How Many San Francisco Apartments Allow Pets?
Answer first: About two in three. Of 4,019 San Francisco apartments first listed for rent from September 12 to October 13, 2026, 2,565 (63.8%) said pets were allowed in some form. 292 (7.3%) said no pets, 75 (1.9%) said case by case, and 1,087 (27.0%) did not mention pets at all.
Published October 15, 2026.
Key numbers (4,019 San Francisco apartments, September 12 to October 13, 2026, classified-board posts left out):
- 63.8% allowed pets (2,565). Of the 2,932 ads that said anything about pets, 87.5% allowed them.
- 9.7% named dogs as allowed (389). Another 53.7% (2,159) allowed pets without naming dogs, and 0.4% (17) allowed cats but not dogs.
- 7.3% said no pets (292), and 1.9% (75) said case by case or gave mixed answers.
- 27.0% did not say (1,087). That is the first thing to ask a landlord.
- Pet charges were rarely stated: 43 of 2,640 apartments that allowed or considered pets (1.6%) gave any pet rent, deposit or fee.
- With classified-board posts included (6,668 apartments), 67.6% allowed pets and 33.6% named dogs.
The data is RentReboot's San Francisco listing data: whole apartments in 941xx ZIP codes, from rental marketplaces, building and property manager websites and brokerage websites. The full method is at the end. For what these apartments ask in rent, see our Bay Area rents report and the San Francisco asking rents by neighborhood.
What San Francisco apartment ads say about pets
Apartments first listed September 12 to October 13, 2026. The first bar (4,019 apartments) is the headline group.
| Group | Apartments | Dogs named | Pets, dogs not named | Cats only | Case by case | No pets | Not stated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Without classified posts | 4,019 | 9.7% (389) | 53.7% (2,159) | 0.4% (17) | 1.9% (75) | 7.3% (292) | 27.0% (1,087) |
| With classified posts | 6,668 | 33.6% (2,239) | 33.3% (2,221) | 0.7% (47) | 3.3% (219) | 8.6% (574) | 20.5% (1,368) |
| Classified posts only | 2,649 | 69.8% (1,850) | 2.3% (62) | 1.1% (30) | 5.4% (144) | 10.6% (282) | 10.6% (281) |
63.8% allowed pets in some form, 7.3% said no pets and 27.0% did not say.
How many San Francisco apartments allow dogs?
9.7% name dogs. 389 of the 4,019 apartments said dogs were allowed. Another 2,159 (53.7%) said pets were allowed without naming dogs. On some sites the cat and dog labels reach our records as one pet label, so some of those ads may take dogs. We cannot tell which from the data, so we do not count them as dog-friendly.
Classified-board posts show dogs more often, because those sites have their own tick boxes for cats and dogs. Of 2,649 San Francisco apartments posted only on classified boards in the same window, 1,850 (69.8%) ticked or wrote that dogs were OK. With them included, 2,239 of 6,668 apartments (33.6%) named dogs.
About 1 in 4 gave a weight limit. Of the 389 apartments that named dogs, 107 (27.5%) stated a weight limit, and 102 of those said 25 pounds. Only 17 apartments (0.4%) said cats were welcome but dogs were not.
Which San Francisco neighborhoods have the most pet-friendly apartments?
Among the 19 neighborhoods with at least 30 apartments, Downtown/Civic Center had the highest share of apartments that allowed pets (77.8% of 608), then Potrero Hill (74.7% of 150) and Western Addition (72.6% of 259). The lowest shares were in Outer Sunset (14.3% of 35) and Inner Richmond (16.7% of 30), where 57.1% and 43.3% of ads did not say.
