Statistics, Stat!
No matter how you crunch the numbers, the San Francisco Bay Area is a top five metropolitan area/media market in America.
Republic of Bay Area
If the Bay Area were a state, it would be the country’s thirteenth-most populous—right between Virginia and Washington. If the Bay Area were a country, its population would rival that of Switzerland. With San Francisco, one of the world’s top tourist destinations, sandwiched between Silicon Valley to the south and Wine Country to the north, the Bay Area’s diversity is reflected in its residents, food scene, and economy.
Weather Report
Thanks to its location and topography, even the local climate is “diverse.” The meteorological term is “microclimates.” This means the difference in temperature in summer from one end of the Bay Area to another could be as much as 30 degrees Fahrenheit (or 16.7 degrees Celsius). The fog acts as the region’s natural air conditioner, cooling the western portion of the Bay Area—and surprising tourists in their T-shirts and shorts. While most places in the continental U.S. are too humid, too cold, or too wet, the Bay Area is devoid of such extremes.
Bluer Than Blue
In terms of politics, California is currently a blue (liberal) state; the Bay Area is a deeper shade of blue. This nine-county region voted overwhelmingly for Barack Obama in 2008. Only Washington, D.C., was more solidly behind Obama.
People
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Population
7,420,453
Population by County No. County Population (thousand) 1 Santa Clara 1,869 2 Alameda 1,573 3 Contra Costa 1,087 4 San Francisco 837 5 San Mateo 745 6 Sonoma 490 7 Solano 424 8 Marin 256 9 Napa 139 Source: California Dept. of Finance, 2014
Largest Cities in the Bay Area No. City County Population (thousand) 1 San Jose Santa Clara 1,001 2 San Francisco San Francisco 837 3 Oakland Alameda 404 4 Fremont Alameda 224 5 Santa Rosa Sonoma 170 6 Hayward Alameda 151 7 Sunnyvale Santa Clara 147 8 Concord Contra Costa 125 9 Santa Clara Santa Clara 121 10 Vallejo Solano 118 11 Berkeley Alameda 117 12 Fairfield Solano 110 13 Antioch Contra Costa 106 14 Richmond Contra Costa 106 15 Daly City San Mateo 105 16 San Mateo San Mateo 100 17 Vacaville Solano 94 18 San Leandro Alameda 88 19 Livermore Alameda 85 20 Redwood City San Mateo 81 Source: California Dept. of Finance, 2014
Compared to Most Populous States No. State Population (million) 1 California 39.1 2 Texas 27.5 3 Florida 20.3 4 New York 19.8 5 Illinois 12.9 6 Pennsylvania 12.8 7 Ohio 11.6 8 Georgia 10.2 9 North Carolina 10.0 10 Michigan 9.9 11 New Jersey 9.0 12 Virginia 8.4 - Bay Area 7.4 13 Washington 7.2 14 Arizona 6.8 15 Massachusetts 6.7 16 Indiana 6.6 17 Tennessee 6.6 18 Missouri 6.1 19 Maryland 6.0 20 Wisconsin 5.8 Source: U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Dept. of Commerce, 2015
Market Rankings (Two Views)
Combined Statistical Areas No. Area Population (thousand) 1 New York-Newark-Bridgeport 23,724 2 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside 18,680 3 Chicago-Naperville-Michigan City 9,923 4 Washington (D.C.)-Baltimore-Northern Virginia 9,625 5 San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland* 8,714 6 Boston-Worcester-Manchester 8,153 7 Dallas-Fort Worth 7,504 8 Philadelphia-Camden-Vineland 7,183 9 Houston-Baytown-Huntsville 6,855 10 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach 6,655 11 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Gainesville 6,365 12 Detroit-Warren-Flint 5,320 13 Seattle-Tacoma-Olympia 4,603 - Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale 4,330 14 Minneapolis-St. Paul-St. Cloud 3,867 15 Cleveland-Akron-Elyria 3,494 16 Denver-Aurora-Boulder 3,419 - San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos 3,177 17 Orlando-The Villages 3,129 18 Portland (Ore.)-Vancouver-Beaverton 3,111 19 St. Louis-St. Charles-Farmington 2,916 - Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater 2,843 20 Pittsburgh-New Castle 2,649 21 Charlotte-Gastonia-Salisbury 2,584 22 Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Truckee 2,544 23 Salt Lake City-Ogden-Clearfield 2,468 24 Kansas City (Mo.)-Overland Park-Kansas City (Kan.) 2,428 25 Columbus-Marion-Chillicothe 2,425 26 Indianapolis-Anderson-Columbus 2,373 27 Las Vegas-Paradise-Pahrump 2,362 - San Antonio 2,234 28 Cincinnati-Middletown-Wilmington 2,217 29 Raleigh-Durham-Cary 2,117 30 Milwaukee-Racine-Waukesha 2,046 Source: U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Dept. of Commerce, 2015
* Bay Area + Santa Cruz-Watsonville metropolitan area.
Note that we’ve added some large metropolitan areas that are not defined as combined statistical areas: Phoenix, San Diego, Tampa, and San Antonio.
