San Francisco-America's Next Air Pollution Capital

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Real estate firm Redfin just issued a report on the effects of air pollution on population migration. It considers how many people left a state or city against those who moved into the market from 2019 to 2022. It then compared that to the chance of poor air quality in these markets. San Francisco topped the list of cities with a 100% chance of poor air quality and the cities with the most people who had left.

California disasters—Malibu flood and fire

Texas—Running low on power

The study was titled “People Are Moving Out of Areas With Poor Air Quality, Often Because They’re Too Expensive.” The universe covered the 100 largest metros by population. According to the authors, “There are 13 major metros where over 85% of homes face high risk from poor air quality. All are in the West, where wildfires have intensified, and nine are in California alone.” Air quality was based on current data and forecasts for poor air quality days in 30 years. Air quality was based on 1) particulate matter (PM2.5), which often results from wildfire smoke, and 2) ozone (O3), which happens as pollutants react with heat/sunlight.

High Level of Poor Air Quality

Several cities made the list of “shares of homes at high risk for poor air quality” at 100%. These were Bakersfield, Sacramento, San Jose, Boise, Fresno, Oakland, Seattle, Portland, Tacoma, Stockton, and San Franciso.

Among these cities, the one with the most people who moved outbound (net outflow–those who left compared to those who moved in) for 2021-2022 was San Francisco at 110,548. San Franciso also had the second-highest median home price of the metros, with poor air quality at 100%. This figure was $1,257,500, which makes it the second most expensive home market in America.

Redfin does not consider that there may be reasons beyond the home price and air quality that cause people to leave San Franciso, but the health damage of smoke should be at the top of the list for most people.