South San Francisco, CA Economic Overview
Commonly referred to as South City, South San Francisco is a city located in San Mateo County, on the San Francisco Peninsula in the South Bay Area. Despite its name, South San Francisco does not actually border San Francisco, with Brisbane separating the two. The City occupies the basin and portions of the sides of a broad valley formed by the San Bruno Mountains on the north and the Coast Range on the west. Most of the valley faces adjacent San Francisco Bay, providing sweeping vistas from higher levels and a definite sense of identification with the Bay.
The South City offers its 66,217 residents a serene location in which to live comfortably and a place of recreation in parks, swimming pools, and marina. Employees enjoy a pleasurable place to work with more than 2,800 firms and businesses including many biotech companies such as Genetech which gives the city the title of “Birthplace of Biotechnology.” The South City’s thriving biotech industry has placed the South San Francisco commercial real estate within a dynamic and innovative atmosphere occupied by a talented workforce, Silicon Valley venture capital firms, and proximity to Stanford and UC-Berkley research spaces.
Much of South San Francisco’s original land use was dedicated to agricultural production and was originally known as Baden. Small pockets of farmland still exist near San Bruno Mountain, but these areas are disappearing quickly due to City policies yielding to developers’ demands. Households in South San Francisco maintain a high median income of approximately $81,000, one of the highest in the California area.
South San Francisco’s office parks and industrial zoning have been favorable to meet needs of industry, which has been quickly evolving, particularly in the sector of biotechnology. The South City is home to some of the world’s largest biotech firms, Genetech, as well as a satellite office of Amgen. Other biotech companies have started or moved to South San Francisco, including Exellxis, due to the proximity to University of California San Francisco (UCSF), Stanford University, and UC-Berkley, all within an hour’s drive. The City’s largest employers include Genetech, Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Costco Wholesalers, and Amgen.