Is the Bay Area a Good Place to Live In?
Nine counties surrounding estuaries in Northern California comprise this region: Alameda, Marin, Napa, Contra Costa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Sonoma Solano, and San Francisco. They are home to nearly 8 million ethnically diverse individuals. The nine-county can be further broken into five sub-regions by locals: the East Bay, South Bay, North Bay, Peninsula, and San Francisco City. While the city of SF is situated physically on the tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, it is not considered to be a part of the Peninsula sub-region. This is, without a doubt, one of the best places to raise a family in California.
BAY AREA SUB-REGIONS
San Francisco is home to the finance and business industry and a tourist center. Based around Oakland, the East Bay is home to heavy industry, metalworking shipping, and oil, while San Jose is the center of Silicon Valley, where the technology industry is based. On the other hand, the North Bay is a significant player in the region’s agriculture and wine industry. Also, the second-largest concentration of Fortune 500 firms is headquartered in the Bay Area, after the New York metropolitan area.
HISTORY
Ever since 10,000 B.C., there has been human habitation along the coastline of the Bay. The first European landings were in the 16th century when Miwokan and Ohlone people lived there. However, it remained mostly undiscovered until the California Gold Rush at the beginning of the 19th century.
COST OF LIVING
This is the most expensive area in the US to live in. However, the numbers greatly differ depending on your exact location. For example, Napa’s median household income is $80,000 per year, and the median home price is $600,000. The median household income in San Francisco is $104,000, and the home price is around $1 million. The median household income in San Mateo, a suburb of SF, is $115,000 a year, and the median house price is approximately $1 million.