San Francisco Apartments for Rent

San Francisco is, simply put, a beautiful city. There are hilltop views, that red-orange bridge spanning the Bay, foggy coastline, parks full of big trees and world class museums, vibrant, diverse neighborhoods… if the fates have decided you are to live in San Francisco, you are lucky indeed.

The city is located at the top of a peninsula that’s bordered on one side by the San Francisco Bay and on the other by the Pacific Ocean. The Golden Gate Bridge crosses the water to the north into Marin County, the Bay Bridge goes east to Oakland. All that nearby water is partly to blame for San Francisco’s famous fog and their cold days in August, but when the sun is shining in the city, there’s hardly a better place to be.

Culturally, San Francisco is a terrific mix of communities. There are large Hispanic and Asian communities – the oldest Chinatown in North America is in San Francisco. As you’d expect in a city that’s historically significant in the struggle for gay rights, there’s a big LGBT population as well.

Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is the greater Bay Area’s commuter rail system; it runs under much of San Francisco, out to the East Bay, and south to the San Francisco International Airport (SFO). CalTrain is popular with 49er’s fans because there’s a stop near the stadium, but the train runs regular service all the way down the peninsula to Gilroy, with stops in San Jose, Palo Alto, San Bruno (for airport connections) and lots of places in-between. MUNI runs streetcars and bus service – they’ve got some classic trolleys in their fleet that are real head-turners. MUNI is also responsible for the city’s famous cable cars. There’s ferry service to Oakland, Alameda, Vallejo, and a few other stops around the Bay.

It takes a sturdy pair of legs to commute by bicycle in this hilly city, but there are bike routes all around the city. The route map, published by the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, includes information about how steep, exactly, that hill is, so you can plan your ride accordingly.

With so much new development in San Francisco, nearly every neighborhood in the city is a great place to live.

SOMA (South of Market) near the CalTrain station used to be gritty warehouses and a few edgy bars; now many of those warehouses have been converted into loft style apartments and condos. There are lots of studios here, and some larger one and two bedroom units, some of them have done cool up-cycling with the materials, like refinishing the original timber floors or sandblasting the exposed brick. There are now major chain supermarkets in SOMA, too, so residents needn’t go far for the basics.

The Castro is the nexus for San Francisco’s gay community and it’s also seeing lots of development. There are some attractive old row houses here, three story walkups. Nearby Haight Ashbury has similar housing, classic style walkups with bay windows that face the street, rooms divided with pocket doors, and plenty of great street life right outside your front door. The Mission district used to be considered not such a great place to live, but now there are brand new luxury condos on Delores Street, and you’re never far from a place that serves up the famous Mission burrito.

And that’s just a few of the better known city neighborhoods. Sunset has great ocean facing views, Pacific Heights has more of those gorgeous San Francisco style homes, North Beach is full of delicious Italian restaurants and home to one of the world’s best book stores, City Lights… it’s hard to go wrong when picking a neighborhood in San Francisco.

Find great apartments in San Francisco on Walk Score and join the 57% of San Francisco residents that rent their homes. Bay area living is known for its eclectic vibe and job opportunities abound in this hot technology market. Whether you’re looking for a Nob Hill home, or an apartment in one of San Francisco's hippest neighborhoods.

Walk Score helps you find walkable San Francisco home rentals. Need more square footage, or one of the view apartments over San Francisco Bay? Search for cheap San Francisco studio apartments by commute time. Search for two bedroom apartments to rent near a BART line, or one bedroom apartments near a MUNI stop and find a happy commute to live and work in San Francisco.