Share of apartments that allow pets, by San Francisco neighborhood
Neighborhoods with at least 30 apartments (19 of them). Pets allowed = dogs named, pets with dogs not named, or cats only.
| Neighborhood | Apartments | Pets allowed | Dogs named | No pets | Not stated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South of Market | 1,380 | 70.7% | 8.2% | 1.7% | 27.1% |
| Downtown/Civic Center | 608 | 77.8% | 14.3% | 4.9% | 15.6% |
| Financial District | 304 | 61.8% | 0.3% | 1.6% | 35.5% |
| Western Addition | 259 | 72.6% | 14.3% | 8.9% | 15.8% |
| Nob Hill | 150 | 65.3% | 20.7% | 12.0% | 18.0% |
| Potrero Hill | 150 | 74.7% | 5.3% | 3.3% | 22.0% |
| Mission | 120 | 54.2% | 16.7% | 10.8% | 30.8% |
| Marina | 115 | 30.4% | 5.2% | 31.3% | 33.0% |
| Lakeshore | 108 | 34.3% | 0.0% | 1.9% | 63.9% |
| Pacific Heights | 99 | 50.5% | 8.1% | 25.3% | 23.2% |
| Haight Ashbury | 70 | 47.1% | 15.7% | 27.1% | 21.4% |
| Russian Hill | 68 | 47.1% | 8.8% | 16.2% | 32.4% |
| Inner Sunset | 64 | 64.1% | 25.0% | 17.2% | 17.2% |
| Castro/Upper Market | 58 | 46.6% | 12.1% | 12.1% | 41.4% |
| Chinatown | 55 | 63.6% | 3.6% | 5.5% | 30.9% |
| Noe Valley | 37 | 54.1% | 13.5% | 21.6% | 16.2% |
| Outer Richmond | 35 | 40.0% | 25.7% | 31.4% | 22.9% |
| Outer Sunset | 35 | 14.3% | 5.7% | 25.7% | 57.1% |
| Inner Richmond | 30 | 16.7% | 6.7% | 16.7% | 43.3% |
Downtown/Civic Center was highest at 77.8%; Outer Sunset lowest at 14.3%, where 57.1% did not say.
A low share often means quiet ads, not refusals. The highest no-pets shares were in the Outer Richmond (31.4% of 35 apartments) and the Marina (31.3% of 115). In Lakeshore, only 1.9% said no pets, but 63.9% of 108 ads did not mention pets. Each neighborhood name in the table links to its page of asking rents by size.
Are studios or bigger apartments more pet friendly?
Studios allowed pets most often: 70.5% of 1,042. One-bedrooms were at 62.9% of 1,597 and two-bedrooms at 63.8% of 1,152. Apartments with 3 or more bedrooms were lowest at 40.2% of 219, mostly because 42.0% of their ads did not mention pets.
Pet policy by apartment size
Same group as the headline: classified-board posts left out.
| Size | Apartments | Dogs named | Pets, dogs not named | Cats only | Case by case | No pets | Not stated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | 1,042 | 12.9% (134) | 57.1% (595) | 0.6% (6) | 1.2% (12) | 8.5% (89) | 19.8% (206) |
| 1 bedroom | 1,597 | 7.4% (118) | 55.1% (880) | 0.4% (7) | 1.6% (25) | 6.4% (102) | 29.1% (465) |
| 2 bedrooms | 1,152 | 9.0% (104) | 54.5% (628) | 0.3% (3) | 2.3% (26) | 6.3% (73) | 27.6% (318) |
| 3+ bedrooms | 219 | 14.6% (32) | 25.1% (55) | 0.5% (1) | 5.0% (11) | 12.8% (28) | 42.0% (92) |
Studios allowed pets most often (70.5%); 3+ bedrooms least (40.2%), mostly because 42.0% of them did not say.
How often an ad mentions pets depends on the kind of site. Brokerage ads mentioned pets least: 74.7% of 186 brokerage-site apartments did not say. On rental marketplaces it was 21.5% of 3,046, and on building and property manager websites 37.2% of 787.
| Kind of site | Apartments | Allow pets | Name dogs | No pets | Not stated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rental marketplaces | 3,046 | 69.7% | 8.2% | 6.9% | 21.5% |
| Building and property manager websites | 787 | 54.4% | 17.3% | 7.5% | 37.2% |
| Brokerage websites | 186 | 8.1% | 1.6% | 12.4% | 74.7% |
Each apartment is counted under the kind of site of its latest ad.
What do San Francisco landlords charge for pets?
Few ads say. Of 2,640 apartments that allowed pets or would consider them, only 43 (1.6%) stated any pet rent, deposit or fee, and 21 of those 43 shared the same ad wording. That is too few to give a typical San Francisco pet rent.
