Every Business Leaving San Francisco (2020-2023)

Businesses leaving San Francisco — Image Credit: New York Times

Once the hub for tech companies in the world, San Francisco (and the Bay Area) is now facing a wave of businesses leaving.

Ironically, the tech innovation that was created in San Francisco was so good that the companies who made it no long need the offices they built. An astonishing 35% of San Francisco’s workforce works primarily from home, according to an NBC Bay Area report that analyzed data from the Census Bureau in 2021. That’s the highest among all US cities where data was collected.

The same workers that had to run to San Francisco to get the good jobs and high pay are now running away. According to Redfin, San Francisco has the highest net outflow of home buyers in the top 10 metro areas as of early 2022. Redfin derives this figure by calculating the home searchers looking to leave a metro area, minus the number of searchers looking to move in.

And with workers staying home or moving their homes altogether, the use of office space has cratered. The San Francisco Standard reported (from CBRE data) that in the first quarter of 2023, San Francisco’s office space vacancy rate ballooned to 29.5%. In 2020, that figure was just 4.1% (a seven-fold increase in three years). As a result, sales tax revenue is 35% below the trend line dating back to 2018, according to Stanford Professor, Nick Bloom. As Bloom puts it, “San Francisco has lost about a third of its economic activity.”

It’s a vicious cycle: The workers don’t want – and don’t need – to be there ➡️ the offices empty out ➡️ the tax revenue for the city craters ➡️ the companies leave San Francisco for good.

Below, you’ll find all of the businesses leaving San Francisco and the Bay Area since 2020. Whenever a company announces its plans to leave the state, we’ll update the list.

Companies that have left San Francisco
Companies reducing office space in San Francisco (but not moving)
Why companies are leaving
How many have left
Where they are going
Submit a company

Businesses Leaving San Francisco Since 2020

These businesses used to be headquartered – or have major offices – in the Bay Area, but decided to leave.

