The number of jobs in our region increased by 30% from 1990 through 2023
Bay Area employment as of 2024 was approximately 3.9 million jobs
The Bay Area lost over 300k jobs between 2019 and 2020 in the immediate aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic
Introduction
Where do we work?
If the Bay Area were a nation, its economy would rank among the top 25 in the world. Measured by number of jobs, our region’s economy is the fourth largest among metropolitan areas in the United States. The Bay Area’s nearly 4 million workers power an economy notable for its diversity, innovation and resilience.
Regional Performance
Overall long-term growth with cycles of boom and bust.
The Bay Area economy has experienced three major shocks in the 21st century – the “dot-com” technology bubble of the early 2000s, the real estate-based financial crisis of 2008, and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. During the “dot-com” boom between the early 90s and early 2000s, the number of jobs in the Bay Area grew by over 500k. However, between 2000 and 2010, the region lost approximately 400k jobs as the region experienced the “dot-com” crash early in the decade and the Great Recession later in the decade. The nine-year period between 2010 and 2019 immediately following the Great Recession saw immense job growth in the Bay Area, reaching a peak of over four million jobs in 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic ended that streak and from 2019 to 2020, the region lost over 300,000 jobs, representing a roughly 8% drop. The region added back approximately 250k jobs from 2020 to 2024 and as of 2024, the region had only 2% fewer jobs than it did in 2019. Despite this recovery, there are still ongoing uncertainties stemming from broader macro-economic concerns.
The Bay Area added almost a million jobs during the economic expansion of the 2010s
The Bay Area had 98% of 2019 job levels in 2024
Historical Trend for Jobs
Local Focus
Jobs are clustered in Silicon Valley and San Francisco.
The location of employment clusters can have a strong effect on transportation patterns and housing costs. When divided into 20 sub-county areas, the largest job centers in the region continue to be in San Francisco and Silicon Valley. Together, these sub-county areas of San Francisco County, North Santa Clara County, and San Jose totaled more than 1.7 million jobs in 2024 – nearly half of all regional employment. The most robust job growth rates from 2010 to 2024 can be seen in South San Mateo County, Southwest Santa Clara County and North Sonoma County. However, booming job markets in these sub-county areas also have contributed to a growing regional jobs-housing imbalance.
of the job growth from 2010 to 2024 has occurred in Santa Clara and San Francisco counties
1.5M jobs were added in San Francisco County, North Alameda County and San Jose between 2020 and 2022
Change in Jobs for Sub-County Area
Click on a shape on the map for more information.
2005 - 2010
2010 - 2018
Sources & Methodology
Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) monthly employment data represent the number of covered workers who worked during, or received pay for, the pay period that included the 12th day of the month. Covered employees in the private-sector and in the state and local government include most corporate officials, all executives, all supervisory personnel, all professionals, all clerical workers, many farmworkers, all wage earners, all piece workers and all part-time workers. Workers on paid sick leave, paid holiday, paid vacation and the like are also covered.
Besides excluding the aforementioned national security agencies, QCEW excludes proprietors, the unincorporated self-employed, unpaid family members, certain farm and domestic workers exempted from having to report employment data and railroad workers covered by the railroad unemployment insurance system. Excluded as well are workers who earned no wages during the entire applicable pay period because of work stoppages, temporary layoffs, illness or unpaid vacations.
For measuring jobs below the county level, Vital Signs assigns collections of incorporated cities and towns to sub-county areas. For example, the cities of East Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Portola Valley, Redwood City and Woodside are considered South San Mateo County. Because Bay Area counties differ in footprint, the number of cities included in a sub-county is one for San Francisco and San Jose and more than one for all other sub-counties. Estimates for sub-county areas are the sums of Census block-level estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau: LEHD data.
Job numbers can look different depending on the area you're looking at and which data source is used. For example, job totals for San Francisco County might not match the totals for smaller areas within the city. That’s because the data comes from two different data sources.
For county-level data, we use information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which is reliable and up to date, but only available for counties and larger areas. For sub-county areas, we use data from the Census Bureau’s LODES dataset. This gives more detailed local information, but it’s usually approximately a year behind and hides small job numbers to protect people’s privacy.
The following incorporated cities and towns are included in each sub-county area:
- North Alameda County: Alameda, Albany, Berkeley, Emeryville, Oakland, Piedmont
- East Alameda County: Dublin, Livermore, Pleasanton
- South Alameda County: Fremont, Hayward, Newark, San Leandro, Union City
- Central Contra Costa County: Clayton, Concord, Danville, Lafayette, Martinez, Moraga, Orinda, Pleasant Hill, San Ramon, Walnut Creek
- East Contra Costa County: Antioch, Brentwood, Oakley, Pittsburg
- West Contra Costa County: El Cerrito, Hercules, Pinole, Richmond, San Pablo
- Marin County: Belvedere, Corte Madera, Fairfax, Larkspur, Mill Valley, Novato, Ross, San Anselmo, San Rafael, Sausalito, Tiburon
- Napa County: American Canyon, Calistoga, Napa, St. Helena, Yountville
- San Francisco County: San Francisco
- North San Mateo County: Brisbane, Colma, Daly City, Millbrae, Pacifica, San Bruno, South San Francisco
- Central San Mateo County: Belmont, Burlingame, Foster City, Half Moon Bay, Hillsborough, San Carlos, San Mateo
- South San Mateo County: East Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Portola Valley, Redwood City, Woodside, Atherton
- North Santa Clara County: Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Milpitas, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale
- San Jose: San Jose
- Southwest Santa Clara County: Campbell, Cupertino, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Saratoga
- South Santa Clara County: Gilroy, Morgan Hill
- East Solano County: Dixon, Fairfield, Rio Vista, Suisun City, Vacaville
- South Solano County: Benicia, Vallejo
- North Sonoma County: Cloverdale, Healdsburg, Windsor
- South Sonoma County: Cotati, Petaluma, Rohnert Park, Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, Sonoma
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
1990-2024
U.S. Census Bureau: LODES Data
Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics Program
2002-2022