Pet rent amounts stated in San Francisco ads
20 apartments stated one exact monthly pet rent. Another 21 gave only a range ($25 to $70).
| Charge | Amount | Apartments |
|---|---|---|
| Pet rent a month | $25 | 3 |
| Pet rent a month | $40 | 2 |
| Pet rent a month | $50 | 5 |
| Pet rent a month | $75 | 9 |
| Pet rent a month | $100 | 1 |
| Pet deposit | $150 | 1 |
| Pet deposit | $300 | 1 |
| Pet deposit | $500 | 28 |
Only 43 of 2,640 apartments that allow pets or consider them (1.6%) stated any pet charge.
What the 43 ads said:
- Pet rent: 20 apartments gave one exact monthly amount: $25 (3 apartments), $40 (2), $50 (5), $75 (9) and $100 (1). Another 21 gave a range of $25 to $70 a month per pet.
- Pet deposit: 30 apartments gave an amount. 28 said $500, one said $150 and one said $300.
- Other wording: 50 apartments mentioned pet rent and 32 mentioned a pet deposit, with or without an amount. 2 said there was no pet rent or deposit.
Where an ad gave different amounts for a cat and a dog, we kept the lower one. Ask for every pet charge in writing before you apply.
Do pet-friendly apartments cost more in San Francisco?
We found no clear gap. In the same ZIP code and size, apartments that allowed pets asked 1.2% to 2.5% less than apartments that said no pets. The two numbers come from two floors: 29 ZIP and size groups with at least 3 apartments on each side (1,343 pet-friendly, 208 no-pets), and 16 groups with at least 5 on each side (1,069 and 163). About half the groups went each way (51.7% and 43.8% had a higher pet-friendly median).
Apartments that named dogs asked 14.1% to 16.9% more than no-pets apartments in the same ZIP and size, across 17 and 9 groups. That rests on only 152 and 103 no-pets apartments, and the groups come from different sites: 35.0% of dog-named apartments (136 of 389) were listed on building and property manager websites, against 20.2% of no-pets apartments (59 of 292). Treat it as a weak signal, not a pet premium.
We could not compare the same building. No building had at least 2 pet-friendly and 2 no-pets apartments in the window. These are asks, not signed leases, and the comparisons show correlation only.
| Group | Apartments | Median ask |
|---|---|---|
| Dogs named as allowed | 389 | $4,495 |
| Pets allowed, dogs not named | 2,159 | $4,830 |
| No pets | 292 | $4,495 |
| Not stated | 1,087 | $4,923 |
The medians in the table mix every size and neighborhood, so use the same-ZIP comparison above, not this table, to judge a gap.
Can a landlord charge a pet deposit or pet rent in California?
California's deposit law has no separate rule for pet deposits that we found. What it does limit is the total security a landlord can take. For security collected on or after July 1, 2024, AB 12 caps the deposit at one month's rent, or two months for some small landlords who own no more than 2 rental properties with no more than 4 units in total, according to the San Francisco Rent Board.
California's deposit law (Civil Code section 1950.5, as amended by AB 12) defines security as any payment, fee, deposit or charge used for things like repairing damage. A pet deposit is a payment for possible damage, so ask the landlord whether it sits inside that one-month limit. This is general information, not legal advice; the Rent Board's counselors can answer questions about a specific unit.
A 2024 bill to stop most landlords from refusing pets and from charging pet rent or extra pet deposits, AB 2216, passed the Assembly on May 23, 2024. It then stopped in a Senate committee, and the bill history ends on November 30, 2024 with "From Senate committee without further action." We did not find a newer state law on pets in rentals when we checked on October 15, 2026.
How do other Bay Area cities compare?
Fewer ads outside San Francisco said anything about pets. Across 18,569 apartments in Bay Area cities outside San Francisco, 39.2% allowed pets and 54.9% did not mention pets. Of those that did say, 86.9% allowed pets, close to San Francisco's 87.5%.
