City College of San Francisco - California Competes

INTRODUCTION | CITY & COLLEGE DATA
Nearly half of San Francisco’s workforce commutes into San Francisco from surrounding communities
while 20 percent of its employed residents commute out. The city’s economy is primarily divided between
high-wage professional jobs and low-paying service jobs, with comparatively few middle-income jobs.
As the home of a large number of corporate headquarters (second in the nation only to New York City),
business service firms and financial institutions, San Francisco employs relatively more highly paid
lawyers, managers, computer scientists, and business operations professionals than the rest of the Bay
Area overall. A major employment sector is public administration, which includes three higher education
institutions, the San Francisco school district, and city and state governmental offices. Table 2.2 provides
a picture of the income distribution in a city with one of the highest costs of living in the country. 3 21
TABLE 2.2
Income Distribution of Families in San Francisco 2000 to 2003
2001 2002 2003
2000 Estimate Estimate Estimate
Number of Families 144,389 144,477 142,530 144,036
Less than $10,000 4.10% 4.15% 4.84% 5.15%
$10,000 to $14,999 3.06% 3.17% 3.44% 3.03%
$15,000 to $24,999 9.24% 8.25% 8.20% 8.89%
$25,000 to $34,999 7.65% 8.35% 8.19% 9.16%
$35,000 to $49,999 12.39% 12.22% 11.87% 11.65%
$50,000 to $74,999 17.76% 16.83% 16.96% 16.41%
$75,000 to $99,999 13.86% 13.36% 14.06% 13.22%
$100,000 to $149,999 16.27% 17.55% 17.14% 17.51%
$150,000 to $199,999 6.81% 7.67% 6.39% 7.06%
$200,000 or more 8.85% 8.46% 8.90% 7.91%
Median family income* 68,905 71,507 69,934 67,809
Mean family income* 97,417 98,383 96,614 90,771
* in 2003 inflation-adjusted dollars
Source: http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Products/Profiles/Chg/2003/ACS/Tabular/001/A4000US0033.htm
3 Stange, K. (2003). 10 Things to know about San Francisco’s economy and employers: A publication to inform San Francisco’s workforce
and economic development community. Research brief of the Workforce Investment San Francisco Board.
CITY COLLEGE OF SAN FRANCISCO