San Francisco’s neighborhoods conjure up too many stereotypes to count. You’ve got hipster areas, preppy places, neighborhoods where college kids thrive, and of course, ghettos.
It seems as if there’s a neighborhood for everyone in San Francisco.
And while the city consistently ranks as one of the best places to live in California thanks in part to tons of entertainment and jobs, it’s not all rainbows and sunshine in San Francisco. Some neighborhoods aren’t as safe as others.
So the question arises, which San Francisco neighborhoods are the most dangerous and which are the safest?
Today, we’ll use Saturday Night Science to determine which San Francisco hoods need a little tender loving care. We examined 34 of San Francisco’s neighborhoods to find out the most dangerous places to live.
$90,666 median income
$74,577 median income
$49,026 median income
$102,761 median income
$78,895 median income
$76,499 median income
$127,427 median income
$103,917 median income
$86,292 median income
$121,072 median income
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is California’s statewide median.
California statewide median: $774,582
California statewide median: $99,122
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we determined the most dangerous San Francisco neighborhoods in 2026
To figure out how bad a place is to live in, we only needed to know what kinds of things people like and then decide what places have the least amount of those things. We plugged the following criteria into Saturday Night Science to get the worst neighborhoods in San Francisco:
- High crime (Estimated)
- High unemployment (Less jobs)
- Low median income (Less pay)
- Low population density (No things to do)
- Low home values (No one’s willing to pay to live here)
Then, we ranked each neighborhood in San Francisco, California for each of these criteria from worst to best.
Next, we averaged the individual rankings for each criterion into a “Worst Score.”
The neighborhood with the lowest “Worst Score” ranks as the most dangerous neighborhood of San Francisco.
The article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment. We updated this article for 2026. Skip to the end to see the list of all 34 neighborhoods ranked from worst to best.
The full plate
Most dangerous neighborhoods to live in San Francisco for 2026
Click any column to sort. Search by neighborhood name.
| Rank | Neighborhood | Population | Home Value | Median Income |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bayview | 22,475 | $809,839 | $90,666 |
| 2 | Visitacion Valley | 21,563 | $835,962 | $74,577 |
| 3 | North Beach | 6,775 | $1,309,850 | $49,026 |
| 4 | Lakeshore | 4,596 | $1,341,175 | $102,761 |
| 5 | Ocean View | 30,618 | $678,568 | $78,895 |
| 5 | Downtown | 19,497 | $1,135,756 | $76,499 |
| 7 | Castro-Upper Market | 21,884 | $1,067,308 | $127,427 |
| 8 | Outer Mission | 11,675 | $888,962 | $103,917 |
| 9 | Excelsior | 25,088 | $900,731 | $86,292 |
| 10 | Outer Sunset | 18,347 | $1,023,558 | $121,072 |
| 11 | Western Addition | 11,227 | $900,512 | $77,757 |
| 12 | Financial District | 3,915 | $1,564,881 | $104,669 |
| 12 | Potrero Hill | 11,617 | $1,225,156 | $180,007 |
| 14 | Crocker Amazon | 13,076 | $933,325 | $92,029 |
| 15 | Seacliff | 1,429 | $1,346,400 | $134,269 |
| 16 | South Of Market | 28,489 | $1,032,286 | $131,546 |
| 17 | Mission | 59,096 | $1,264,405 | $142,907 |
| 18 | West Of Twin Peaks | 21,375 | $1,095,080 | $153,714 |
| 19 | Parkside | 18,914 | $1,182,169 | $116,184 |
| 20 | Twin Peaks | 3,830 | $1,359,633 | $159,190 |
| 21 | Outer Richmond | 16,587 | $1,382,200 | $111,188 |
| 22 | Chinatown | 6,383 | $1,439,650 | $37,799 |
| 23 | Diamond Heights | 3,183 | $1,040,967 | $151,943 |
| 24 | Marina | 13,099 | $1,635,620 | $174,122 |
| 25 | Nob Hill | 17,902 | $1,403,934 | $111,424 |
| 26 | Bernal Heights | 27,627 | $1,230,414 | $143,080 |
| 27 | Haight-Ashbury | 11,856 | $1,324,689 | $143,447 |
| 28 | Glen Park | 9,165 | $1,403,600 | $169,820 |
| 29 | Inner Sunset | 17,334 | $1,364,986 | $130,238 |
| 30 | Inner Richmond | 19,022 | $1,614,046 | $142,263 |
| 31 | Russian Hill | 14,756 | $1,452,611 | $164,460 |
| 32 | Noe Valley | 16,095 | $1,714,572 | $185,103 |
| 33 | Presidio Heights | 4,672 | $2,000,001 | $169,878 |
| 34 | Pacific Heights | 19,649 | $1,749,956 | $172,749 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. All 34 San Francisco neighborhoods.
Summary
Summary: The worst neighborhoods around San Francisco
Well, there you have it — the worst of the neighborhoods in San Francisco with Bayview landing at the bottom of the pack.
The worst neighborhoods in San Francisco are Bayview, Visitacion Valley, North Beach, Lakeshore, Ocean View, Downtown, Castro-Upper Market, Outer Mission, Excelsior, and Outer Sunset.
As mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in San Francisco aren’t all bad. Pacific Heights takes the cake as the best place to live in San Francisco.
We ranked the neighborhoods from worst to best in the chart below. Not sold on California? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Worst Neighborhoods In San Francisco FAQs
What is the most dangerous neighborhood in San Francisco?
Bayview ranks as the worst neighborhood in San Francisco for 2026, according to Saturday Night Science. Visitacion Valley and North Beach are next on the list.
What are the worst neighborhoods in San Francisco?
The worst-ranked neighborhoods in San Francisco are Bayview, Visitacion Valley, North Beach, Lakeshore, Ocean View, Downtown, Castro-Upper Market, Outer Mission, Excelsior, and Outer Sunset. We scored all 34 neighborhoods in the city.
Why does Bayview rank as the worst?
Bayview posts the roughest combined numbers in San Francisco: a median household income of $90,666 and a median home value of $809,839, with crime, unemployment, and density folded into the score.
Are these neighborhoods dangerous everywhere?
No. The scores are neighborhood-wide averages, and conditions change block by block and hour by hour. Plenty of people live in these neighborhoods without incident; the numbers just say the odds run tougher.
How do you rank the worst neighborhoods?
Each neighborhood is scored on crime, unemployment, income, density, and home values, using Census tract and FBI data. The worst combined score tops the list.