Company	Former Headquarters	New Headquarters	Story
Hero Digital	San Francisco	Illinois	August 23, 2023 Hero Digital, a tech consulting company with private equity ownership, will no longer call San Francisco home. The firm is shifting its headquarters to Chicago as part of an Aug. 14 merger with consulting firm Avionos, which is based in the Illinois city.
Fireside	San Francisco	Florida	August 15, 2023 "What I kept experiencing was a pull to Miami. Some of the smartest people I knew in San Francisco, in Silicon Valley, moved to Miami. The people that moved — it's like they are more well-balanced people than they ever were."
Skillz	San Francisco	Nevada	June 8, 2023 "Mobile gaming company Skillz is leaving Downtown San Francisco and to open new headquarters in Las Vegas, according to the Las Vegas Sun."
Kelly-Moore Paints	San Francisco	Texas	April 25, 2023 "North Texas chalked up another corporate headquarters move from California yesterday when Kelly-Moore Paints—a leading manufacturer and retailer of premium paints and coatings in the U.S.—announced that it will move its HQ from Northern California to Irving this year."
Redaptive	San Francisco	Colorado	April 13, 2023 "A company that specializes in making the facilities of some of the country’s largest corporations more energy efficient has moved its headquarters to Denver. Redaptive, which calls itself an energy-as-a-service provider, was formerly based in San Francisco."
Inbenta	San Francisco	Texas	March 9, 2023 "After closing a $40 million investment in January, the AI company Inbenta announced it’s moving its headquarters from San Francisco to Allen, Texas and named North Texan Melissa Solis as the company’s new CEO."
Garcia Hand Picked	San Francisco	(Multiple locations)	January 29, 2023 "The Garcia Hand Picked brand, launched by the deceased musician’s family in 2020, has pulled out of the state, a spokesperson confirmed to SFGATE. Garcia’s exit comes as cannabis insiders predict a “mass extinction event” for California’s pot industry, with thousands of companies expected to go out of business this year."
McAfee	San Jose	Texas	January 20, 2023 "The San Jose-based cybersecurity company McAfee announced it’ll be Frisco’s newest addition by moving its headquarters to The Star in 2023."
Bluevine	Redwood City	New Jersey	January 9, 2023 "Bluevine, the leading provider of small business banking solutions, today announced its official new company headquarters in Jersey City. As a fintech leader, Bluevine continues to expand to meet growing demand."
Allspring Global Investments	San Francisco	North Carolina	October 20, 2022 "We are thrilled to announce the official opening of our corporate headquarters in Charlotte, which we believe is an important step in Allspring’s journey to elevate investing to be worth more," said Joe Sullivan, CEO of Allspring, in a statement issued on Thursday.
Trimble	Sunnyvale	Colorado	October 6, 2022 "Trimble (NASDAQ: TRMB) announced today that the company has changed its headquarters from Sunnyvale, California to Westminster, Colorado. 'Sunnyvale will continue to be the center for technology development across a range of areas critical to Trimble's success going forward,' said Rob Painter, president and CEO."
Virta Health Corp	San Francisco	Colorado	October 3, 2022 "The technology and healthcare talent we have already assembled in Colorado provides a clear picture of the exciting growth potential we have in the region,” Sami Inkinen, Virta Health co-founder and CEO, said in a written statement. “Colorado is a great place to live, with a spirit of innovation and people who are willing to tackle big challenges to change the world for the better. It’s an ideal setup for a mission-oriented company like Virta Health.
American Airlines (*Flight Attendant Base, only)	San Francisco	(Multiple locations)	September 15, 2022 "American Airlines announced that they are relocating more than 400 flight attendants who were based out of San Francisco International Airport, to other parts of the country."
Belong	San Mateo	Florida	September 6, 2022 "Belong CEO, Ale Resnik, emphasized the cultural fit between Miami and Belong: "'Miami represents a glimpse at a possible future of the USA. One that's multicultural, more pragmatic, and less ideological. This is an ecosystem where consumer tech can blossom.'"
Chevron	San Francisco	Texas	June 29, 2022 "Chevron says it's willing to pay its employees who are willing to relocate to Houston. The U.S. oil company is planning to sell its headquarters located at Chevron Park in San Ramon, California, so it can move to a more modern space."
Aviatrix	Santa Clara	Texas	May 5, 2022 "A technology unicorn has shifted its headquarters from Silicon Valley to Dallas. The company is now operating out of a co-working space in Dallas - but will lease about 25,000 feet for a more permanent locale."
Sendoso	San Francisco	Arizona	April 12, 2022 "Business software developer Sendoso is relocating its headquarters from San Francisco to Phoenix later this year, bringing nearly 1,000 jobs to the Valley, the company announced Tuesday."
Hyperion	San Francisco	Ohio	February 2, 2022 "Orange-based hydrogen fuel cell and transportation company Hyperion Companies said Tuesday it will move its global headquarters to Columbus, Ohio. Hyperion said in a news release that it will create 680 new jobs over six years and invest about $300 million in a headquarters, research and development center and manufacturing operations in the city."
FICO	San Jose	Montana	November 1, 2021 According to Wayback Machine, FICO changed its corporate headquarters from San Jose, CA to Bozeman, MT some time between Oct 29, 2021 and Nov 24, 2021. There was no press release.
Tesla	San Francisco	Texas	October 7, 2021 “To be clear we will be continuing to expand our activities in California,” Musk said. “Our intention is to increase output from Fremont and Giga Nevada by 50%. If you go to our Fremont factory it’s jammed.” But, he added, “It’s tough for people to afford houses, and people have to come in from far away....There’s a limit to how big you can scale in the Bay Area.”
First Foundation Bank	Oakland	Texas	September 26, 2021 "The Dallas-Fort Worth area today reminds me of what Southern California was like 30 years ago, where First Foundation started, and for me personally, it is nice to return to Texas as my roots are in the South,” Scott F. Kavanaugh, CEO of First Foundation Inc. said recently. “Texas has such a business-friendly environment which gives us confidence in being able to serve the communities of Dallas with our high standard of exceptional client care."
Flexible Funding	San Francisco	Texas	August 27, 2021 “We are thrilled to announce our relocation of our corporate headquarters to Fort Worth to support our growth and the dynamic needs of our entire business,”
GlobalFoundries	Santa Clara	New York	August 26, 2021 “The original vision for this site was a billion dollar investment from New York State, Global Foundries would put $3.2 billion in and create 1,200 jobs. We stand here today, the state put their dollars in, global foundries put $15 billion in, and there are now 3,000 jobs here and growing.” CEO Caulfield said.
HomeLight	San Francisco	Arizona	August 24, 2021 "HomeLight CEO Drew Uher said that it made sense for his fast-growing real estate company to move its HQ from San Francisco to the city that is its largest employment center. HomeLight has hiring and more in store as it continues to expand."
NinjaOne	San Francisco	Texas	August 17, 2021 "One of the things that I saw is that a lot of my friends and family and employees that are moving here from the Bay Area can actually be homeowners, which in the Bay Area is virtually impossible," he said. "So I think it's actually the hidden retention tool, and a great recruiting tool."
AECOM	San Francisco	Texas	August 17, 2021 "AECOM, the world’s trusted infrastructure consulting firm, today announced it will relocate its global headquarters from Los Angeles, CA, to Dallas, TX, effective Oct. 1, 2021."
Smart Wires, Inc.	San Francisco	North Carolina	July 27, 2021 “Not only is North Carolina a strong hub for smart grid businesses, it also provides significant access to talent, R&D partnerships, manufacturing know-how, and exceptional infrastructure that is continuously growing and improving,” CEO Peter Wells said.
iFly.vc	San Francisco	Texas	July 6, 2021 “IFly.vc made another big move during the pandemic, relocating its office from San Francisco to Austin, joining a wave of Californians fleeing the expensive area.“
Wiley X	Livermore	Texas	June 29, 2021 “Wiley X is committed to piloting smart and sustained growth for many years to come, and a central location like Texas is a prime place to call home for our brand,” Dan Freeman, co-owner of Wiley X, was quoted saying.