Media Markets No. Market 12+ Population (thousand) 1 New York 16,278 2 Los Angeles 11,420 3 Chicago 7,975 4 San Francisco* 6,601 5 Dallas-Fort Worth 5,794 6 Houston-Galveston 5,546 7 Washington, D.C. 4,851 8 Atlanta 4,646 9 Philadelphia 4,572 10 Boston 4,238 11 Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood 3,969 12 Detroit 3,808 13 Seattle-Tacoma 3,704 14 Phoenix 3,504 15 Puerto Rico 3,029 16 Minneapolis-St. Paul 2,911 17 San Diego 2,810 18 Denver-Boulder 2,611 19 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater 2,584 20 Nassau-Suffolk (Long Island) 2,478 21 Baltimore 2,400 22 St. Louis 2,338 23 Portland, Ore. 2,257 24 Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill 2,205 25 Riverside-San Bernardino 2,048 26 Pittsburgh, Pa. 2,003 27 San Antonio 1,991 28 Sacramento 1,963 29 Salt Lake City-Ogden-Provo 1,844 30 Cincinnati 1,811 31 Las Vegas 1,786 32 Cleveland 1,775 33 Orlando 1,762 34 Kansas City 1,704 35 Austin 1,679 36 San Jose** 1,631 37 Columbus, Ohio 1,623 38 Indianapolis 1,511 39 Hudson Valley 1,510 40 Raleigh-Durham 1,507 - Santa Rosa 431 Source: Nielsen, 2015
* All Bay Area counties except Santa Clara and Sonoma (and more?).
** Santa Clara County.The bottom line: Neither ranking system recognizes the nine-county Bay Area as a logical unit. The U.S. Census Bureau’s definition includes a part of the Monterey Peninsula while the other one ignores a big chunk of the Bay Area.
Place
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Area
6,952 square miles (land)
7,416 square miles (land + water)Compared to Smallest States No. State Land (sq. miles) Total (sq. miles) 1 Rhode Island 1,231 1,545 2 Delaware 2,397 2,489 3 Connecticut 5,544 5,544 - Bay Area 6,952 7,416 4 New Jersey 8,215 8,722 5 Massachusetts 9,241 10,555 6 Hawaii 6,459 10,932 Politics
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General Election 2008
President: 75.3 percent for Barack Obama
Presidential Vote by County No. County Obama (percent) 1 San Francisco 84.2 2 Alameda 78.6 3 Marin 78.1 - Bay Area 75.3 4 Sonoma 73.8 5 San Mateo 73.6 6 Santa Clara 69.7 7 Contra Costa 68.1 8 Napa 65.2 9 Solano 63.6 - Statewide 60.8 Source: California Secretary of State, 2008
Presidential Vote Compared to Other States No. State Obama (percent) Electoral Votes 1 District of Columbia 92 3 - Bay Area 75 - 2 Hawaii [H] 72 4 3 Vermont 67 3 4 New York 63 31 5 Rhode Island 63 4 6 Illinois [H] 62 21 7 Massachusetts 62 12 8 Maryland 62 10 9 Delaware [H] 62 3 10 California 61 55 11 Connecticut 61 7 12 Washington 58 11 13 Maine 58 4 14 Michigan 57 17 15 New Jersey 57 15 16 Oregon 57 7 17 New Mexico* 57 5 18 Wisconsin 56 10 19 Nevada* 55 5 20 Pennsylvania [H] 54 21 21 Minnestoa 54 10 22 Colorado* 54 9 23 Iowa* 54 7 24 New Hampshire 54 4 25 Virginia* 53 13 26 Ohio* 52 20 27 Florida* 51 27 28 North Carolina* 50 15 29 Indiana* 50 11 - Nebraska - 1 Total 53 365 No. State McCain (percent) Electoral Votes 1 Oklahoma 66 7 2 Wyoming 65 3 3 Utah 63 5 4 Idaho [H] 62 4 5 Alabama 60 9 6 Louisiana 59 9 7 Arkansas 59 6 8 Alaska [H] 59 3 9 Tennessee 57 11 10 Kentucky 57 8 11 Kansas 57 6 12 Nebraska 57 4 13 Mississippi 56 6 14 West Virginia 56 5 15 Texas 55 34 16 Arizona [H] 54 10 17 South Carolina 54 8 18 North Dakota 53 3 19 South Dakota 53 3 20 Georgia 52 15 21 Montana 50 3 22 Missouri 49 11 Total 46 173 Source: Federal Election Commission, 2009
* Voted for George W. Bush in 2004.
H – Candidates’ home/birth states.Note that Maine and Nebraska have the option to split their electoral votes between candidates.
California State Proposition 8: 61.4 percent against
Proposition 8 by County No. County No (percent) 1 San Francisco 75.1 2 Marin 75.0 3 Sonoma 66.1 4 Alameda 62.2 5 San Mateo 61.8 - Bay Area 61.4 6 Santa Clara 55.7 7 Contra Costa 55.4 8 Napa 55.1 - Statewide 47.8 9 Solano 43.8 Source: California Secretary of State, 2008
Work
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Business
Fortune 500 Companies in the Bay Area County Number City (Number) Santa Clara 14 San Jose (3), Santa Clara (3), Mountain View (2), Sunnyvale (2), Cupertino (1), Los Gatos (1), Milpitas (1), Palo Alto (1) San Francisco 6 San Francisco (6) San Mateo 6 Foster City (2), Menlo Park (1), Redwood City (1), San Mateo (1), South San Francisco (1) Alameda 4 Dublin (1), Fremont (1), Oakland (1), Pleasanton (1) Contra Costa 1 San Ramon (1) Fortune 1000 (501-1000) Companies in the Bay Area County Number City (Number) Santa Clara 17 San Jose (5), Sunnyvale (4), Mountain View (3), Palo Alto (2), Santa Clara (2), Milpitas (1) San Francisco 3 San Francisco (3) San Mateo 3 Redwood City (2), Menlo Park (1) Alameda 2 Fremont (1), San Leandro (1) Marin 1 San Rafael (1) Source: Fortune, 2015
Chronicle 200 Companies in the Bay Area County Number Revenue (billion) Santa Clara 112 $294.7 San Francisco 24 168.0 Contra Costa 6 164.0 Alameda 29 69.5 San Mateo 20 32.0 Marin 4 2.6 Solano 1 0.4 Napa 0 0 Sonoma 0 0 Source: San Francisco Chronicle, 2005
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