66fit
Mission
$2K median rent
Valencia corridor, Mission murals, and a density that never sleeps. The official analysis neighborhood is just Mission — search the street names.
NightlifeWalk 86Safety 11
San Francisco/Castro
35fit
Castro
Official analysis neighborhood: Castro/Upper Market
Data vintage. ACS 2024 5-year · SFPD Oct 2025 – Sep 2026 · OSM Sep 2026 · updated Sep 2026
The Castro is the search term; Castro/Upper Market is the official polygon. Hills, neon, and a Muni metro under Market.
the castroupper marketduboce triangleeureka valley
Best in San Francisco for familiesWalkable San FranciscoUnder $2,500 rent
Why this score
Safety
21
75 violent · 817 property · 40.6 per 1k (Oct 2025 – Sep 2026)-29 vs city set
Schools
53
Rating 7.4 / 10 nearby0 vs city set
Walk
20
OSM: 15 groceries · 21 cafes · 135 transit · 43 parks-6 vs city set
Cost
80
$2,763 ACS median vs your rent budget0 vs city set
Vibe
14
OSM: 21 cafes · 59 restaurants · 21 bars · 43 parks-9 vs city set
Commute to work
From Castro, a typical weekday is 28 min to FiDi, 22 min to SoMa, 21 min to Mission Bay. Not live traffic.
Mission Bay is the fastest of these three job centers from here.
FiDi
28 min
Embarcadero offices · +4 min vs the city-set median
SoMa
22 min
Tech lofts · -1 min vs the city-set median
Mission Bay
21 min
UCSF, new offices · -6 min vs the city-set median · fastest of these three
Minutes are baked from neighborhood geography to three job centers — not Google, not this hour’s traffic.
Cost of living
The ACS median rent is $2,763 — every occupied rental mixed together, not the 1-bed in the window.
That is 16% of median household income — under the 30% HUD line. A household at this area’s median income ($213K) could “afford” about $5,314 a month at 30% of pay.
56% of households rent. Median home value is $1,662,097.
ACS median rent
$2,763
30% income budget
$5,314
Rent / income
16%
Median home
$1,662,097
Rent since 2014
ACS 5-year median gross rent for San Francisco city. Up 62% since 2014. Castro is 12% above the 2024 city median.
Overlapping 5-year ACS windows (B25064), not asking rent. Census does not publish a rent series for each official neighborhood, so the line is the city place. The dashed mark is this area’s ACS 2024 median.
HUD treats 30% of income as the cost-burden line. We do not split ACS rent into 1-bed vs 2-bed. Method.
Within a walk
Within a short walk of this official analysis neighborhood: 15 groceries, 21 cafes, 43 parks, and 135 transit stops.
Daily errands and coffee are realistic on foot. Parks are close — 43 mapped parks in that radius. Transit is dense (135 stops or stations).
21 cafes and 59 restaurants make this one of the busier food pockets in the San Francisco set.
OpenStreetMap, 800 meters. Not a Walk Score license. More groceries than 9 of the other 19 areas in this city.
Population
21,944
Median age
43.4
Median income
$213K
Renters
56%
Bachelor+
81%
Violent / 1k
3.4
Property / 1k
37.2
ACS 2024 5-year (2020-2024) · 7 census tracts · SFPD Oct 2025 – Sep 2026 · OSM 2026-09-01
Nightlife
Crime is SFPD Part I reports per 1,000 ACS residents — not a judgment of who lives here. Home and rent figures are ACS medians, not live MLS. Read the method.
On the ground
What it is like to live here, beyond the scores.
The Castro is the search term; Castro/Upper Market is the official polygon. Hills, neon, a Muni metro under Market, and a neighborhood that invented a lot of what other cities copy. Nightlife and identity are the product, not an overlay.
Upper Market’s new stacks are a different demographic than the historic Castro streets. Tour both. Weight vibe. The hill is real. Compare to Hayes Valley for a smaller, boutique-central version, or to Noe for the family sequel.
Compiled from Zillow neighborhood guides, 5280 Magazine, Chicago and San Francisco resident guides, Mpls With Love, Eastside LA reporting, Seattle Times coverage, Boston planning-neighborhood writing, and local writing, 2025–2026. Editorial — not part of the fit score.
Reported here lately
City 311 service requests in this official unit, last 14 days. This is what neighbors filed with the city — not a chat thread, and not part of the fit score.
1,080 reports
- Street and Sidewalk Cleaning360
- Parking Enforcement272
- General169
- Graffiti Public117
- Encampment66
- Parking Enforcement
- Street and Sidewalk Cleaning
- Parking Enforcement
- Parking Enforcement
- Street and Sidewalk Cleaning
San Francisco 311, last 14 days, using DataSF analysis neighborhood. Method.
On Reddit
Public posts from r/sanfrancisco that mention this neighborhood. Not Nextdoor, not people on this block, and not part of the fit score.
One r/sanfrancisco post in this snapshot names Castro.
- Lunar eclipse as seen from Eureka Valley
r/sanfrancisco · Aug 28 · 44 upvotes · 1 comment
The line above is a reading of the titles, not a verdict. Up to 3 links, last 90 days, snapshot 2026-09-01. Method.
Common questions
Straight answers from the numbers on this page.
Is Castro safe?
Castro shows more Part I than most of this San Francisco set (safety 21 vs city 50). SFPD logged 3.4 violent and 37.2 property incidents per 1,000 residents — 40.6 combined. Visitors count in those numbers. This is not a judgment of who lives here.
What is rent in Castro?
ACS median rent is $2,763 — studios through large apartments mixed together. About 56% of households rent. Median home value is $1,662,097. Survey medians, not a listing you can message tonight.
Is Castro walkable?
Walk is 20 here vs 26 for the San Francisco set — you will likely drive or ride for a weekly shop. Inside 800 meters: 15 groceries, 21 cafes, 135 transit stops, 43 parks. Not a Walk Score license.
Is Castro good for families?
There is more night and visitor traffic in the mix — not the quietest family default. Nearby school rating is 7.4 / 10. Median age is 43.4. That rating is not your assigned campus.
How long is the commute from Castro?
28 typical weekday minutes to FiDi. Not the app on your phone this hour. Other job centers are further down this page.
How many people live in Castro?
About 21,944 people. Median income $213K. 81% have a bachelor's or higher.
What neighborhoods are next to Castro?
Haight-Ashbury, Noe Valley, Mission sit closest on this map. If you are choosing between two official analysis neighborhoods, start with Castro vs Haight-Ashbury.
Next door
Adjacent on the map, ranked with your weights.
Castro vs Haight-AshburyCastro vs Noe ValleyCastro vs Mission
45fit
Inner Sunset
$3K median rent
Ninth Avenue, UCSF up the hill, and Cole Valley on the eastern edge. The walkable west side.
Family streetsWalk 13Safety 95
38fit
Bernal Heights
$3K median rent
A hill with a park on top and Cortland at the base. South of the Mission without Mission prices — relatively.
Family streetsWalk 6Safety 79
37fit
Haight-Ashbury
$3K median rent
The Haight is the brand; the Panhandle is the commute. Still walkable, still loud on weekends, still next to the park.
NightlifeWalk 13Safety 74
36fit
Noe Valley
$3K median rent
Strollers on 24th, sun on the south slope, and the lowest violent rate in this set. The family read of inner SF.
Family streetsWalk 5Safety 68