Landing	San Francisco	Alabama	June 10, 2021 “As a Birmingham native, relocating our headquarters and expanding our Alabama team was a natural transition,” said Bill Smith, founder and CEO of Landing. “I’m excited by the opportunity to continue to scale Landing and bring new jobs and economic opportunities to my community. As we continue to expand across the country, we’re committed to the vibrant cities we operate in and will strive to have a positive impact on all of Landing’s communities.”
Snowflake	San Mateo	Montana/ Remote	May 26, 2021 “We are a Delaware corporation with a globally distributed workforce and no corporate headquarters. Under the Securities and Exchange Commission’s rules, we are required to designate a ‘principal executive office.’ For purposes of this report, we have designated our office in Bozeman, Montana as our principal executive office, as that is where our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer are based.”
Education Media Foundation (EMF)	Rocklin	Tennessee	March 24, 2021 CEO Bill Reeves said, “This move will enable us to better serve our audiences and deepen our relationships with faith-focused artists, content creators and the recording, film and publishing industries as we continue to broaden our media offerings through radio, film, streaming, live events, books and more.”
Harmonate	San Francisco	Texas	March 23, 2021 “Austin, Texas meets our need for results-driven technology talent, private capital domain expertise and a public policy environment that rewards growth."
Viavi Solutions	Milpitas	Arizona	February 10, 2021 "In seeking to locate a new facility, the company found that Arizona provided the ideal conditions of being business-friendly, offering a high quality of life at reasonable cost, and providing a strong base of talent."
Align Technology	San Jose	Arizona	January 22, 2021 "This change will afford many new opportunities for Align to expand its industry-leading digital capabilities through innovation in San Jose while achieving greater, long-term operating efficiencies in Arizona,” said Joe Hogan, Align’s chief executive officer.
Digital Realty	San Francisco	Texas	January 14, 2021 Said Digital Realty CEO William Stein, "The central location, affordable cost of living, highly educated workforce and supportive business climate have helped make Texas an epicenter for business activity and technology growth."
OPSWAT	San Francisco	Florida	January 4, 2021 “While San Francisco will continue to be a strategic office location given its proximity to Silicon Valley and our West Coast partners and customers, we are excited to strengthen our East Coast presence and join Tampa’s emerging technology and cybersecurity ecosystem.”
Charles Schwab	San Francisco	Texas	January 1, 2021 "The financial services firm announced a $26 billion merger with TD Ameritrade in October 2020. As part of the merger, the combined company’s headquarters would relocate from San Francisco to North Texas (Westlake)."
Oracle	Redwood City	Texas	December 11, 2020 “Oracle is implementing a more flexible employee work location policy and has changed its Corporate Headquarters from Redwood City, California to Austin, Texas. We believe these moves best position Oracle for growth and provide our personnel with more flexibility about where and how they work,” a spokesperson confirmed to CNBC."
Tanium	Emeryville	Washington	December 2, 2020 "The CEO and co-founder of a billion-dollar cybersecurity company has moved its headquarters out of San Francisco because it's "not the city it was. He added that there were "some asymmetries in the way that the Bay Area works that just didn’t really work well for us.”
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)	San Jose	Texas	December 1, 2020 "As we look to the future, our business needs, opportunities for cost savings, and team members’ preferences about the future of work, we have made the decision to relocate HPE’s headquarters to the new campus under construction in Spring, Texas, just outside of Houston."
8VC	San Francisco	Texas	November 1, 2020 "8VC founding partner and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale wrote in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal this week about why he decided to move his company from California to Texas."
CBRE Group	San Francisco	Texas	October 29, 2020 "CBRE Group, the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm, is moving its headquarters from Los Angeles to Dallas."
Arctic Wolf	Sunnyvale	Minnesota	October 22, 2020 "Last summer, the company significantly expanded its office footprint in Minnesota. But the “most critical reason” for the relocation is access to the wide pool of tech talent in the Twin Cities area, Schneider said."
Pabst Brewing	San Francisco	Texas	October 7, 2020 "San Antonio is filled with opportunity and creativity, it has a great talent pool, high quality of life, and is experiencing a cultural boom that we’d really like to be a part of,” he said. “The affordability of the city does make it attractive to business(es) and employees.”
O. W. Lee	San Francisco	Texas	September 23, 2020 "An outdoor furniture maker is planning to move its headquarters and manufacturing operations from California to Texas Hill County."
Incora	San Francisco	Texas	September 15, 2020 “Texas has cultivated a strong economic climate with low taxes, reasonable regulations and a high-caliber workforce, which allows companies like Wesco to innovate and prosper,” said a statement from Abbott. “As a thriving aviation and aerospace hub, Fort Worth is the ideal location for Wesco to continue to grow its operations and serve its customers.”
Palantir	Palo Alto	Colorado	August 19, 2020 "Chief Executive Officer Alex Karp has been open in the past about a potential move. In an interview with Axios on HBO in May, Karp said he was against the “increasing intolerance and monoculture of Silicon Valley” and was nearing a decision on whether or not to move. Karp said at the time Colorado was under consideration."
DZS (Dasan Zhone Solutions)	Oakland	Texas	August 3, 2020 "In addition to the strong pool of communications and software engineering talent in the Dallas area, officials said the move would lower the company’s fixed costs and provide good access to customers throughout the Americas."
Varo Bank	San Francisco	Utah	July 25, 2020 “Salt Lake City is a more sustainable place to do business,” Colin Walsh, co-founder and CEO of Varo Money, told the San Francisco Business Times."
FileTrail	San Francisco	Texas	June 16, 2020 FileTrail CEO Darrell Mervau: “While the greater Bay Area will always be a special place for the FileTrail family, our recent growth prompted the need to explore options for a larger headquarters. Our new location is a great fit for our expanding team and affords us much needed flexibility for continued growth.
SignEasy	San Francisco	Texas	February 11, 2020 "SignEasy, which provides digital signature technology, moved its home base to San Francisco last year."
Finical	San Francisco	Texas	January 29, 2020 "Finical, Inc.'s corporate headquarters has been relocated to Dallas, Texas, to facilitate the expansion and create a more collaborative workspace for the office and company as a whole."
XO (XO Jets)	San Francisco	Florida	January 27, 2020 “There will be a significant number of the existing employees relocating to South Florida in the coming weeks,” said Michelle Bauman, chief human resources officer. “We’ll be hiring an additional 150 positions. We are very excited to become a Florida-based employer, which will afford us access to a deep pool of aviation talent from aviation universities and training centers located both locally in Florida and along the eastern seaboard.”
ASGN Incorporated	San Francisco	Virginia	January 26, 2020 "Governor Ralph Northam today announced that ASGN Incorporated (NYSE:ASGN) will invest a total of $12.4 million to move its corporate headquarters from Calabasas, California to Henrico County and grow operations across the Commonwealth, creating a total of 700 new jobs and advancing Virginia’s economic recovery strategy."
QuestionPro	San Francisco	Texas	January 21, 2020 "Bhaskaran said Austin’s cost of living makes it easier to scale up and hire talent. Austin’s talent pool, and the ability to attract people who live outside of Texas were also factors, he said. (The Bay Area) was not sustainable for us,” Bhaskaran said. ““For the same price we can find really amazing people in other areas.”
NortonLifeLock (Symantec)	Santa Clara	Arizona	January 14, 2020 "The tech company wants to find a buyer for 10 buildings in Mountain View that together total 707,000 square feet. By early November 2019, the company’s headquarters were listed as being in Tempe, Ariz., an SEC filing disclosed. Also in early November, NortonLifeLock became the official name of the company.

