Demographics of San Francisco

October 16, 2025 - Homelessness has been a chronic and controversial problem for San Francisco since the early 1970s when many mentally ill patients were deinstitutionalized, due to changes which began during the 1960s with the enactment of Medicare and Medicaid. The homeless population is estimated to be 13,500 with 6,500 living on the streets.

Because of the gold rush, the population grew and the demographics changed. By 1860, San Francisco had more than · 50,000 people, and the population more than doubled in the following decade. From 1870 until the turn of the century, the rate of population growth became slower with each decade. Between 1900 and 1960 there was no consistent pattern.

An official website of the United States government · Measuring America's People, Places, and Economy

MTC is responsible for planning, financing and coordinating transportation for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area · ABAG supports regional planning and cooperation among the cities and counties of the San Francisco Bay Area

Metropolitan Transportation Commision (MTC) and Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) site for census data for the nine county Bay Area.

year rank population 1850 22 34776 1860 15 56802 1870 10 149473 1880 9 233959 1890 8 298997 1900 9 342782 1910 11 416912 1920 12 506676 1930 11 634394 1940 12 634536 1950 11 775357 1960 12 740316 1970 13 715674 1980 13 678974 1990 14 723959

This report presents statistics by census tracts on population and housing characteristics enumerated in the 1960 Censuses of Population and Housing, taken as of April 1, 1960.

July 7, 2020 - The populations of most cities in the historic ”core” of the Bay Area have not increased dramatically since 1960. It seems in many cases that the places with the most money grew in population the least. The growth rings are close together in San Francisco, along the Peninsula of San Mateo County, the western edges of Alameda and Contra Costa counties and southern Marin County.

According to the latest census statistics, 15.4% of the residents of San Francisco are 65 or older. The racial demographics of San Francisco are 46.4% White, 34.4% Asian, 7.7% Other, 5.6% Two or more races, 5.2% Black, 0.4% American Indian and 0.4% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander.

1 week ago - San Francisco in the mid-19th century was facing a demographic change with the population growing by the tens of thousands and the people being mostly young, male migrants. The inflow of men caused a large gender imbalance where the city lacked in numbers of women, especially eligible women for marriage.

13 hours ago - The ages, races, and population density of San Francisco County, California tell a story. Understand the shifts in demographic trends with these charts visualizing decades of population data.

Metropolitan Transportation Commision (MTC) and Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) site for census data for the nine county Bay Area.

MTC is responsible for planning, financing and coordinating transportation for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area · ABAG supports regional planning and cooperation among the cities and counties of the San Francisco Bay Area

The gay community was centered on Castro. The Black areas were Hunter’s Point/Bayview and in the Filmore. Generally, rich White people had the whole west-side. Jewish and Russian areas near Geary in the ...

Between 1970 and 1980 the black population of San Francisco dropped by 10%, from 96,000 to 86,000 (1980 Census). Exodus from San Francisco, a recurrent phenomenon since the early 1970s.

Metropolitan Transportation Commision (MTC) and Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) site for census data for the nine county Bay Area.

10 hours ago - With the arrival of the "beat" writers and artists of the 1950s and societal changes culminating in the Summer of Love in the Haight-Ashbury district during the 1960s, San Francisco became a center of liberal activism and of the counterculture that arose at that time.

July 1, 2020 - The overall population started falling and didn’t bottom out until the early 1980s, only recovering from the 1950 peak in 2000. But that recovery was driven almost entirely by a rapidly rising Asian population (thanks largely to 1960s immigration policy changes).

December 16, 2023 - The confluence of these two trends is seen most clearly in the rapid drop of the African American population. The population has declined by about a fifth in ten years, a drop unprecendented in American cities. I think most of these demographic trends in San Francisco are going to continue.

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