Metro area · California

San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro area

San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA is a metropolitan area of 5 counties in California, home to 4,630,041 residents. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro area has a quality-of-life score of 83 out of 100 (very high), ranking #158 of 925 US metro and micro areas. Among metro and micro areas based in California it ranks #7 of 34. It ranks best on average weekly wage (high), public transit commuters (high) and median household income (high). It ranks worst on home price to income ratio (high), cost of buying a home today (high) and average commute time (high).

83Very high
Quality-of-life score
#158 of 925 metro and micro areas
California
#7 of 34 in CA
Population
4,630,041 (2025)
Land area
2,470 mi²
Density
1,874.7 /mi²
CBSA code
41860

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 69 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map
Location of San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro area

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US metro and micro areas.

  • Safety44#522/924
  • Economy91#86/925
  • Housing10#830/925
  • Health98#18/925
  • Healthcare99#9/923
  • Environment55#409/917
  • Education85#143/925
  • Infrastructure95#47/925
  • Community40#552/925
  • Leisure & amenities96#36/925

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro area ranks highest and lowest among US metro and micro areas (score = percentile, 100 = best).

Strengths

Weaknesses

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Metro and micro areas like San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro area five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro area in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

Federal contract spending

Federal grants & assistance

Grants, loans (counted at their subsidy cost), direct payments and insurance, by fiscal year of the action (USAspending.gov, FABS). Reported apart from contracts and never added to them.

Counties in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA

Whole counties, as the U.S. Office of Management and Budget delineates the area. Federal spending below is the exact sum of these counties.

  1. Alameda CountyCentral county701,636,630
  2. San Francisco CountyCentral county88826,079
  3. San Mateo CountyCentral county92743,568
  4. Marin CountyCentral county95253,694
  5. Contra Costa CountyOutlying county671,170,070

Principal cities

The cities the area is named for.

  1. BerkeleyPrincipal city120,257
  2. FremontPrincipal city228,295
  3. LivermorePrincipal city85,522
  4. OaklandPrincipal city439,418
  5. PleasantonPrincipal city76,960
  6. Redwood CityPrincipal city82,447
  7. San FranciscoPrincipal city830,235
  8. San MateoPrincipal city103,105
  9. San RafaelPrincipal city60,433
  10. San RamonPrincipal city85,993
  11. South San FranciscoPrincipal city64,305
  12. Walnut CreekPrincipal city70,088

Largest cities and towns

By population, for places with most of their residents in the area.

  1. San Francisco830,235
  2. Oakland439,418
  3. Fremont228,295
  4. Hayward158,801
  5. Concord124,035
  6. Berkeley120,257
  7. Antioch116,477
  8. Richmond115,505
  9. San Mateo103,105
  10. Daly City101,964
  11. San Leandro87,826
  12. San Ramon85,993
  13. Livermore85,522
  14. Redwood City82,447
  15. Alameda77,238
  16. Pleasanton76,960
  17. Pittsburg76,257
  18. Dublin70,803
  19. Walnut Creek70,088
  20. Union City67,464
  21. Brentwood65,208
  22. Castro Valley65,001
  23. South San Francisco64,305
  24. San Rafael60,433

Other metro and micro areas in California

Areas based in California, best score first.

Neighboring metro and micro areas

Places that share a border, best score first.

Similar metro and micro areas

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

JSON · /api/v1/places/M41860