NabeWise

San Francisco/Russian Hill

38fit

Russian Hill

Official analysis neighborhood: Russian Hill

Data vintage. ACS 2024 5-year · SFPD Oct 2025 – Sep 2026 · OSM Sep 2026 · updated Sep 2026

The crooked street is the postcard. The rest is steep walks, bay windows, and a quieter read of the north waterfront.

lombard

Best in San Francisco for familiesWalkable San FranciscoUnder $2,500 rent

Why this score

Safety
53

22 violent · 464 property · 31.3 per 1k (Oct 2025 – Sep 2026)+3 vs city set

Schools
67

Rating 7.8 / 10 nearby+14 vs city set

Walk
11

OSM: 10 groceries · 25 cafes · 97 transit · 50 parks-15 vs city set

Cost
79

$2,788 ACS median vs your rent budget-1 vs city set

Vibe
18

OSM: 25 cafes · 71 restaurants · 19 bars · 50 parks-5 vs city set

Commute to work

From Russian Hill, a typical weekday is 20 min to FiDi, 29 min to SoMa, 38 min to Mission Bay. Not live traffic.

FiDi is the fastest of these three job centers from here.

FiDi
20 min

Embarcadero offices · -4 min vs the city-set median · fastest of these three

SoMa
29 min

Tech lofts · +6 min vs the city-set median

Mission Bay
38 min

UCSF, new offices · +11 min vs the city-set median

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 $2,788 — every occupied rental mixed together, not the 1-bed in the window.

That is 21% of median household income — under the 30% HUD line. A household at this area’s median income ($156K) could “afford” about $3,892 a month at 30% of pay.

79% of households rent. Median home value is $1,422,991.

ACS median rent
$2,788
30% income budget
$3,892
Rent / income
21%
Median home
$1,422,991

Rent since 2014

ACS 5-year median gross rent for San Francisco city. Up 62% since 2014. Russian Hill is 13% above the 2024 city median.

$1.6k$3.1kRussian Hill $2,788201420162018202020222024

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: 10 groceries, 25 cafes, 50 parks, and 97 transit stops.

Daily errands and coffee are realistic on foot. Parks are close — 50 mapped parks in that radius. Transit is dense (97 stops or stations).

25 cafes and 71 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 2 of the other 19 areas in this city.

Population
15,524
Median age
38.3
Median income
$156K
Renters
79%
Bachelor+
75%
Violent / 1k
1.4
Property / 1k
29.9

ACS 2024 5-year (2020-2024) · 6 census tracts · SFPD Oct 2025 – Sep 2026 · OSM 2026-09-01

Waterfront

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 crooked street is the postcard. The rest is steep walks, bay windows, and a quieter read of the north waterfront. Resident threads praise it as a neighborhood you climb home to. Tourists stack on Lombard; one street over, it is still a hill with groceries on Hyde and Polk.

No parking, lots of stairs, cable car noise if you picked the wrong block. Weight walk only if you mean “walk, then stairs.” Compare to North Beach if you want dinner at the bottom of the hill, or Nob Hill if you want the ridge hotels.

Compiled from Zillow neighborhood guides, 5280 Magazine, Chicago and San Francisco resident guides, Mpls With Love, Eastside LA reporting, Seattle Times coverage, 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.

556 reports

  • Street and Sidewalk Cleaning231
  • Parking Enforcement173
  • General42
  • Blocked Street and Sidewalk37
  • RPD General23
  • Parking Enforcement
  • Parking Enforcement
  • Street and Sidewalk Cleaning
  • Street and Sidewalk Cleaning
  • Parking Enforcement

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.

No r/sanfrancisco posts in this snapshot mentioned Russian Hill.

Last 90 days, snapshot 2026-09-01. Method.

Common questions

Straight answers from the numbers on this page.

Is Russian Hill safe?

Russian Hill is middle of the pack for Part I here (safety 53 vs city 50). SFPD logged 1.4 violent and 29.9 property incidents per 1,000 residents — 31.3 combined. Visitors count in those numbers. This is not a judgment of who lives here.

What is rent in Russian Hill?

ACS median rent is $2,788 — studios through large apartments mixed together. About 79% of households rent. Median home value is $1,422,991. Survey medians, not a listing you can message tonight.

Is Russian Hill walkable?

Walk is 11 here vs 26 for the San Francisco set — you will likely drive or ride for a weekly shop. Inside 800 meters: 10 groceries, 25 cafes, 97 transit stops, 50 parks. Not a Walk Score license.

Is Russian Hill good for families?

The scores lean family relative to this city set. Nearby school rating is 7.8 / 10. Median age is 38.3. That rating is not your assigned campus.

How long is the commute from Russian Hill?

20 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 Russian Hill?

About 15,524 people. Median income $156K. 75% have a bachelor's or higher.

What neighborhoods are next to Russian Hill?

North Beach, Nob Hill, Marina sit closest on this map. If you are choosing between two official analysis neighborhoods, start with Russian Hill vs North Beach.

Next door

Adjacent on the map, ranked with your weights.

Russian Hill vs North BeachRussian Hill vs Nob HillRussian Hill vs Marina

71fit

FiDi / South Beach

$3K median rent

Towers, the Embarcadero, and a ballpark on the south edge. Official name is Financial District/South Beach — search FiDi.

NightlifePlannedWaterfrontWalk 100Safety 5
64fit

Nob Hill

$2K median rent

Cable cars, hotel bars, and a ridge between Chinatown and Pac Heights. Dense without SoMa's warehouse scale.

NightlifeWalk 73Safety 37
42fit

North Beach

$2K median rent

Caffe Trieste, Columbus Avenue, and Telegraph Hill stairs. Nightlife with a church bell still in earshot.

NightlifeWaterfrontWalk 23Safety 42
33fit

Pacific Heights

$3K median rent

Victorians on the hill and Fillmore shops at the bottom. The view is the product; the stairs are the tax.

Family streetsWalk 5Safety 47
28fit

Marina

$3K median rent

Chestnut Street, the Palace of Fine Arts, and a bay that sells the neighborhood. Fog in the morning, crowds on the weekend.

NightlifeWaterfrontWalk 4Safety 26
MarinaPac HtsR HillN BchNobFiDiSoMaMsn BayHayesW AddHaightMissionCastroNoeBernalPotreroI RichO RichI SunSunsetPacificBayGG Park