Hangzhou
16,854 km²
San Francisco
121 km²
People's Republic of China
USA
Area Comparison
Hangzhou is 139.3x larger than San Francisco
Population Comparison
Hangzhou has 13.7x more people than San Francisco
Hangzhou is significantly larger, covering 139.3 times the area of San Francisco. Hangzhou spans 16,854 km² (6,507 mi²) while San Francisco covers 121 km² (47 mi²) — a difference of 16,733 km². You could fit San Francisco inside Hangzhou approximately 139 times.
To put Hangzhou's size in perspective, its area of 16,854 km² is about 2.7x the size of Shanghai. Meanwhile, San Francisco at 121 km² is about 1.2x the size of Paris (city proper).
Picture Hangzhou another way: its area is large enough to fit about 2,400,000 American football fields, 160 times the area of Paris, or 140 times the area of San Francisco. For San Francisco, that's about 17,000 American football fields, 60 times the area of Monaco, or 35 times the area of Central Park.
Hangzhou is the capital city and most populous city of Zhejiang province, China, situated at the intersection of the southern terminus of the Grand Canal and the head of Hangzhou Bay. Renowned as one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China, Hangzhou is celebrated for its cultural heritage and its West Lake, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Known as "Paradise on Earth", Hangzhou covers 16,854 km² with a population of 11.9 million. Hangzhou is known for West Lake, Grand Canal terminus, Lingyin Temple, among other attractions.
Hangzhou's West Lake is a UNESCO World Heritage site, drawing visitors to its celebrated cultural landscape.
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the fourth-most populous city in California and the 17th-most populous in the United States, with a population of 826,079 in 2025. Among U.S. cities with a population of 300,000 or more, San Francisco is ranked first by per capita income, second by population density, and sixth by aggregate income as of 2023.
Nicknamed "The City by the Bay", San Francisco has an area of 121 km² and is home to 0.9 million people. Its history stretches back to 1776. Visitors come for Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, Cable cars, and much more. Getting around is easy with the BART & Muni.
San Francisco ranks first by per capita income among all US cities with 300,000+ residents as of 2023.
Hangzhou has a population density of 708 people per km² — a relatively spread-out city. San Francisco, with 7,190 people per km², is a densely populated city. San Francisco is dramatically more crowded, with 10.2x the population density.
Size Ratio
San Francisco fits inside Hangzhou ~139 times
Density Gap
San Francisco is 10.2x more densely populated
Hangzhou covers 16,854 km². Cities with a similar urban footprint include Beijing (16,411 km²), Brisbane (15,826 km²), Chengdu (14,378 km²), Sydney (12,368 km²), or Xi'an (10,097 km²).
San Francisco covers 121 km². Cities with a similar urban footprint include Vancouver (115 km²), Paris (105 km²), Miami (143 km²), Barcelona (101 km²), or Lisbon (100 km²).
The straight-line distance from Hangzhou to San Francisco is 10,044 km (6,241 miles), with an estimated flight time of ~12h 19m.
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