san francisco · city and county of san francisco
San Francisco Real Estate & Neighborhood Guide
San Francisco is a consolidated city and county at the north end of the peninsula: about 46.7 square miles of land and about 185 square miles of water inside its limits, per the Census Bureau. The state incorporated the city on April 15, 1850, and an 1856 act of the Legislature consolidated the city and county governments. The northern and central neighborhoods hold the oldest housing, with Victorian- and Edwardian-era houses and flats, while the Sunset, Parkside, the hills west of Twin Peaks and the southeast filled in from the 1910s to the 1950s with mostly single-family houses. The 2020 census counted 873,965 people and 406,628 housing units, and the Assessor's roll lists about 95,000 single-family dwellings, 52,000 condominium units and 18,000 flats-and-duplex buildings.
population, 2020 census
land area
zip codes
incorporated
neighborhoods
San Francisco neighborhoods
Our 28 San Francisco guides follow the Realtors' district map. In the northwest are Sea Cliff & Lake District, Inner Richmond & Lone Mountain, and Outer & Central Richmond; on the central west side, Inner Sunset & Golden Gate Heights, Outer & Central Sunset, and Parkside; in the southwest, Oceanview, Merced Heights & Ingleside. West of Twin Peaks are St. Francis Wood & Monterey Heights, Forest Hill & Forest Hills Extension, West Portal, Ingleside Terraces & Balboa Terrace, Miraloma Park & Sunnyside, and Diamond Heights. The central district has Twin Peaks & Midtown Terrace, Noe Valley, Glen Park, Castro & Eureka Valley, Mission Dolores & Dolores Heights, and Haight-Ashbury & Cole Valley. The north side has Pacific Heights, Presidio Heights & Laurel Heights, Cow Hollow and the Marina; the northeast, Russian Hill and Telegraph Hill & North Beach; the central east, Bernal Heights and Potrero Hill & Dogpatch; and the southeast, Excelsior & Outer Mission. The pattern on the Assessor's roll is roughly old-to-new from north and east to south and west: houses in Pacific Heights, Noe Valley and Haight-Ashbury have median build years of 1906 to 1908 and share blocks with flats and condos, while Parkside, the Outer Sunset, the Excelsior and the tracts west of Twin Peaks date mostly from the 1920s to the 1940s and are 82% to 100% single-family dwellings. House lots of about 2,500 square feet are typical on the Assessor's roll in Potrero Hill, the Excelsior and Mission Terrace, with smaller lots, around 1,750 square feet, on Bernal Heights' steep blocks.
Sea Cliff & Lake District
A 1913 residence park on the bluffs above China Beach, plus the Lake Street blocks along the Presidio's south edge from 27th Avenue east to Arguello Boulevard.
Inner Richmond & Lone Mountain
The eastern end of the Richmond, from Arguello Boulevard to Park Presidio along Clement Street and Geary, plus Lone Mountain east to Masonic Avenue: early-1900s houses, flats and condos by Golden Gate Park.
Outer & Central Richmond
The Richmond District avenues from Park Presidio Boulevard west to Ocean Beach: 1910s-1920s houses and flats between Golden Gate Park and Lincoln Park, with shops on Clement, Geary and Balboa.
Inner Sunset & Golden Gate Heights
The grid south of Golden Gate Park along Irving Street, 9th Avenue and the N Judah, plus Golden Gate Heights, the curving, stair-laced hill above it with Grand View Park on top.
Outer & Central Sunset
The avenues from 19th Avenue to the ocean between Golden Gate Park and Ortega Street: blocks of 1920s-1940s stucco houses over garages, the N Judah, Sunset Boulevard and Sunset Dunes at the edge of Ocean Beach.
Parkside
The southern Sunset from 14th Avenue to the ocean between Ortega Street and Sloat Boulevard: L Taraval blocks of 1920s-1940s houses over garages, with Stern Grove, Pine Lake and Sunset Dunes on its edges.
Oceanview, Merced Heights & Ingleside
The OMI: the hill neighborhoods between Ocean Avenue, Junipero Serra Boulevard and I-280, split by the Merced Heights ridge, with K and M streetcar stops and Balboa Park BART at the east edge.
St. Francis Wood & Monterey Heights
Mason-McDuffie's 1912 residence park on the west slope of Mount Davidson, with an Olmsted Brothers street plan and John Galen Howard gates, plus the Monterey Heights hillside next door.
