San Francisco
121 km²
Shenzhen
1,997 km²
USA
China
Area Comparison
San Francisco is 16.5x smaller than Shenzhen
Population Comparison
San Francisco has 20.2x fewer people than Shenzhen
In terms of area, Shenzhen is 16.5x the size of San Francisco. Shenzhen spans 1,997 km² (771 mi²) while San Francisco covers 121 km² (47 mi²) — a difference of 1,876 km². You could fit San Francisco inside Shenzhen approximately 16 times.
To put San Francisco's size in perspective, its area of 121 km² is about 1.2x the size of Paris (city proper). Meanwhile, Shenzhen at 1,997 km² is roughly the same size as Tokyo (city proper).
Picture San Francisco another way: its area is large enough to fit about 17,000 American football fields, 60 times the area of Monaco, or 35 times the area of Central Park. Shenzhen, by comparison, equals about 280,000 American football fields, 34 times the area of Manhattan, or 19 times the area of Paris.
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.
Known as "The City by the Bay", San Francisco covers 121 km² with a population of 0.9 million. The city was established in 1776. San Francisco is known for Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, Cable cars, among other attractions. The city's main transit system is the BART & Muni.
San Francisco ranks first by per capita income among all US cities with 300,000+ residents as of 2023.
Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong, bordering Hong Kong to the south, Dongguan to the north, Huizhou to the northeast, and Macau to the southwest. With a population of 17.5 million in 2020, Shenzhen is the third-most-populous city by urban population in China after Shanghai and Beijing.
Often called "China's Silicon Valley", Shenzhen has an area of 1,997 km² and is home to 17.6 million people. It was established in 1979. Visitors come for Ping An Finance Centre, Window of the World, OCT Loft, and much more. Getting around is easy with the Shenzhen Metro.
Shenzhen grew from a small town into China's third-most-populous urban city, hitting 17.5 million residents by 2020
Looking beyond city limits, the San Francisco metropolitan area covers 6,984 km², which is 3.5x larger than greater Shenzhen at 1,997 km². The Shenzhen metro area is also more populous, with 17.6 million people compared to 4.7 million.
San Francisco has a population density of 7,190 people per km² — a densely populated city. Shenzhen, with 8,793 people per km², is a densely populated city. Both cities have comparable density, though Shenzhen is slightly more compact.
This comparison spans continents — San Francisco in North America versus Shenzhen in Asia. Despite the geographic distance, comparing their sizes reveals surprising insights about how cities grow worldwide.
San Francisco has a Mediterranean climate while Shenzhen experiences humid subtropical conditions. Summers are notably different: Shenzhen averages 29°C compared to 17°C in San Francisco. When it's noon in Shenzhen, it's midnight in San Francisco — a 16-hour time difference.
Size Ratio
San Francisco fits inside Shenzhen ~16 times
Time Difference
16 hours apart
History
San Francisco is ~203 years older
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).
Shenzhen covers 1,997 km². Cities with a similar urban footprint include Ho Chi Minh City (2,061 km²), Tokyo (2,194 km²), Riyadh (1,798 km²), Houston (1,725 km²), or Johannesburg (1,644 km²).
The straight-line distance from San Francisco to Shenzhen is 11,085 km (6,888 miles), with an estimated flight time of ~13h 32m.
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