Many San Franciscans are "thinking" about moving to another city
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San Francisco is known as a transient city, but new data shows it might be in a league of its own.
What's happening: The U.S. Census Bureau estimated that 7.6% of households in the San Francisco metro were thinking about moving to another city within the next year — the highest percentage among major metros across the country, per recently released data.
- Seattle had the second most number of residents considering relocation at 7.2%.
Driving the news: While the survey did not ask people for the reasons behind their possible moves, factors like the high cost of housing, safety concerns and the rise of remote work opportunities, especially in the tech sector, could be to blame.
- A recent SF Standard poll that asked local voters about possible quality of life improvements showed that reducing homelessness, decreasing crime and increasing housing affordability, were the top responses.
Meanwhile, San Francisco has already lost 6.3% of its population during the first half of the pandemic — the largest such loss among major U.S. cities.
- And since many were high-wage earners, San Francisco's median income dropped nearly 5% between 2019 and 2021.
By the numbers: San Francisco's population as of July 2021 was 815,201 — its lowest since 2010.
Yes, but: The recent Census survey considers the broader San Francisco metro area; thus, as the SF Chronicle noted, it is possible people might not be moving far.
- For instance, someone "thinking" about moving from San Francisco might be looking into places in Oakland, or visa-versa.
Still, other big cities — like Miami, Phoenix and New York City — saw far fewer residents say in the same survey they had any intention of leaving any time soon.