, Columnist
How San Francisco Lost High Earners and Got Richer
The pandemic tech boom and a “donut effect” drove up average incomes in both expensive cities and less-pricey exurbs.
Many people who fled big cities during the pandemic stayed in the region.
Photographer: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
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A big economic story of the pandemic years has been one of jobs and people leaving big cities and expensive coastal regions, with the South and the Mountain West the big gainers. San Francisco has been perhaps the most vivid example of a previously booming place that has lost residents and cachet since Covid-19 arrived.
So it is interesting that the nation’s biggest gains in real per capita incomes between 2019 to 2021 were to be found around and near the San Francisco Bay.