Want to live and work in San Francisco?

San Francisco is one of the two most expensive cities in the United States (along with New York and sometimes Boston). Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in central neighborhoods (SoMa, Hayes Valley, NoPa, Marina, Pacific Heights) runs between USD 3,000 and USD 3,800 per month. A studio runs USD 2,200 to USD 2,800. A 3-bedroom in family neighborhoods (Inner Sunset, Cole Valley) exceeds USD 5,000.

Buying property is practically prohibitive: a modest house starts at USD 1.3 million. Even 35 m² studios cost USD 700,000. Grocery shopping at Safeway, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe's is expensive even by American standards. Local markets in Mission and Chinatown offer fresh produce at better prices. A meal at a popular restaurant costs USD 20 to USD 35.

A car is not essential: about 30% of residents do not own one. But for those who do, monthly parking in a garage runs USD 300 to USD 500. State income tax is progressive up to 13.3%. Sales tax is around 8.625%. Private health insurance is expensive even on a high tech salary. In SF, earning USD 150,000 alone is considered middle income.

San Francisco is the heart of consumer and enterprise tech. Salesforce (headquartered in the city's tallest tower), Uber, Airbnb, Stripe, Pinterest, Twitter (now X), Slack, Square (Block), Reddit, and Cloudflare are headquartered here. The generative AI wave created a new surge, with OpenAI, Anthropic, Scale AI, and hundreds of startups concentrated in SoMa and Mission. Engineering salaries range from USD 170,000 to USD 350,000, and senior AI positions can reach USD 700,000 or more.

The Financial District houses banks (Wells Fargo, Charles Schwab), venture capital firms (Sand Hill Road is in Menlo Park, but many VCs have SF offices), and consulting firms. Visa is also headquartered in San Francisco. Healthcare is significant with UCSF (University of California, San Francisco), considered one of the top medical schools in the country.

Service sectors, restaurants, hospitality, and construction employ many immigrants. The city minimum wage is USD 18.67 per hour (2024), one of the highest in the US. Even so, a family of four earning less than USD 130,000 per year qualifies as low-income in the city. Many service workers live in Oakland, Daly City, or Vallejo and commute in.

San Francisco has one of the best hospital networks in the US. The UCSF Medical Center, with campuses in Parnassus and Mission Bay, ranks among the top 10 hospitals in the country, excelling in cancer, neurology, and pediatrics (UCSF Benioff Children's). Kaiser Permanente, with a hospital on Geary Boulevard, is California's largest health plan provider. Sutter Health (CPMC, California Pacific Medical Center) and Dignity Health (Saint Francis) also cover the city.

San Francisco General Hospital (Zuckerberg San Francisco General) is the county hospital, with a Level 1 trauma center, serving emergencies and the uninsured population. The system runs on private health insurance, usually employer-provided. Tech companies offer very generous plans.

San Francisco has a unique program, Healthy San Francisco (Healthy SF), which offers basic coverage for uninsured adults living in the city, on a sliding scale. It is not insurance, but it gives access to clinics and hospitals. Community clinics like Mission Neighborhood Health Center cover the Hispanic area. In emergencies, every hospital is required to provide care regardless of ability to pay.

San Francisco is one of the few large American cities where living without a car is comfortably feasible. SFMTA (MUNI) operates streetcars (light rail, lines T, N, J, K, L, M), buses, trolleybuses, and the historic cable cars. BART is the regional subway connecting SF to Oakland, Berkeley, Daly City, SFO airport, Fremont, and Walnut Creek.

Caltrain connects SF to San Mateo, Palo Alto, and San Jose (the Silicon Valley corridor). For Oakland and the East Bay, ferries depart from the Ferry Building at the Embarcadero. For Marin (across the Golden Gate), Golden Gate Transit runs buses. Walking is viable for short distances, though the steep hills are a workout.

San Francisco International Airport (SFO), in San Bruno (about 20 km south), has flights worldwide: Asia (Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong, Singapore), Europe, Latin America, and across the US. BART connects the airport to downtown in 30 minutes. Uber and Lyft (both headquartered in SF) are omnipresent, and Bay Wheels (city bikes) are widely available.

San Francisco carries enormous cultural weight for its size. It was the epicenter of the hippie movement in the 1960s (Haight-Ashbury), the LGBTQ movement (Castro, with Harvey Milk as a pioneer), and the technology revolution from the 1970s to today. Museums like SFMOMA, de Young, California Academy of Sciences, Asian Art Museum, and the Exploratorium are among the best in the US.

The food scene is a world reference. Mexican food in the Mission District (Tartine, La Taqueria, El Farolito), Chinese food in Chinatown and Inner Richmond (Mister Jiu's, dim sum at Hong Kong Lounge II), Italian in North Beach, Japanese in Japantown, Indian in the Tenderloin. Starred restaurants like Atelier Crenn, Saison, and Quince hold Michelin stars. San Francisco sourdough bread and cioppino (seafood stew) are local specialties.

The city has a historic music scene (jazz in the Fillmore, psychedelic rock in Haight), an independent film festival, parks (Golden Gate Park, five kilometers long), beaches (Ocean Beach, Baker Beach), trails at Lands End, and the Golden Gate Bridge to walk across. Events like Pride (June), Outside Lands (music festival in August), and Bay to Breakers (costumed footrace) define the calendar.

San Francisco has about one-third of its population born outside the United States, and the city's immigration history begins in the 19th century with the massive arrival of Chinese workers during the Gold Rush and the construction of the transcontinental railroad. The result is the oldest Chinatown in North America, still alive around Grant Avenue and Stockton Street, complemented by newer Cantonese and Mandarin concentrations in Richmond, Sunset, and Visitacion Valley. Filipinos form the second-largest group, with a strong presence in SoMa and the neighborhood nicknamed SoMa Pilipinas. Mexicans and Central Americans, mainly Salvadorans, have defined the identity of the Mission District for generations, while Indians, Vietnamese, Koreans, Russians, and Iranians complete the picture, many living in Richmond, known as Little Russia.

The support ecosystem is one of the strongest in the country: Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Asian Law Caucus provides legal defense and advocacy for Asians; Chinese for Affirmative Action works on civil and linguistic rights; and CARECEN San Francisco serves Central Americans with asylum clinics and TPS support. Mission Asset Fund helps immigrants build formal credit through savings circles; the Arab Resource and Organizing Center supports Arab and Muslim communities; and the Coalition on Homelessness advocates for immigrants experiencing homelessness. The city hosts consulates from China, Mexico, Japan, India, South Korea, Philippines, Vietnam, Russia, Brazil, and dozens of others.