How San Francisco is run
Who runs San Francisco, what it costs, and where your money goes
The city manager, council pay, the budget, your property tax bill and who provides each service, from San Francisco's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 9, 2026.
Who runs San Francisco
The elected mayor heads the city government and appoints its top administrator and department heads. The council passes laws, adopts the budget and sets the tax rate.
What they are paid
- City health plan contribution (medical, dental, vision, life)
- No city deferred compensation contribution and no leave accrual
San Francisco city staff
32,712 full-time-equivalent positions, including Public Health 7,676, Municipal Transportation Agency (Muni) 5,169, Police 2,868, Human Services 2,268, Fire 1,835. FY2026-27. City and County of San Francisco · Jul 28, 2026
Of 42,543 people paid by the city in 2025, 13,774 earned over $150,000 and 6,940 over $200,000 in total pay. DataSF · Oct 4, 2026
The city publishes each employee's pay and benefits by name on its open data site, and salary ranges for every job class. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is San Francisco in the red?
Cities must pass a balanced budget, so "profit" and "deficit" mean something different here. The useful questions: does the city's everyday money (the general fund) cover its everyday costs, how much does it keep in savings compared with its own target, and how big are its pension and debt bills.
Savings
Unassigned general fund balance: $608M (2025-06-30). City and County of San Francisco · Nov 26, 2025
Why we skip the "budgeted deficit": many cities plan to dip into savings, then spend less than planned. The audited result tells you what really happened.
Where the money comes from and goes
The general fund only: the city's everyday money for FY2026-27.
Comes from
- Property taxes$2.41B · 32%
- Business taxes$1.57B · 21%
- Other local taxes$1.14B · 15%
- State aid$921M · 12%
- Charges for services$490M · 6%
- Federal aid$373M · 5%
- Interest and investment income$165M · 2%
- Other (transfers in, prior-year balances and reserves, rents, permits, fines)$531M · 7%
Goes to (FY2026-27)
- Public protection (police, fire, sheriff, courts, 911)$2.03B · 27%
- Human welfare and neighborhood development (social services, homelessness)$1.74B · 23%
- Transfers to other city funds$1.42B · 19%
- Community health (public health, hospitals)$1.31B · 17%
- General administration and finance$371M · 5%
- General city responsibilities$255M · 3%
- Public works, transportation and commerce$218M · 3%
- Other (culture and recreation, ending fund balance)$259M · 3%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
The 1% base levy is the City and County's direct rate; this table does not show how it is shared with schools and other agencies. The added rates pay voter-approved debt.
9¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of San Francisco
- 1% base levy (City and County direct rate under Proposition 13)1 · 85%
- City and County debt service (voter-approved bonds)0.106 · 9%
- San Francisco Unified School District (bonds)0.03345 · 3%
- San Francisco Community College District (bonds)0.01718 · 1%
- Bay Area Rapid Transit District (bonds)0.0148 · 1%
- Total (% of assessed value)1.1714
FY2024-25 rates for property in San Francisco. City and County of San Francisco · Nov 26, 2025
See what a San Francisco home costs each year, line by line →Who provides your services
Not everything in San Francisco is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe citySan Francisco Police DepartmentMayor's Office · Jun 1, 2026
- FireThe citySan Francisco Fire DepartmentMayor's Office · Jun 1, 2026
- EMS (ambulance and paramedics)The citySan Francisco Fire DepartmentMayor's Office · Jun 1, 2026
- 911 dispatchThe citySan Francisco Department of Emergency ManagementMayor's Office · Jun 1, 2026
- Drinking waterThe citySan Francisco Public Utilities Commission (Water Enterprise)City and County of San Francisco · Nov 26, 2025
- Sewer (wastewater)The citySan Francisco Public Utilities Commission (Wastewater Enterprise)Mayor's Office · Jun 1, 2026
- Electricity (power supply)The cityCleanPowerSF and Hetch Hetchy Power, run by the San Francisco Public Utilities CommissionCleanPowerSF serves over 388,000 customer accounts; Hetch Hetchy Power serves around 9,000Mayor's Office · Jun 1, 2026
- LibrariesThe citySan Francisco Public Library (Main Library and 27 branches)Mayor's Office · Jun 1, 2026
- Parks and recreationThe citySan Francisco Recreation and Park DepartmentMore than 230 parks, playgrounds and open spacesMayor's Office · Jun 1, 2026
- Street cleaningThe citySan Francisco Public WorksMayor's Office · Jun 1, 2026
- Public hospitals and clinicsThe citySan Francisco Department of Public Health (San Francisco General Hospital, Laguna Honda Hospital)Mayor's Office · Jun 1, 2026
Compared with similar cities
The cities in this state closest in population that we cover. Read it for scale, not as a ranking: cities provide different services.
| Per city | FresnoCA | San FranciscoCA | San JoseCA | San DiegoCA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 560,948 | 845,658 | 980,434 | 1,419,531 |
| Top administrator's base pay | $328,932 | $397,160 | $456,015 | Not confirmed |
| Council member pay | $97,184 | $180,128 | $171,257 | $183,545 |
| General fund per resident | $974 | $8,986 | $1,953 | $1,590 |
| Debt per resident | $1,556 | $29,826 | $2,651 | $2,869 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $-620 | $5,043 | $2,616 | $2,216 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 8.8 | 38.7 | 7.1 | 9.2 |
Figures as shown in each city's section, divided by its population. Years differ by state, and pension figures are measured differently in each state (each city page says how).
What San Francisco publishes
What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.
- Yes: Audited financial report filed on timeThe FY2025 audited report is dated Nov. 26, 2025, about five months after the June 30 year end, and is posted on sf.gov. City and County of San Francisco · Nov 26, 2025
- Yes: Adopted budget posted onlineThe final FY2026-27 and FY2027-28 budget ordinance (No. 140-26) is posted online. The Board passed it 11-0 on July 28, 2026. City and County of San Francisco · Jul 28, 2026
- Yes: Council votes recorded member by member onlineBoard minutes list each supervisor's vote by name, for example the 11-0 final vote on the budget on July 28, 2026. Board of Supervisors · Jul 28, 2026
- Yes: Meeting videos and minutes onlineBoard minutes are posted online, and meetings stream live on SFGovTV. Board of Supervisors · Jul 28, 2026
- Yes: Council pay stated in a public document Civil Service Commission · May 18, 2026
- Yes: Employee pay publishedThe city's open data site lists each employee's pay and benefits by name and job, updated in October 2026. DataSF · Oct 4, 2026
Questions to ask your council
- The FY2026-27 general fund budget sends $1.42 billion to other city funds. Which services do those transfers pay for, and how fast are they growing?
Help decide what comes next
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Every number here was checked by hand against the linked document. Cities publish on different schedules, so years differ between sections; each figure says which year it describes. Spotted something wrong or out of date?
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