Forest Hill & Forest Hills Extension
Two residence-park tracts laid out by Mark Daniels from 1912 on the hill around the Forest Hill Muni Metro station, with curving streets, public stairways and split-level lanes on both sides of Dewey Boulevard.
West Portal
The 1920s houses around the western mouth of the Twin Peaks Tunnel, built largely by Fernando Nelson & Sons, with the West Portal Avenue shops and the K, L and M trains at the center.
Ingleside Terraces & Balboa Terrace
Two residence parks on either side of Ocean Avenue: Ingleside Terraces, built from 1911 on an old racetrack with a 1913 sundial, and Balboa Terrace, the 1920s tract with pedestrian greenways to the north.
Miraloma Park & Sunnyside
The houses wrapped around Mount Davidson: Miraloma Park's 1926-onward tract, Sherwood Forest and Westwood Highlands, Westwood Park's 1918-23 bungalow oval and Sunnyside's 1891 grid down to I-280.
Diamond Heights
A Redevelopment Agency hilltop built from the early 1960s into the late 1970s between Twin Peaks and Glen Canyon: about 100 Eichler houses, 1960s-70s houses, townhouse and condo complexes, and a 1965 shopping center.
Twin Peaks & Midtown Terrace
The residential slopes around the Twin Peaks summit: Midtown Terrace's 1950s tract, Forest Knolls below Mount Sutro, Clarendon Heights, and the condo-heavy Twin Peaks blocks that step down to Market St.
Noe Valley
A valley of 1880s to 1920s Victorian and Edwardian houses and flats between 22nd and 30th streets, with the 24th Street shops through the middle and the J Church streetcar on Church Street.
Glen Park
A small commercial center at Diamond and Chenery streets beside Glen Park BART, ringed by early-1900s to 1950s houses on the hills between 30th St, San Jose Ave, I-280 and Glen Canyon.
Castro & Eureka Valley
The Castro Street and Market Street shops around Castro station, Eureka Valley's blocks south to 22nd Street, and the Corona Heights and Duboce Triangle slopes: Victorian-era houses, flats and condos.
Mission Dolores & Dolores Heights
Dolores Park and the blocks around it: Mission Dolores's flats and condos from Market Street to 20th Street, and the Dolores Heights hill of houses and flats up to 22nd Street, between Valencia and Noe streets.
Haight-Ashbury & Cole Valley
The Victorian and Edwardian blocks between the Panhandle and Buena Vista Park, from the Haight Street shops south through Cole Valley and Ashbury Heights to the Parnassus slopes, with the N Judah at Carl and Cole.
Pacific Heights
The ridge between California and Green streets, from Van Ness Avenue to the Presidio edge: Victorian and Edwardian houses, condo and co-op buildings, two hilltop parks and the Upper Fillmore shops.
Presidio Heights & Laurel Heights
Large early-1900s houses along the Presidio wall and Sacramento Street, plus Jordan Park and Laurel Heights south of California Street, between Arguello Boulevard and Presidio Avenue.
Cow Hollow
The north slope between Green and Lombard streets, from Van Ness Avenue to the Presidio: old dairy-valley blocks with Victorian and Edwardian houses, flats and condos, and the Union Street shops through the middle.
Marina
The flat, filled-land blocks north of Lombard Street, from Fort Mason to the Presidio: 1920s and 1930s houses, flats and apartment buildings, Chestnut Street shops, the Marina Green and the Palace of Fine Arts.
Russian Hill
The hill between Van Ness Avenue and Columbus Avenue, from Broadway down to Aquatic Park: Victorian-era crest enclaves, flats, condo and co-op towers, Lombard Street's switchback block and two cable car lines.
Telegraph Hill & North Beach
Coit Tower's hill and the flat blocks around Washington Square, from Broadway to Bay Street: stairway lanes with pre-1870s cottages, post-1906 flats and apartments, condos and the Columbus and Grant shops.
Bernal Heights
The hill south of Cesar Chavez Street: an 1859 rancho subdivision of small, steep lots, mostly houses from the 1900s to the 1950s, Cortland Avenue's shops and a 26-acre park on the summit.
Potrero Hill & Dogpatch
Potrero Hill's 1900s-1920s houses and flats between US-101 and I-280, plus Dogpatch below it: a landmark district of 1870s-1920s cottages and flats among newer condos, lofts and the Pier 70 waterfront.