Share of apartments that allow pets, by Bay Area city
Cities outside San Francisco with at least 150 apartments (36 of them), same window and rules.
| City | Apartments | Pets allowed | Dogs named | No pets | Not stated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Jose | 2,723 | 49.3% | 5.0% | 3.5% | 46.8% |
| Oakland | 2,031 | 38.6% | 9.7% | 4.2% | 56.4% |
| Fremont | 889 | 44.0% | 1.2% | 2.7% | 53.2% |
| Santa Clara | 777 | 41.6% | 0.3% | 1.3% | 57.0% |
| Sunnyvale | 706 | 48.2% | 1.1% | 2.4% | 48.6% |
| Berkeley | 681 | 27.3% | 9.4% | 22.9% | 49.3% |
| Mountain View | 550 | 40.4% | 1.1% | 0.9% | 58.4% |
| Hayward | 483 | 39.8% | 2.9% | 5.0% | 54.9% |
| Redwood City | 398 | 27.6% | 0.5% | 2.0% | 67.8% |
| Vallejo | 397 | 22.2% | 0.5% | 8.6% | 67.3% |
| San Mateo | 385 | 55.6% | 0.5% | 3.4% | 39.5% |
| Fairfield | 336 | 26.8% | 7.1% | 3.9% | 68.2% |
| Concord | 335 | 36.4% | 5.1% | 2.7% | 60.3% |
| Pleasanton | 335 | 52.8% | 0.0% | 0.6% | 46.0% |
| Walnut Creek | 316 | 40.2% | 5.7% | 5.4% | 52.5% |
| Antioch | 311 | 27.7% | 3.2% | 3.5% | 67.5% |
| San Ramon | 291 | 59.8% | 0.0% | 1.4% | 38.5% |
| Dublin | 288 | 55.6% | 0.0% | 0.7% | 43.1% |
| Alameda | 287 | 22.6% | 2.1% | 3.8% | 71.8% |
| Napa | 277 | 30.0% | 7.9% | 7.2% | 58.5% |
| Richmond | 256 | 33.6% | 4.3% | 25.4% | 39.5% |
| Vacaville | 250 | 33.6% | 3.6% | 2.0% | 64.0% |
| Milpitas | 240 | 51.7% | 2.9% | 2.5% | 45.8% |
| Pittsburg | 234 | 32.5% | 1.7% | 3.0% | 64.1% |
| Emeryville | 209 | 49.3% | 5.3% | 4.3% | 45.0% |
| Foster City | 203 | 47.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 51.7% |
| Contra Costa Centre | 200 | 47.5% | 0.0% | 0.5% | 51.5% |
| Daly City | 187 | 70.1% | 0.5% | 2.1% | 27.3% |
| Livermore | 184 | 22.8% | 1.1% | 1.1% | 73.4% |
| San Leandro | 183 | 32.8% | 14.2% | 2.7% | 63.4% |
| Suisun City | 180 | 16.7% | 12.2% | 0.0% | 83.3% |
| Petaluma | 175 | 50.9% | 5.7% | 0.6% | 48.6% |
| Menlo Park | 162 | 44.4% | 1.9% | 0.6% | 54.9% |
| Burlingame/Hillsborough | 153 | 34.0% | 0.7% | 7.2% | 57.5% |
| Palo Alto | 152 | 8.6% | 0.0% | 7.9% | 82.9% |
| American Canyon | 151 | 41.1% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 58.9% |
How often ads say anything differs a lot by city: 83.3% of Suisun City ads did not mention pets.
Among the 36 cities with at least 150 apartments, Daly City had the highest share that allowed pets (70.1% of 187) and Palo Alto the lowest (8.6% of 152, with 82.9% not stated). Berkeley (22.9% of 681) and Richmond (25.4% of 256) had the highest no-pets shares. Each city name in the table links to its Bay Area asking rents page.
Find pet-friendly apartments: your neighborhood and size
Find pet-friendly apartments: your area and size
All sizes by San Francisco neighborhood. The live version adds Bay Area cities and a size filter.
