhoods in the San Francisco metro
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
The best areas in San Francisco
The towns and districts of the San Francisco metro, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the metro.
San Ramon, Dublin & Danville
Local pay stretches further, crime runs lower, and more adults hold degrees.
Downtown San Francisco
Streets are more walkable, though fewer households have young kids.
Fremont, Hayward & Pleasanton
Incomes run higher and fewer homes sit empty.
Redwood City, Menlo Park & Foster City
Schools score higher and commutes are shorter.
San Mateo, Daly City & South San Francisco
Heat risk is lower, though homes cost more.
Berkeley
Tree cover is thicker.
Richmond, San Rafael & San Pablo
Health outcomes score lower.
Concord, Antioch & Walnut Creek
Transit reaches fewer jobs and biking is worse.
Oakland
Advertised internet is faster, though health care is harder to reach.
San Francisco shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 4% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
San Francisco's strengths and weaknesses
San Francisco ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. High incomes is the standout, in the top 1% of metro areas. Walkability and transit follow.
The one real hole is childcare costs, near the bottom of the country. Noise and long commutes also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where San Francisco ranks high
- Household income$147,691 median, better than 99% of metro areas
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of metro areas
- TransitBetter than 99% of metro areas
- BikingBetter than 99% of metro areas
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of metro areas
Where San Francisco ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,145 a month, better than only 1% of metro areas
- QuietBetter than only 2% of metro areas
- Short commute31.0 minutes each way, better than only 3% of metro areas
- Crime safetyBetter than only 5% of metro areas
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of metro areas
What it costs to buy a home in San Francisco
A household needs to earn about $313,000 a year to comfortably buy the median San Francisco home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $147,691, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses San Francisco's effective rate of 0.76%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in San Francisco
San Francisco's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for San Francisco.
Who works in San Francisco, and how
Work in San Francisco centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 59%
- Work from home 25%
- Transit, walk, or bike 16%
Life in San Francisco
San Francisco has less parkland per resident than most metro areas. The coast is about 21 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of San Francisco and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is San Francisco growing, and who is moving in?
San Francisco has grown about 1% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from San Jose, CA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving San Francisco go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in San Francisco, month by month
San Francisco sees roughly 211 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 74 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 46. The comfortable stretch runs April through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 53° | 46° |
| April | 68° | 57° | 49° |
| July | 74° | 62° | 56° |
| October | 75° | 62° | 54° |
Flying in and out of San Francisco
San Francisco International sits about 10 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 26.5 million passengers in 2025, with 193 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around San Francisco
Schools across San Francisco average a B, better than 72% of metro areas.
Top elementary schools
- Beach Park ElementaryA+ · 90% proficient
- Yu Ming CharterA+ · 89% proficient
- White Oaks ElementaryA+ · 88% proficient
Top middle schools
- La Entrada MiddleA+ · 87% proficient
- John F. Kennedy MiddleA+ · 83% proficient
- Redwood MiddleA+ · 83% proficient
Top high schools
- Monta Vista HighA+ · 95% proficient
- Dougherty Valley HighA+ · 95% proficient
- California HighA+ · 90% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every San Francisco school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
San Francisco measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare San Francisco against the other 386 metro areas.
Who San Francisco suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 90% of metro areas, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 25% already work from home.
Common questions about living in San Francisco
Is San Francisco a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, San Francisco ranks 54th of 387 metro areas. It scores highest on high incomes, walkability, and transit, and lowest on childcare costs and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is San Francisco expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,205,397. The overall cost of living runs about 42% above the national average. Set against a $147,691 median income, cost of living beats 90% of metro areas.
Is San Francisco safe?
San Francisco is safer than 5% of metro areas. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $574 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in San Francisco?
July highs average about 74 degrees, and January highs near 60 with lows near 46. That works out to about 211 pleasant days a year, more than 98% of metro areas.
What are the best neighborhoods in San Francisco?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are San Ramon, Dublin & Danville, Downtown San Francisco, and Fremont, Hayward & Pleasanton. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is San Francisco good for families?
Schools beat 72% of metro areas, crime safety beats 5%, and childcare runs $2,145 a month.
Is San Francisco good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 90% of metro areas, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 88% of metro areas. About 25% of workers already work from home.
Compare San Francisco with other metro areas
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to San Francisco. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in San Francisco represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
San Francisco detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for San Francisco: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in San Francisco: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of San Francisco: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in San Francisco: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
San Francisco detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.