Excelsior & Outer Mission
San Francisco's south edge between I-280 and McLaren Park: the Excelsior, Mission Terrace, Crocker-Amazon and Outer Mission, mostly 1920s-1950s houses along Mission Street down to the county line.
schools
San Francisco public schools
Elementary and middle
- San Francisco Unified School District. One district for the whole city. Applicants list schools in order of preference; when a school has more requests than seats, SFUSD uses tiebreakers and then random numbers. For elementary attendance-area schools the order is sibling, PreK/TK in the attendance area, the CTIP1 tiebreaker, then attendance area, so living in an attendance area is a tiebreaker, not a guarantee. Middle schools use a feeder-school tiebreaker after sibling. The district has been moving toward a zone-based elementary system approved in 2020; some SFUSD pages still say it starts in 2026-27, but 2026-27 seats were assigned under the existing choice system and the change has been pushed back, so check the rules for your entry year.
High school
- San Francisco Unified School District. High school seats are also assigned by application across the city. SFUSD lists its high school tiebreakers as sibling, Willie Brown Middle School and CTIP1.
property nerd note
There is no single assigned school to look up for a San Francisco address. Ask SFUSD's Enrollment Center which elementary attendance area and CTIP1 status apply to the address, and check the current tiebreakers and application dates for the student's entry grade and year; attendance areas and assignment rules change. Start with our Silicon Valley schools guide.
zip codes
San Francisco ZIP codes
Hayes Valley, the Tenderloin and the Civic Center area, plus Western Addition blocks.
South of Market and the northern Mission, with a slice of Showplace Square and Mission Bay.
The eastern South of Market blocks of the Financial District, Rincon Hill and South Beach area.
Potrero Hill and Dogpatch, plus parts of South of Market, South Beach and Mission Bay.
Russian Hill, Nob Hill, the Polk Street corridor and the eastern edge of Pacific Heights.
The Financial District and the northeast waterfront below Telegraph Hill.
The Excelsior, Outer Mission, Crocker-Amazon and Mission Terrace, Oceanview-Merced Heights-Ingleside, and Sunnyside and Westwood Park.
The Castro and Eureka Valley, Duboce Triangle, the north half of Noe Valley and the Twin Peaks slopes.
Pacific Heights, the Western Addition and the blocks along Post and Geary streets, with edges of Lone Mountain and Presidio Heights.
Parkside and the southern Sunset, plus Forest Hill and Golden Gate Heights edges west of Twin Peaks.
Haight-Ashbury, Cole Valley, the Panhandle and the east end of Golden Gate Park, with Lower Haight and Lone Mountain edges.
The neighborhoods west of Twin Peaks: St. Francis Wood, West Portal, Monterey Heights, Miraloma Park and nearby tracts.
Glen Park, the south half of Noe Valley, Twin Peaks, Diamond Heights and parts of Miraloma Park and Sunnyside.
Lake Merced, Parkmerced, Stonestown and the southern Sunset, plus western parts of Oceanview-Merced Heights-Ingleside.
North Beach and Telegraph Hill, plus parts of Russian Hill and Nob Hill.
The Portola and Visitacion Valley, with parts of Bayview and the eastern Excelsior along McLaren Park.
getting around
Getting around San Francisco
Muni Metro and buses
Muni runs six light-rail lines: the J Church, K Ingleside, L Taraval, M Ocean View, N Judah and T Third. The K, L and M run through the Twin Peaks Tunnel between Castro station and West Portal, with a stop at Forest Hill, and the T Third runs through the Central Subway to Chinatown-Rose Pak station and south along Third Street to Sunnydale. Buses cover the rest of the city, including the 14R Mission Rapid from downtown to Daly City BART.
BART
Eight BART stations are inside the city: Embarcadero, Montgomery St, Powell St, Civic Center, 16th St Mission, 24th St Mission, Glen Park and Balboa Park. Daly City station sits just over the county line.
Caltrain
Two Caltrain stations are in the city, San Francisco 4th & King and 22nd Street (stairs only, per Caltrain); Bayshore station is just over the line in Brisbane.
Freeways and bridges
US-101 and I-280 run through the east and south sides of the city and meet near Bernal Heights; I-80 runs from South of Market across the bay by way of Yerba Buena Island on the Bay Bridge.
living here
Living in San Francisco
Golden Gate Park
About 1,030 acres in seven mapped sections in the city's park data, running west from the Haight-Ashbury between the Richmond and the Sunset.
