

UNDERSTANDING THE TRENDS




The San Francisco Bay Area is the fifth largest metropolitan area in the United States, exceeded by Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. It is a region of world-class cities and small towns with distinct personalities. The governmental system includes five regional agencies, nine counties, 100 cities, 162 school districts, and nearly 1,000 special districts.

DIVERSE MIX

In 1769, Spanish explorers christened the San Francisco Bay. Nearly a decade later, the port city that guards the bay’s entrance adopted the same name. Today, San Francisco, which long dominated the region commercially and culturally, includes some of the most densely populated land west of the Hudson River in the United States. The region is also distinguished by a diverse mix of communities, numerous parks, a thriving agricultural industry and hundreds of thousands of acres of open space.

San Francisco Bay Area Current Land Uses

THE REGION	1995	2020
Popluation Households Jobs Employed residents People of color 85 years and older 65 years and older Less than 20 years old Less than 5 years old	6.4 Mil 2.3 Mil 3.0 Mil 3.1 Mil 40 % 1% 12% 28% 8%	7.8 Mil 2.8 Mil 4.4 Mil 4.2 Mil 53% 3% 20% 20% 6%

THRIVING ECONOMY

The region’s economy ranks as one of the largest in the world and includes a number of cutting-edge industries. It serves as an incubator for the high-tech industry and is a hotbed of biotechnology research and product development. It is also a favorite destination for many American and international tourists, a renowned wine-growing region, and a world-class financial center.