SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – In my day job as a professional news photographer, I go into San Francisco all the time.
Often, I’m walking around with a $3,000 camera around my neck!
That makes me extra vigilant about crime and safety. And in the last three years of working in the city, I’ve seen a huge change in how safe San Francisco feels.
Specifically, I saw signs of lawlessness peak around 2023, in the rough period after the pandemic when people weren’t coming back to the office, and San Francisco was really struggling.
Now, though, the city feels safer and safer every time I visit.
That change, too, is borne out by the data.
The numbers: crime is way down
Start with violent crime. According to the Major Cities Chiefs Association, San Francisco saw a 22% drop in violent crime in 2025 compared with 2024, the steepest decline among California’s big cities. Statewide, violent crime in major cities fell about 12.5% over the same period.
In 2024, property crime was down 29% and violent crime was down 17% compared with the same period a year earlier.
Independent researchers have also taken a hard look at San Francisco’s trends. A recent report from the Council on Criminal Justice found that in the first half of 2025, compared with the first half of 2024:
- Aggravated assault was down 16%
- Carjackings were down 53%
- Non-residential burglaries were down 34%
- Larceny (a broad category that includes many thefts) was down 27%
- Shoplifting was down 16%
That same report notes that San Francisco’s larceny rate in early 2025 was 56% lower than in early 2019, and non-residential burglaries were 31% lower than in 2019.
In general, the city just feels cleaner and safer than before. To be sure, challenging areas still exist–many parts of the Tenderloin and the Mission are rough, especially after dark.
But overall, if you’re walking around the Embarcadero or even Union Square during the day, it feels like a totally different city than a few years ago.
What Changed?
So what’s behind the change? It’s hard to point to one specific thing–that gets into speculation.
To be sure, the massive influx of AI money that’s poured into the city over the last three years almost certainly plays a big role. San Francisco’s office market has gone from a cautionary tale to one of the hottest in the world as AI companies snap up space.
There’s also been more enforcement in the city. A single bust this month resulted in 55 arrests.
Mayor Daniel Lurie is often credited with helping the revive the city, with more of a focus on attracting new businesses (I recently attended the opening of Steph Curry’s new restaurant, where Lurie cut the ribbon) and focusing more on working with police.
Whatever the explanation, it seems to be working. To be sure, the city isn’t perfect. It’s still a city, and you still need to keep your wits about you–especially if you’re walking alone after dark. But it feels entirely different than a few years ago.
If you’ve been reading lots of “doom loop” articles and staying away, now’s the time to reconsider. Ride BART again, perhaps visit the Ferry Building, ride the T line to Chinatown and get some dumplings, and otherwise enjoy what this much safer SF has to offer.