Neighborhood and hilltop parks
Rec and Park's property list includes 21 regional parks, 143 neighborhood parks and playgrounds and 43 mini parks, among them hilltop parks such as Twin Peaks (about 32 acres), Buena Vista Park (about 38 acres) and Bernal Heights Park (about 26 acres).
Large open spaces
McLaren Park on the southeast side was established in 1927; Lake Merced Park, about 609 acres in the city's park data, is managed by the city's water department, and Lincoln Park covers about 113 acres in the northwest.
San Francisco Public Library
The Main Library at Civic Center and 27 neighborhood branches, seven of them Carnegie libraries; the system's first library opened in 1879.
Civic Center
City Hall's district is an Article 10 city landmark district designated in 1996, bounded by Golden Gate Avenue, Seventh Street, Market Street and Van Ness Avenue.
Bay waterfront
The Port of San Francisco runs the bay shoreline, including Crane Cove Park at Pier 70 in Dogpatch, a roughly 7-acre park with a small beach and two preserved shipyard cranes that opened in 2020.
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faq
San Francisco real estate FAQ
How are public school seats assigned in San Francisco?
SFUSD assigns seats by application. Applicants list schools in order of preference, and oversubscribed schools use tiebreakers (for elementary attendance-area schools: sibling, PreK/TK in the attendance area, CTIP1, then attendance area) and then random numbers. A planned zone-based elementary system has been delayed, so check SFUSD's Enrollment Center for the rules for your entry year.
Does rent control apply to a house or condo you buy?
Usually not to the rent: units first built after June 13, 1979 are exempt from the Rent Ordinance's rent-increase limits, and single-family homes and condos are generally exempt under the state's Costa-Hawkins law, with exceptions. Since January 2020, though, just-cause eviction rules apply to nearly all rental units, so a tenant-occupied home comes with eviction limits. Confirm a specific unit with the Rent Board.
Can units be added to a single-family lot?
Often, under conditions. Planning's summary says lots in RH districts may have up to four units (six on corner lots), not counting ADUs, under an ordinance effective November 27, 2022. The Family Zoning Plan, signed December 12, 2025 and in effect January 12, 2026, added height on many transit and commercial corridors and removed density limits within existing height limits in the rezoned northern and western neighborhoods.
What should buyers check for older buildings?
Check the Property Information Map's Preservation tab for historic status (Category A, B or C), state seismic hazard zones for liquefaction or landslide (revised in 2021), FEMA's flood map and the city's sea level rise screening map near the bay. For wood buildings with five or more units built under permits applied for before 1978, check the city's mandatory soft-story retrofit list.
How does San Francisco's transfer tax work?
The city charges a real property transfer tax on sales, at a rate that steps up through several tiers by sale price. Look up the current tiers on sf.gov for the price you expect.
More Property Nerd guides: Daly City Millbrae Burlingame San Mateo San Carlos Belmont Redwood City Atherton Woodside Portola Valley Menlo Park Palo Alto Los Altos Hills Los Altos Mountain View Cupertino Sunnyvale Los Gatos Monte Sereno Saratoga Campbell Santa Clara San José neighborhoods Silicon Valley schools
more san francisco neighborhood guides
Neighborhood guides in San Francisco
- Sea Cliff & Lake District
- Inner Richmond & Lone Mountain
- Outer & Central Richmond
- Inner Sunset & Golden Gate Heights
- Outer & Central Sunset
- Parkside
- Oceanview, Merced Heights & Ingleside
- St. Francis Wood & Monterey Heights
- Forest Hill & Forest Hills Extension
- West Portal
- Ingleside Terraces & Balboa Terrace
- Miraloma Park & Sunnyside
- Diamond Heights
- Twin Peaks & Midtown Terrace
- Noe Valley
- Glen Park
- Castro & Eureka Valley
- Mission Dolores & Dolores Heights
- Haight-Ashbury & Cole Valley
- Pacific Heights
- Presidio Heights & Laurel Heights
- Cow Hollow
- Marina
- Russian Hill
- Telegraph Hill & North Beach
- Bernal Heights
- Potrero Hill & Dogpatch
- Excelsior & Outer Mission
See every guide in the Nerd Portal.