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Individuals making less than $105,000 classified as 'low income' in San Francisco

Katie Dowd

Single-person households making under $105,000 a year are classified as “low income” in three Bay Area counties by California’s Department of Housing and Community Development.

The latest income numbers for California’s 58 counties classify households as either acutely low, extremely low, very low, low or moderate income. In conjunction with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s income limits, these classifications have real-world impacts: This chart is how the state agency helps determine if individuals or families are eligible for certain low-income programs.

The new 2023 numbers classify an individual making $104,400 annually as “low income” in San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin counties. For a family of four in those three counties, $149,100 a year is considered low income. That number has increased dramatically over just a few years. In 2018, $117,400 was classified as low income for four-person families in San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin counties. 

Charles Schwab recently released its Modern Wealth Survey, which polls residents on how much money they need to feel “financially comfortable.” For San Franciscans, that net worth is $1.7 million. In order to feel “wealthy,” SF residents said they need at least $4.7 million.

For a single-person household in the rest of the Bay Area, here’s what the Department of Housing and Community Development considers low income:

—Alameda County: $78,550

—Contra Costa County: $78,550

—Napa County: $74,700

—Santa Clara County: $96,000

—Solano County: $64,050

—Sonoma County: $70,500

If you’re looking for a more affordable corner of California, a number of smaller, more rural counties have a four-person household median income of $83,800. In Siskiyou County, for instance, a single person making $46,200 is classified as low income; that number goes up to $65,950 if four people live in your household.