San Francisco has staged a significant comeback from its post-Covid struggles. 

Between 2020 and 2022, San Francisco lost 7.5% of its population.This was the largest population decrease of any US city that had a population over 100,000 people.

Crime also increased in San Francisco during this time period and developed a reputation for lawlessness and disorder.

The city has made a comeback though. Daniel Lurie was elected mayor of the city in November of 2024 and took office in January of 2025. 

Overall crime in San Francisco has reached record lows under his term so far. The city has also seen a resurgence in business by becoming the AI capital of the world.

Also, from a personal account, I visited the city between October 17 and 20, 2025, and the city felt very clean and safe, and I did not have a feeling of lawlessness at all. 

Also from a personal account, the city has made improvements in technology and innovation, particularly Waymo, a self-driving car that you can ride around the city in. Waymo vehicles are all over San Francisco and are very accessible. 

San Francisco has made a comeback through crime and safety improvements, a resurgence in businesses and technology and innovation.

Image courtesy of Harris Wacaster ’28.