Groundwork

Health care · Metro area · California

Dentists and orthodontists in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro area

How the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro area compares with other metro areas and the U.S. for dentists and orthodontists: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.

Groundwork market score · out of 100

Score 29 out of 100: Lower middle

Ranked #346 of 387 scored metro areas
#18 of 25 scored metro areas based in California

Listings
3,252
206 chain locations (6%)
Official establishments
3,029
−2.1% since 2019
Household spending a year
$2.9B
On medical and dental services · $1,688 a household
Spending per listing
$905K
8% below the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
18.6
42% above the U.S.
Population, 2025
4,630,041
−2.4% since 2020

See the dentists and orthodontists around any address in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area

The site report maps the dentists and orthodontists on map listings near the address, by name and distance, and sizes the households and spending around it. Or open the report at the center of the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

Free10 actions over 3 days, no card

Survey estimates 2020–2024 · population estimates 2025 · official business counts 2023 · map listings September 2026 · Data credits · How we measure

What this means

For dentists and orthodontists, the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area has a Groundwork market score of 29 (lower middle): #346 of 387 scored metro areas and #18 of 25 scored metro areas based in California. That puts it in the bottom quarter of metro areas.

Household spending on medical and dental services in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area comes to about $2.9B a year: $1,688 per household, 31% above the U.S. average. That works out to $905K per practice, 8% below the U.S. figure of $984K. The spending figure covers all medical and dental services, not only dentists and orthodontists.

There are 3,252 dentists and orthodontists on map listings in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area as of September 2026. Chain locations make up 6% of them, against 12% across the U.S. Per 10,000 households, that is 18.6, 42% above the U.S. rate of 13.1.

The official count of businesses with payroll classed as offices of dentists in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area was 3,029 in 2023, down 2.1% from 2019. That is one for every 576 households, against one for every 952 across the U.S. Since fiscal 2022, 59 SBA-backed loans worth $66.4M have gone to businesses classed as offices of dentists in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area. Population estimates put the population change in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area from 2020 to 2025 at −2.4%, against +3.1% for the U.S.

How the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area compares

The same measures for California and the whole U.S. Spending per listing divides a year of household spending on all medical and dental services by the dentists and orthodontists counted, so it measures the demand for each competitor, not any business’s revenue. Households per establishment does the same with the official count.

Dentists and orthodontists in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro area compared with California and the U.S.
MeasureSan Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro areaCaliforniaU.S.
Listings per 10k households18.617.913.1
Spending per listing$905K$817K$984K
Households per official establishment576595952
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023−2.1%+1.8%−0.5%
Population growth, 2020–2025−2.4%−0.4%+3.1%
Spending per household on medical and dental services$1,688$1,464$1,288
Median household income$136,027$99,122$80,734
Groundwork market score2922

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
3,029−2.1% over the period
Employees, 2023
19,225
Annual payroll, 2023
$1.2B
One-person businesses, 2023
Not publishedNot published for this business type
Map listings, September 2026
3,252206 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
2,993The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
59
Amount
$66.4M

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as offices of dentists in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area, through June 2026, placed by the borrower’s ZIP code. Official establishments are businesses with payroll; the official counts leave out places with fewer than 3.

Population and households in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area

Population, 2025 estimate
4,630,041−2.4% since 2020
Households
1,744,070
Median age
41.3
Homes lived in by their owners
55%
Vehicles per household
1.7
Land area
2,470 sq. mi.
People per square mile
1,881
Median household income
$136,027+28.3% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$194,370
Median home value
$1,140,700
Jobs located here
2,497,939
Daytime population
4,885,603Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area?

These figures cover the whole metro area. A site report draws rings around one address and counts what’s inside them: households, spending, jobs, and the dentists and orthodontists on map listings by name and distance.

Or open the report at the center of the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

Free10 actions over 3 days, no card

Dentists and orthodontists across California

Every California market ranked →

The highest-scoring metro areas in California for dentists and orthodontists, numbered among those based in California, with the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area marked.

Top metro areas in California

Metro areas in California ranked for dentists and orthodontists by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1El Centro, CA72316.2$1.8M+1.1%#34 of 387
2Yuba City, CA626610.7$1.2M+3.3%#111 of 387
3Bakersfield-Delano, CA5631010.9$1.1M+2.3%#141 of 387
4Hanford-Corcoran, CA524610.4$1.2M+1.0%#177 of 387
5Merced, CA519310.8$1.1M+5.1%#182 of 387
6Stockton-Lodi, CA4933713.7$1M+5.5%#194 of 387
7Visalia, CA4416311.4$1.1M+2.4%#234 of 387
8Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA372,19715.1$900K+3.5%#301 of 387
9Vallejo, CA3624815.7$919K+0.6%#312 of 387
10Salinas, CA3419214.5$984K−1.5%#320 of 387
18San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA293,25218.6$905K−2.4%#346 of 387

Other business types in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area

Each with its Groundwork market score here, out of 100, where it has one.

Questions

How many dentists and orthodontists are in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro area?

As of September 2026, map listings count 3,252 dentists and orthodontists in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area. 206 of them (6%) are chain locations. The listings count dental practices, orthodontists included. Official counts show 3,029 businesses with payroll classed as offices of dentists in 2023, down 2.1% from 2019.

How much do households in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro area spend on medical and dental services?

About $2.9B a year, or $1,688 per household. That is 31% above the U.S. average (an index of 131, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 3,252 dentists and orthodontists on map listings, it comes to $905K per practice. That spending covers all medical and dental services, which dentists and orthodontists share with other businesses in the trade. It is estimated from the incomes of the 1,744,070 households in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro area compare with the U.S. for dentists and orthodontists?

The San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area has 18.6 dentists and orthodontists per 10,000 households, 42% above the U.S. rate of 13.1. Spending per practice is $905K, 8% below the U.S. figure of $984K. At the U.S. ratio of dentists and orthodontists to household spending, the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area would have about 2,993, against 3,252 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 576 households, against one for every 952 across the U.S. The official count fell 2.1% from 2019 to 2023, against −0.5% for the U.S.

How fast is the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro area growing?

Population estimates put the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area at 4,630,041 people in 2025, down 2.4% since 2020, against +3.1% for the U.S. It has 1,744,070 households. Median household income in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area is $136,027, 68% above the U.S. median of $80,734. Against the 2015–2019 survey, the median rose 28.3%, before inflation.

What is the Groundwork market score?

The Groundwork market score runs from 0 to 100 and compares a market with others of its kind for one business type: states with states, metro areas with metro areas, small-town markets and counties with their own. It weighs household spending per competitor (35%), households per business with payroll (25%), population growth (20%) and spending power (20%), each ranked against those peers. A higher score means that, taken together, the market has more household spending and more households for each business already there, faster population growth and more spending per household than similar markets. It describes a market, not any one site or deal. The San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area scores 29 for dentists and orthodontists (lower middle), #346 of 387 scored metro areas.

How can I see the market around a specific site?

Run a Groundwork site report on an address in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area. It maps the dentists and orthodontists on map listings near the site and sizes the households and spending within the distance you choose. New accounts get 10 actions over 3 days, no card.

How the score works · Top markets for dentists and orthodontists · All 56 business types in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area?

A site report maps the competitors on map listings near an address and sizes the households and spending around it.

The button opens the report at the center of the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.

Figures are estimates for research only. Not investment or real estate advice.