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The city felt quiet and the streets appeared empty during those early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, new data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows the population of San Francisco did indeed decline significantly between July 2020 and July 2021.
San Francisco saw a 6.3% decrease in population during this time, the largest percentage decline of any major metropolitan area across the country. It was also a much greater dip than other Bay Area cities. Daly City saw a decline of 3.2% and San Mateo fell by 3%.
The Bay Area population has been declining for years. While the city’s high cost of living can undoubtedly shoulder some of the blame, the tech industry has largely embraced the switch to remote work and some companies have left the state altogether in favor of lower operating costs.
The next greatest decline in population in a major city was New York City, which lost 3.5%. Notably, Manhattan, when the city is isolated by borough, lost 6.6% of residents.
Other major cities saw declines as well, with Boston and Washington, D.C. both losing about 2.9% of their population.
The updated data shows that the large cities that gained in population were all concentrated in the West and South, with San Antonio, which gained 13,626 people, followed by Phoenix and Fort Worth.
California has also seen record low population growth in recent years, posting its lowest gains since 1900, according to recent reports. The Golden State’s population saw a growth rate of a mere 0.05% between July 1, 2019, and July 1, 2020, down from 0.23 percent for the previous 12 months.
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