San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA MSA is a Metropolitan Statistical Area within the San Francisco Bay Area

San Francisco Bay Area

The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...

, which includes a number of its core cities and counties. It is defined by the US Census Bureau to include core areas economically influenced by San Francisco rather than outlying cities such as San Jose

San José

San José, or San Jose, is the Spanish for Saint Joseph. It usually refers to one of two major cities. These are:*San José, Costa Rica, the capital of Costa Rica*San Jose, California, the tenth-most populous city in the United States...

. The definition states that it consists of 5 counties, grouped into two divisions. Those 5 counties are San Francisco, Alameda, Marin, Contra Costa, and San Mateo County. It is a subset of the 9 county San Francisco Bay Area, as well as the 11 county Combined Statistical Area

Combined Statistical Area

The United States Office of Management and Budget defines micropolitan and metropolitan statistical areas. Metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas consist of one or more counties...

, the San Francisco Bay Area Combined Statistical Area

San Francisco Bay Area Combined Statistical Area

The San Francisco Bay Area Combined Statistical Area, also known as the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA CSA, is the 6th most populous of 125 Combined Statistical Areas as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget...

.

Geography

This region had a population of 4,335,391 during the 2010 census, a land area of 2,470.5 square miles, giving an average population density of 1,754.8 people per square mile. The "Inland Empire

Inland Empire (California)

The Inland Empire is a region in Southern California. The region sits directly east of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Inland Empire most commonly is used in reference to the U.S. Census Bureau's federally-defined Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metropolitan area, which covers more than...

"'s recent growth has given it a similar population, and the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA MSA is forecast to rank third in the state by the next census, from its long held 2nd position. Much of the region includes uninhabited mountains.

Economy

The GDP of the region was $325.9 billion in 2010, slightly up from 2007 of $321.4 billion, showing the effects of the Financial Crisis

Financial crisis

The term financial crisis is applied broadly to a variety of situations in which some financial institutions or assets suddenly lose a large part of their value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with banking panics, and many recessions coincided with these...

, but nearly triple the Inland Empire. The GDP per capita was $75,171 in 2010, still among the highest in the United States, though considerably lower than adjacent San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA MSA.

Transportation

Bay Area Rapid Transit serves all the counties except Marin. Golden Gate Transit

Golden Gate Transit

Golden Gate Transit is a public transportation system serving the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in California, United States. It mainly serves Marin and Sonoma Counties, and also provides limited service to San Francisco and Contra Costa County.Golden Gate Transit is one of three...

 serves Marin, with limited connections to San Francisco and Contra Costa, along with service to outlying Sonoma County. AC Transit

AC Transit

AC Transit is an Oakland-based regional public transit agency serving the western half of Alameda County and parts of western Contra Costa County in the western, Bay-side area of the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area...

serves Alameda and Contra Costa, with connections to San Francisco's transit hub.