The California Dream is Fading Away: Bay Area Cities Struggle to Attract Residents

According to new figures released by the California Department of Finance, several Bay Area cities, including San Francisco and San Jose, continued to see population losses in 2024, despite other recently struggling cities gaining back residents in the same time span.

State Population Gains While Cities Struggle

The California Department of Finance recently released new population totals this month with the state growing by 108,000 residents. In total, California climbed back up to around 39.5 million residents.

"People from across the nation and the globe are coming to the Golden State to pursue the California Dream, where rights are protected and people are respected," said Governor Gavin Newsom of the new figures.

“As the fourth largest economy in the world — from the Inland Empire to the Bay Area — regions throughout California are growing, strengthening local communities and boosting our state’s future. We’ll continue to cut tape, invest in people, and seek real results from government to ensure we build on this momentum – all of which are at risk with the extreme and uncertain tariffs.”

Population Losses in San Francisco and San Jose

• San Francisco, which saw a peak in population in the late 2010’s of around 880,000 thanks to the tech boom in the area, saw a drastic decrease in the 2020’s thanks to a sky-high cost of living, mass tech layoffs, and a worsening crime and drug situation in the city.
• At the 2020 Census, the population was at 873,000. By 2023, it had plummeted to below 850,000.
• According to the new state figures, San Francisco continued to lose residents last year, going down by .4% to 842,000.

San Jose, another Silicon Valley tech hub, also lost population last year. While San Jose managed to get just over 1 million residents by the time the Pandemic struck, it rapidly lost residents in the 2020’s because of tech layoffs, the pandemic, and housing costs.

Differences in Population Figures

The Department of Finance figures are somewhat different from more Conservative federal figures. For example, the Census Bureau marked San Jose as having below 970,000 residents last year, while San Francisco sat at only 827,000.

Looking Ahead to Next Year

Next year, population totals are likely to be radically different once again. The drastic decrease of illegal immigrants crossing the border and the increase of illegal immigrant deportations is likely to decrease the population once again.

1. As an estimated 1.8 million illegal immigrants currently live in California, the state is likely to see stagnation of growth at the very least, if not outright declines.