San Francisco, as a city, is peerless. And yet a City of San Francisco study sought a basis of comparison in 16 "peer cities" to see how we stacked up in our would-be "field," with an eye toward a variety of areas from demographics to transportation to health and safety statistics.

Notably, what we have here is not one of your standard, frankly arbitrary, "Top Ten Cities for Millennials to Fall in Love" lists, concocted with dubious animus and data. By contrast, the "Citywide Benchmarking Report" is a product of the City Services Auditor, created in 2003 by a voter-approved city charter amendment. The City Services Auditor's duties are described here, although in legalese. The point is, basically, that it's their job to provide general department performance reviews and the Benchmarking Report.

Let's dive into the findings, many of which have already been highlighted by SocketSite. The full report is available here for your perusal, which relies on publicly available data and survey data. There are ups — San Francisco's heavy use of parks and libraries, for instance — and there are downs — San Franciscans had the highest rates of chlamydia and HIV among our peers.

Our peer cities:

Baltimore, MD
Boston, MA
Chicago, IL
Denver, CO
Long Beach, CA
Los Angeles, CA
Miami, FL
Minneapolis, MN
Oakland, CA
Philadelphia, PA
Portland, OR
Sacramento, CA
San Diego, CA
San Jose, CA
Seattle, WA
Washington, DC

Demographics

  • In 2014, only 13 percent of San Francisco's residents were under 18, the lowest percentage among peers (20 percent peer average).

  • San Francisco has a significantly lower black population than most peer cities. As of 2014, only 5.7 percent of residents identified as black or African American.

  • In 2014, San Francisco had the highest average household income among peers, $112,459. San Francisco does, however, have the highest cost of living among peers.

  • 63.4% of occupied housing units in San Francisco were renter-occupied in 2014, ranking third highest among peers.

Livability

  • San Francisco spent $213 per resident on recreation and parks compared to an average of $151 across peers.

  • San Francisco libraries logged 8 visits per resident, second highest behind Seattle with 9.4.

  • San Francisco residents used 42 gallons of water per day, on average, 14.8 gallons less than its closest peer in California.

  • San Francisco's Pavement Condition Index was 68 in 2015, second highest among its peers.

Public Safety

  • San Francisco had the fourth highest property crime rate among peers. In 2015, 4,726 property crimes were committed per 100,000 daytime population, compared to the peer average of 3,058.

  • San Francisco had 190 sworn officers per 100,000 daytime population. This number is virtually equivalent to the peer average for this measure.

  • Compared to peer cities, San Francisco had a lower than average 911 call volume. In fiscal year 2014-15, there were 0.57 911 calls per daytime population compared to the 0.85 peer average.

  • San Francisco County's average daily jail population per 100,000 resident population was 144, lower than seven of eight surveyed peers.

Transportation

  • In 2014, 34 percent of workers in San Francisco commuted to work using public transportation compared to a peer average of 17 percent.

  • There were 3.6 traffic fatalities per 100,000 residents in San Francisco in 2014, lower than the peer average of 5.0.

  • On average in 2014, a San Franciscan boarded a public transit vehicle 272 times. This number is much higher than other peer transit systems (65 times).

  • The average speed of San Francisco’s motorbuses was 8.1 miles per hour while in service -- theslowest speed among peers.

  • Total operating expense per passenger trip was $3.05 dollars for San Francisco Muni, below the peer average of $4.05.

Finance

  • San Francisco's General Obligation Bond Rating from Moody's is Aa1—the second highest possible rating—and higher than the median rating of Aa2.

  • San Francisco's employee pension plan funded ratio was higher than peers (86 percent compared to 72 percent).

  • San Francisco spent less than budgeted by 4.3 percent in fiscal year (FY) 2014-15 compared to the peer average of 5.0 percent.

  • San Francisco earned 3.9 percent more revenue than budgeted in FY 2014-15, higher than the 2.5 percent peer average.

Safety Net

  • The number of San Franciscans in poverty was 105,244, a rate of 12.4 percent, slightly higher than the peer average poverty rate of 11.9 percent.

  • San Francisco's average monthly CalFresh enrollment was 52,302 and on average 6 percent of residents per month received benefits compared to 8 percent in peer jurisdictions.

  • San Francisco’s count of homeless individuals was 795 per 100,000 population (compared to 479 in peer jurisdictions).

  • San Francisco had an average monthly general assistance caseload of 5,826 and on average provided $369 per month to cash grant recipients.

Population Health Highlights

  • Sixteen percent of San Francisco's population was food insecure, meaning they lacked access to enough food for an active, healthy lifestyle, compared to a 13 percent peer average.

  • San Francisco's HIV Prevalence (2,004 cases per 100,000 population) was nearly four times greater than the second highest ranked county.

  • San Francisco County had 794 mental health providers per 100,000 population, ranking first among peers and higher than the peer average of 390 providers.

  • San Francisco had the second smallest percentage of uninsured children (5.2 percent compared to peer average of 6.6 percent) and the smallest percentage of uninsured adults (13.9 percent compared to 18.7 percent) among this peer group.