| Area | Apartments | Allow pets | Dogs named | Median ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All of San Francisco | 4,019 | 63.8% | 9.7% | $4,795 |
| Castro/Upper Market | 58 | 46.6% | 12.1% | $5,416 |
| Chinatown | 55 | 63.6% | 3.6% | $3,625 |
| Downtown/Civic Center | 608 | 77.8% | 14.3% | $3,131 |
| Financial District | 304 | 61.8% | 0.3% | $5,851 |
| Haight Ashbury | 70 | 47.1% | 15.7% | $5,300 |
| Inner Richmond | 30 | 16.7% | 6.7% | $4,800 |
| Inner Sunset | 64 | 64.1% | 25.0% | $5,206 |
| Lakeshore | 108 | 34.3% | 0.0% | $3,440 |
| Marina | 115 | 30.4% | 5.2% | $5,299 |
| Mission | 120 | 54.2% | 16.7% | $4,862 |
| Nob Hill | 150 | 65.3% | 20.7% | $4,397 |
| Noe Valley | 37 | 54.1% | 13.5% | $4,899 |
| Outer Richmond | 35 | 40.0% | 25.7% | $4,995 |
| Outer Sunset | 35 | 14.3% | 5.7% | $4,350 |
| Pacific Heights | 99 | 50.5% | 8.1% | $5,295 |
| Potrero Hill | 150 | 74.7% | 5.3% | $5,191 |
| Russian Hill | 68 | 47.1% | 8.8% | $5,900 |
| South of Market | 1,380 | 70.7% | 8.2% | $4,885 |
| Western Addition | 259 | 72.6% | 14.3% | $4,858 |
How to find a pet-friendly apartment in San Francisco
These are practical steps, not findings of the data.
- Read the whole ad. About 1 in 4 San Francisco ads in this report did not mention pets. Silence is not a yes. Ask the landlord before you apply.
- Ask about dogs by name. Many ads say "pets allowed" without saying which. Ask about your animal's kind, size and breed, and whether there is a limit on the number of pets.
- Check the weight limit. Of the ads that named dogs, 27.5% gave a weight limit, and almost all of those said 25 pounds.
- Get every pet charge in writing. Only 1.6% of pet-friendly ads stated an amount. Ask about pet rent, any pet deposit and how it fits within the state's one-month deposit limit.
- Look where ads say yes. In this report, Downtown/Civic Center, Potrero Hill, Western Addition and South of Market had the highest shares of pet-friendly ads.
- Have your pet's papers ready. Vaccination records, a reference from a past landlord and renter's insurance can help an application. Our San Francisco rental application guide lists what to prepare.
RentReboot sends Bay Area apartment alerts that match your filters, including pets. The pet tag comes from the ad, so confirm the policy with the landlord. Set up Bay Area apartment alerts.
How we measured pet policies in San Francisco ads
Listings. RentReboot listing data for the San Francisco Bay Area, first collected from September 12 to October 13, 2026 (read on October 15, 2026). San Francisco means a 941xx ZIP code. We kept whole apartments with an asking rent of $1,000 to $25,000, and left out room shares, furnished rentals and home-search portal rows that re-post other sites' listings. Classified-board posts are left out of the headline, as in our other San Francisco reports, because their addresses are often not verified; they appear as a separate group. That gave 7,258 ads for 4,019 apartments. We keep one row per apartment: the latest ad sets the price, size and neighborhood, and the pet answer uses every ad for that apartment in the window.
Why this window. Our records of ad amenity lists, where most pet answers live, were thin before September 2026. From April to August 2026, 16% to 59% of San Francisco ads per month (classified boards left out) had an amenity list, and classified-board posts had none. From September 12, 89.0% of other ads and 96.7% of classified-board posts had one.
Reading the ads. We read three things: the ad's amenity list (labels like "Cats ok", "Dogs ok up to 25 lbs", "No pets"), pet fields that some sites publish, and the description. In descriptions we look for phrases like "pets welcome", "no pets", "cats only" and "pets negotiable". A phrase does not count when a negation sits right before it ("not pet friendly"), when it describes a place ("dog-friendly park"), or when it is about charges ("no pet rent"). A dog park or pet spa in the building is not counted as a pet policy: 137 of the 1,087 "not stated" apartments listed one.
Categories. Dogs named as allowed; pets allowed with dogs not named (including ads that only say cats are allowed, because some sites store one label for both); cats only (cats yes, dogs no); case by case (negotiable, considered, on approval, or ads that say yes and no); no pets; not stated. "Allow pets" adds up the first three.
