Pandemic exodus is over: Census Bureau numbers present slight improve in San Francisco inhabitants
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — New census figures show people are returning to San Francisco for the first time since 2019.
“I think the pandemic has really changed a lot of people's lives. I'm glad they're coming back. It’s wonderful,” said Mark Palmer, a San Francisco resident.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, San Francisco's population increased by about 1,200 between July 2022 and 2023. The city's population rose from 807,774 to just under 809,000. That's an increase of 0.15%.
“I’m a little surprised at the number,” Linda Jensen said.
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The recovery from a decline of over 50,000 people in 2021 is shown in the light blue line in the chart above.
“As a chef, a lot of my friends left,” said Danny Murcia, a San Francisco resident. “A lot of the restaurants we grew up in are a thing of the past.”
Statewide, California lost more than 75,000 people from 2022 to 2023 — a decline of 0.2%.
“But things are starting to change,” Murcia said. “I’m starting to get calls again asking if I know anyone who has openings in our industry again, which is huge for us.”
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“We spent a lot of time in Tahoe. A lot of people went to Tahoe. They were unprepared for year-round living in Tahoe. I’m not surprised that people want to come back,” Jensen said.
The pandemic allowed people to work remotely and in significantly cheaper locations. But Eric McGee, policy director at the Public Policy Institute of California, said that is now changing.
“Now, in some cases, the staff is a little more cumbersome about people only showing up in person a few days a week, and I think that's attracting people because of the dynamic and the well-paying jobs, especially in the Bay Area, back to California. “Still here,” McGee said.
The Bay Area is also experiencing an upswing.
“The Bay Area in general, not just San Francisco, has seen a bit of a turnaround. We have some new dynamic industries like AI that are attracting people back to the state,” McGee said.
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Kevin Ho, a San Francisco real estate agent with Vanguard Properties, said things have definitely improved.
“We have a lot of vendors who would have left town before. Now they're upgrading and staying in the city – and buying bigger and better homes,” Ho said. “We have customers who are relocating and moving back to the Bay Area. We had a couple who just bought an iconic property and are moving here from Miami.”
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Experts say San Francisco still has a long way to go to get back to where it was.
“San Francisco is not quite back yet, but it is in recovery mode,” McGhee said. “We just have to wait and see whether this trend can continue. Policy challenges remain, particularly with regard to building sufficient housing. But things are moving in the right direction again.”
Meanwhile, Ho said there were large crowds at the open house on Sunday. He said the listings would sell in less than a week.
“We see people crowding there who want to buy, who want to stay,” Ho said.
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