of the Bay Area labor force was unemployed in 2024, down from 8.1% at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic shelter-in-place in 2020
In 2024, 35 Bay Area cities had an unemployment rate of less than 4.0%
In 2010, 10.3% of the Bay Area labor force was unemployed, the highest regional unemployment rate between 1990 and 2024
Introduction
What share of the Bay Area's labor force does not have a job?
With a talented workforce of over four million people, the San Francisco Bay Area has one of the world’s most dynamic and productive regional economies. In the late 1990s, the Bay Area rode a technology boom to achieve historically low levels of unemployment – until the “dot-com” bubble burst and joblessness spiked sharply. Several years later, the Bay Area – along with the nation and much of the world – suffered during the Great Recession, though Bay Area recovery from that downturn was exceptionally strong. Unemployment rose sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic but recovered quickly thereafter. As of 2024, unemployment in the Bay Area remains low, but general macro-economic uncertainty could change this fact.
Regional Performance
Since 1990, the unemployment rate in the Bay Area has swung widely with each boom-and-bust cycle.
The Great Recession led to a dramatic spike in unemployment across the country. In the Bay Area, the regional unemployment rate rose from 4.5% in 2007 to a historic high of 10.3% in 2010. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a more dramatic rise in the unemployment rate from a historic low of 2.7% in 2019 to 8.1% in 2020. In 2024, the regional unemployment rate was 4.2%.
Of the nine counties in the Bay Area, Solano County had the highest rate of unemployment in 2024, at 5.0%. For most years since 1990, Solano County has topped the list of Bay Area counties in relation to unemployment. Marin, San Mateo and San Francisco counties, by contrast, have fared significantly better, with unemployment rates remaining consistently below the regional average over the last decade.
The unemployment rate in Solano County was 5.0% in 2024, the highest rate for counties in the Bay Area
The unemployment rate in San Mateo County was 3.6% in 2024, the lowest rate for counties in the Bay Area
Historical Trend for Unemployment Rate
Local Focus
A majority of Bay Area communities experienced high unemployment during the COVID-19 pandemic but have since made a significant recovery.
Oakland, the third most populous city in the region, exemplifies this regional trend. The unemployment rate in Oakland was at a historic low of 3.1% in 2019, a 12.3-percentage point improvement from its peak of 15.4% in 2009, during the height of the Great Recession. Oakland’s unemployment rate again spiked during COVID-19, to 9.8% in 2020, before dropping to 4.7% by 2024.
As of 2024, fewer Bay Area cities experienced low unemployment rates relative to the recent past. In 2024, 35% of Bay Area cities had unemployment rates below 4.0%. The region’s lowest unemployment rates were found in cities such as Calistoga, Cloverdale, Half Moon Bay, Orinda and Atherton. The region’s highest unemployment rates were found in cities such as Rio Vista, Brisbane, Fairfax, Healdsburg and Sonoma.
The unemployment rate in Rio Vista was 9.8% in 2024, the highest rate for cities in the Bay Area
The unemployment rate in Calistoga was 1.2% in 2024, the lowest rate for cities in the Bay Area
Unemployment Rates for Cities (2024)
Sources & Methodology
Unemployment rates produced by the California Employment Development Department (CA EDD) for the region and county levels are not adjusted for seasonality (as they reflect annual data) and are final data (i.e., not preliminary). The unemployment rate is calculated based on the number of unemployed persons divided by the total labor force. Note that the unemployment rate can decline or increase as a result of changes in either variable.
According to CA EDD, the following definitions apply for labor force, employment and unemployment:
- Civilian Labor Force includes persons aged 16 and older who were not institutionalized or on active military duty and were either employed or unemployed.
- Employment includes those who: did any work as paid employees, worked in their own business or farm, or worked 15 hours or more as unpaid workers in a family business during the reference week (normally the week including the 12th of the month). It also includes those who had a job but did not work due to a temporary absence. Each employed person is counted only once, even if they had more than one job.
- Unemployment includes those who did not have a job during the reference week, were available for work, and made specific efforts to find a job sometime during the 4 weeks prior to the reference week.
- Unemployment Rate is the percent of the civilian labor force that was unemployed.