Hand checks. We read 100 random apartments with a pet answer: 97 matched their category exactly. Two rule errors were fixed and the numbers rerun; one ad says both "1 small pet negotiable" and "No pets" and stays in no pets. We also read every one of the 20 "not stated" apartments whose ads mention any pet word: none stated a policy (14 mention a building dog run or pet amenity). In 60 classified-board posts, 57 matched; 3 had ticked the cats and dogs boxes but wrote "No pets", and such conflicts now count as case by case. We read all 43 apartments with a stated pet charge and kept the amounts as written.
Rent comparison. Median ask by group within each ZIP code and size (studio, 1, 2, 3 or more bedrooms), compared as a ratio, with the median across groups weighted by the smaller side. We publish two floors (at least 3 or at least 5 apartments on each side) as a range.
Limits. An ad is not a lease, and a landlord can change a policy. Silence in an ad does not mean pets are refused. The share of ads that mention pets depends on the site, so places with more marketplace ads look more pet friendly in this data. Neighborhoods need at least 30 apartments and Bay Area cities at least 150. The full method, the results and a map from every number to its source are in our reproducibility notes.
San Francisco pet-friendly apartments FAQ
How many apartments in San Francisco allow pets? About two in three ads say yes. Of 4,019 San Francisco apartments first listed from September 12 to October 13, 2026, 2,565 (63.8%) allowed pets in some form, 292 (7.3%) said no pets, 75 (1.9%) said case by case and 1,087 (27.0%) did not mention pets.
Are dog-friendly apartments hard to find in San Francisco? Fewer ads name dogs than pets in general. 389 of 4,019 apartments (9.7%) named dogs as allowed, and another 2,159 (53.7%) allowed pets without naming dogs. Of the ads that named dogs, 27.5% gave a weight limit, usually 25 pounds.
How much is pet rent in San Francisco? Too few ads say to give a typical amount. Only 43 of 2,640 pet-friendly or case-by-case apartments (1.6%) stated any pet charge. The 20 exact monthly pet rents were $25 to $100, most often $75 (9 apartments).
Is a pet deposit legal in California? The state limits the total deposit, not pet deposits as such. Since July 1, 2024, AB 12 caps security at one month's rent for most landlords, and the law's definition of security covers any payment, fee or deposit for damage. Ask whether a pet deposit counts inside that limit.
Do pet-friendly apartments cost more in San Francisco? Not clearly. In the same ZIP code and size, apartments that allowed pets asked 1.2% to 2.5% less than no-pets apartments, across 16 to 29 groups. Ads that named dogs asked 14.1% to 16.9% more, but on few no-pets apartments.
Do San Francisco landlords have to allow pets? No state law requires it. AB 2216, a 2024 bill to stop most landlords from refusing pets, passed the Assembly but stopped in a Senate committee on November 30, 2024. In our data, 7.3% of San Francisco ads said no pets.
Which San Francisco neighborhood is most pet friendly? Among 19 neighborhoods with at least 30 apartments, Downtown/Civic Center had the highest share of ads that allowed pets (77.8% of 608), then Potrero Hill (74.7% of 150) and Western Addition (72.6% of 259).
Are cats easier than dogs to get approved? Some ads take cats only: 17 of 4,019 San Francisco apartments (0.4%) allowed cats but not dogs. More often the limit is the dog's size: 102 of the 389 dog-friendly ads said 25 pounds or less.
More San Francisco rent data and guides
- What Does $3,000 Rent You in San Francisco?
- How Big Is the Average San Francisco Apartment?
- How Many NYC Apartments Are Pet Friendly?
- What Does It Cost to Rent in the Bay Area in 2026?
- How Many SF Apartments for Rent Are Rent Controlled?
- San Francisco and Bay Area asking rents by neighborhood
- All RentReboot rent data reports
- San Francisco rental application guide
Sources for San Francisco pet policy data
Checked on October 15, 2026.
- RentReboot listing data, first collected September 12 to October 13, 2026 (see "How we measured pet policies").
- San Francisco Rent Board: Security deposit laws are changing on July 1, 2024: the one-month cap and the small-landlord exception.
- California Legislative Information: AB 12 bill text: the definition of security in Civil Code section 1950.5.
- California Legislative Information: AB 2216 bill history: passed the Assembly on May 23, 2024; no further action in the Senate.