US Map / Cities / San Francisco
San Francisco Map
Hemmed into 47 square miles at the tip of a peninsula, San Francisco is the most densely settled large city in the western United States, with about 828,000 residents in 2024.
Where is San Francisco?
San Francisco occupies the northern end of a peninsula in northern California, with the Pacific on one side, San Francisco Bay on the other, and the Golden Gate strait to the north. Water on three sides fixed its limits early. Oakland is about 10 miles east across the bay, San Jose roughly 50 miles southeast, and Sacramento about 90 miles northeast.
San Francisco at a glance
| State | California |
| County | San Francisco County |
| Population | 827,526 (2024 Census estimate) |
| Rank among US cities | No. 17 of the 100 largest |
| Time zone | Pacific Time |
| Region | West (Pacific division) |
No. 17 on the 2024 list is a margin of 73,370 people: that is how far San Francisco trails Indianapolis, while Louisville is 33,645 further back. Within California it comes fourth of fifteen, behind Los Angeles, San Diego and San Jose. Against California's 39.43 million residents, though, that is only about 2.1%. City and county are one outline here: San Francisco County and the city limits enclose the same 827,526 people.
San Francisco in California
San Francisco is the only consolidated city-county in California, so on the California county map it is both the smallest county by area and one of the densest. The wider Bay Area includes Oakland across the bay and San Jose at its southern end, with Stockton and Sacramento inland. The California state page compares the northern and southern halves of the state.
The Golden Gate and the bay
San Francisco Bay is a drowned river valley: the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers drain most of California's Central Valley into it, and their combined outflow cut the Golden Gate through the coast ranges when sea level was lower. The result is a very large sheltered harbor with a single narrow entrance — the fact that decided where the city would be. The peninsula's hills are steep and close together, the San Andreas Fault runs just offshore to the west, and summer fog pours through the gate because cold Pacific water meets hot inland air.
Cities near San Francisco
Bay Area neighbors are Oakland and San Jose; inland lie Sacramento, Stockton and Fresno. The US map with cities shows them in national context.