Bayview/Hunters Point (94124) Leads San Francisco Yields at 3.9%

Yields across 28 ZIP codes in San Francisco range from 3.9% in Bayview/Hunters Point (94124) down to under 2% in the premium inner districts. That spread matters more than the headline short-term-versus-long-term gap, because investment short-term rentals are effectively prohibited here. Where you buy is the main driver of your gross yield, and this ranking shows which ZIPs lead and why the pattern exists.

One regulatory point sets the frame for everything that follows. Short-term rentals heavily restricted in San Francisco. Investment properties generally not permitted; may require owner occupancy, specific zoning, or other conditions (permit required, about $930). San Francisco prohibits short-term rentals of investment properties; only primary residences are eligible. Owner-occupants who rent while absent are capped at 90 days per year. Registration with the Office of Short-Term Rentals costs about $930 for a 2-year certification. 14% Transient Occupancy Tax plus Tourism Improvement District fee. Source: Airbnb For non-owner-occupied investment properties the effective night cap is zero, so the analysis below treats long-term tenancy as the only viable strategy. Short-term yields appear in the tables for completeness, but they apply only to owner-occupiers operating within the 90-night limit on a registered permit.

Bayview/Hunters Point (94124) Leads on Yield, Inner Premium ZIPs Trail

Gross yields = annual income / sale price. Based on 3-bed house medians. The dashboard shows every property type and bedroom count. Short-term yields apply only to owner-occupied primary residences operating within San Francisco's 90-night cap.

Warning: short-term rental figures apply only to owner-occupied primary residences within the 90-night limit. Investment properties cannot legally operate as short-term rentals in San Francisco.

Why the Top ZIPs Lead

Bayview/Hunters Point (94124) tops the ranking because the entry price sits well below the city median while rents hold up reasonably well. The neighborhood has a deep tenant pool drawn from shipyard redevelopment workers, hospital staff, and households priced out of the central districts, so rental demand is more stable than a casual look at the area's reputation would suggest. At about $918,000, the entry price is roughly half the city median of about $1.83m, while monthly rent of about $3,000 is far closer to the city-wide figure.

SoMa (94103) earns its second-place spot through a different mechanism. Prices reflect the conversion-loft and mid-rise apartment stock built during the dot-com era, but rents have caught up with the area's transformation into a tech-employee corridor. The result is a yield close to 3.1% on a price tag of about $1.93m, which is unusual for a central San Francisco ZIP. Rincon Hill/South Beach (94105) sits just behind on 3.9%, supported by waterfront employment and the financial-district workforce that fills its high-rise rentals.

The pattern across the top three is that yield comes from one of two places: a depressed entry price that rent does not fall as far to match (Bayview/Hunters Point (94124)), or recently delivered rental stock priced for the tenant rather than the trophy-buyer (SoMa (94103), Rincon Hill/South Beach (94105)). All three lean toward long-term tenants drawn from the city's employment base. None benefits from the short-term rental playbook, because the regulation applies citywide, neighborhood by neighborhood.

The Yield-Price Trade-Off Is Stark in San Francisco

The inverse relationship between price and yield is more pronounced in San Francisco than in almost any other US market. An investor entering at about $918,000 in Bayview/Hunters Point (94124) versus about $1.83m at the city median faces a very different capital-risk profile, and the rent gap does not scale linearly with the price gap. Rents in the cheaper ZIPs hold up because the underlying demand from working renters is steady, while prices in the premium ZIPs reflect lifestyle, school catchment, and capital-growth expectations that owner-occupiers are willing to pay for and that tenants are not.

This is the classic appreciation-versus-cash-flow trade-off. The premium ZIPs that yield 2% or less have historically delivered the strongest capital growth in the city, and many investors here accept the negative cash flow on day one as the price they pay for exposure to that growth. The yield-leading ZIPs offer better cash-on-cash returns from rent alone but typically lag on appreciation. Neither approach is wrong, but they are different products with different risk profiles.

Premium Inner Districts Trade Yield for Capital Growth

For context, here is how some of San Francisco's most in-demand neighborhoods compare. These are established neighborhoods where investors typically accept lower yields in exchange for capital growth, liquidity, and tenant quality.

High-demand suburbs for context. Same methodology as the yield ranking above.

These ZIPs yield less on long-term tenancies because buyers are paying for hill views, school catchments, walkability, and the capital-growth track record that comes with them. The short-term rental column does not change the picture in San Francisco the way it might in a permissive market, because the city's regulations apply uniformly across every neighborhood. A premium-ZIP property that could in theory generate strong nightly rates cannot legally do so as an investment vehicle, which removes the yield arbitrage that drives investor interest in tourist-heavy neighborhoods elsewhere.

What the Ranking Doesn't Show

A high gross yield can be a signal of depressed prices rather than strong rents, and the top of this ranking deserves that scrutiny. Bayview/Hunters Point (94124) carries genuine vacancy risk that the median-rent figure does not capture, and the rental pool is thinner than you would find in the central districts. The yield looks attractive on paper but the path to filling the property and keeping it filled is not as simple as the ratio suggests. Capital growth in these ZIPs has also historically lagged the premium districts, so the total-return picture over a holding period can flip the ranking.

The medians in this table are also slow to update in fast-moving micro-markets. Bay Area sales volumes are thin in any given quarter, and a single high or low transaction can move a ZIP-level median by several percent. Treat the ranking as the starting point for shortlisting neighborhoods worth investigating, not as a final verdict on which one will out-perform over a five or ten year hold.

View San Francisco in the dashboard → Free preview · every bedroom count and property type

San Francisco Trails the State and National Yield Medians

San Francisco's city-median yield of 2.1% sits 1.8pp below the California median of 3.9%, and 2.7pp below the US median of 4.8%. Even the top-ranked ZIP, Bayview/Hunters Point (94124) at 3.9%, comes in below the national average. This is the structural cost of investing in a high-priced coastal market with strict short-term rental restrictions: rents simply do not scale with the price tag, and the short-term rental option that lifts yields in other tourist cities is not available here. Investors choose San Francisco for capital appreciation and tenant quality, not for cash-flow yield, and the ranking above shows where within that constrained universe the best income returns sit. You can review the market score methodology and data sources for the underlying calculations, and explore rental data in the dashboard for the suburb-level cuts. Data reflects market conditions as of November 2026.

This information is for educational purposes only and should not be considered financial or legal advice. Regulations and market conditions change frequently. Verify current rules with local authorities before making investment decisions.