20-somethings are leaving San Francisco — except for this one neighborhood
When Jack Giddings, 28, and his girlfriend Amanda Guo, also 28, decided to move in together, they had a short list of amenities that would make for their ideal place: They wanted somewhere with onsite parking, a more modern building and didn't want to deal with long commutes. Giddings works in downtown San Francisco and Guo commutes down to the Peninsula three times a week.
While the couple originally looked in the more 'classic' San Francisco neighborhoods that they already knew and loved, like Nob Hill, Russian Hill, the Marina and the Mission, Giddings said, they couldn't find anything that checked their boxes and was in their budget. That's when their search brought them to SoMa, to a building right near Oracle Park.
Their new spot has it all, Giddings said. It's just a 15 minute walk to his job and close to the freeways for hers, it's a newer building and, crucially, it has parking included. And there's an added benefit: plenty of nearby parks for their dog, Tuna (who, at just over 4 years old, you might also say is in his 20s in dog years — although the science of that is disputed).
The data show that Giddings and Guo aren't alone. Though the city as a whole is seeing its share of 20-somethings shrink — part of an exodus spurred by the pandemic — SoMa is seeing the opposite.
According to U.S. Census American Community Survey data from 2013 and 2023, about 16% of San Franciscans were between 22 and 29 in 2013. That declined to roughly 13% in 2023. But in SoMa, the trend was nearly the opposite. About 14% of residents were between 22 and 29 in 2013. That increased to about 20% by 2023, making it the only area to see a statistically significant increase in its 20-something population.
Other parts of the city, like Potrero Hill, also saw increases in 20-somethings, per the data. But the margins of error on the population counts muddied the picture, making it possible that the changes were more due to counting errors than to actual changes, and thus not statistically significant.
By the city's definition, SoMa, or South of Market, sweeps beneath Market Street from 3rd Street down to 11th Street, bordered on the southeast side by Townsend Street. The area features several tall residential buildings, many with amenities like gyms and roof decks. And over the last two decades, the neighborhood and the areas adjacent to it have seen tens of thousands of new housing units added — making it home to most of the city's new development over those 20 years.
Still, it's an area that's struggled in the post-pandemic era, as businesses retreated from office buildings, construction languished and foot traffic slowed dramatically. On top of that, the neighborhood encompasses vastly different experiences, from luxury condos and trendy restaurants to troubled corridors like Sixth Street.
To real estate agents, the demographic changes in SoMa weren't a surprise. Allison Fortini Crawford, a realtor with Sotheby's, listed off the very reasons that brought Giddings to SoMa, saying that the area has always attracted a younger age bracket because of its easy access to the freeway to get to tech jobs down the Peninsula, while still offering amenities like grocery stores, bars and restaurants within walking distance.
And compared to other neighborhoods close to the freeway like Bernal Heights, SoMa is more 'hip,' she said, and less family-oriented. Real estate agents said that Potrero Hill, which saw a less statistically reliable increase, had many of the same qualities that might make it attractive to a younger crowd — particularly its proximity to the freeway — along with sweeping city views.
Still, that doesn't mean SoMa is suddenly transforming into a 20-something haunt like the Marina. Giddings, for example, said that on the weekends, he and Guo spend a lot of their time in other neighborhoods where their friends live.
'We don't really stick around here that much,' Giddings said. 'Outside of baseball season, it's pretty quiet… it definitely caters towards commuters and people who are only here for work.'
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