San Francisco’s Biggest Population Losses: Ages 25-34

San Francisco lost a higher percentage of residents during the pandemic between the ages of 25 and 29 than any other population group, followed closely by residents between the ages of 30 and 34, Census data show.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the city’s biggest percentage losses were among the age cohort that makes up the bulk of entry-level jobs — and that is also responsible for starting young families:

Newly-released U.S. census data shows that the city’s biggest population losses from 2020 to 2022 came from residents in their late 20s and early 30s.

The data shows that the number of San Franciscans ages 25 to 29 dropped from 94,000 in April 2020 to 74,000 in June 2022, a 21% decrease. The second largest decline was among 30- to 34-year-olds, going from 105,000 in 2020 to just under 88,000 in 2022, a 16% decrease. The third greatest decrease was among 0- to 4-years olds.

For all of these age groups, most of the decline happened in the first year of the pandemic, but even from 2021 to 2022, their populations continued to fall, and at unusually high rates.

While other cities also lost residents, San Francisco has been unusually slow to recover. Mobile phone data suggest that San Francisco’s recovery has been slower than of 62 other major U.S. cities.

The city is suffering an ongoing exodus of retail stores from the downtown area, partly because of population losses and the lack of foot traffic, but also because of crime, homelessness, and drugs in the city.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.