The San Francisco Bay Area has one of the largest Muslim populations in the United States: nearly 250,000 Muslims live in the six counties surrounding the city of San Francisco. Over the past thirty years, the Bay Area in general, and the Muslim population in particular, has experienced significant growth brought on by the region’s economic transformation and the emergence of an information technology industry that required a massive infusion of educated and skilled labor. This growth has resulted in the proliferation of mosques as well as community institutions.
This benchmark study, the first of its kind on the Bay Area’s Muslim community, serves many purposes including providing groundbreaking data on its demographics, sense of identity, economic well being, political and civic engagement, and the challenges that it faces. The resulting data is useful for academics and practitioners wishing to pursue further research, as well as for the community and its leaders, philanthropists and foundations, policymakers, media professionals, and the general public.
Funders of the study include the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, The San Francisco Foundation, Marin Community Foundation and Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy (AAPIP) who partnered with the One Nation Foundation to create the One Nation Bay Area project in 2010 and subsequently commissioned ISPU to produce the report.
Overall Racial/Ethnic and Residential Demographics
Educational Attainment Levels
Levels of Income
Religious Practice and Identity
The San Francisco Bay Area is one of the most diverse regions in the United
The San Francisco Bay Area is one of the most diverse regions in the United
Farid Senzai
Assistant Professor, Santa Clara University
Hatem Bazian
Lecturer, UC Berkeley
Co-Founder, Zaytuna College
Amaney Jamal
Edwards S. Sanford Professor of Politics, Princeton University
Director, Mamdouha S. Bobst Center for Peace and Justice
Director, Workshop on Arab Political Development
Rashida Tlaib
Community Partnerships and Development Director, Sugar Law Center for Economic & Social Justice
First Muslim woman elected to the Michigan Legislature in 2008 and only the second Muslim state legislator in the country
Muqtedar Khan
Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations, University of Delaware
Rahfin Faruk
Harry S. Truman Scholar
Summa cum laude graduate from Southern Methodist University with degrees in economics, political science, public policy, and religious studies