Sources:

News stories linked to from within the table
The California Book of Exoduses compiled by California Policy Center
Hoover Institution at Stanford

Companies Reducing Office Space In San Francisco (But Not Moving)

These businesses have made public announcements about office downsizes in San Francisco. However, they haven’t necessarily moved office space to a new city or state. For the most part, these downsizes are due to 1) more remote workers or hybrid schedules, or 2) layoffs.

Affirm Holdings
Airbnb
Airtable
Alphabet (Google)
Autodeck
Block
Chevron
Chime
Citigroup
Credit Karma
Dropbox
Eventbrite
Intel
Lyft
Meta (Facebook)
Oracle
PayPal
Pinterest
Salesforce
Slack
Snap
Splunk
Trulia
Yelp
Zynga

Read our full report on major companies reducing office space here.

Why are San Francisco businesses leaving?

I’ve pulled out notable phrases that company leaders mentioned when explaining their decision to leave the San Francisco Bay Area. Here are some quotes from executives at San Francisco companies leaving to give you an idea:

There is an “increasing intolerance and monoculture of Silicon Valley“
“We believe San Francisco’s path to recovery remains clouded and elongated by major challenges”
Employees can be homeowners in Texas, “which in the Bay Area is virtually impossible”
(The Bay Area) was not sustainable for us…For the same price we can find really amazing people in other areas”
There were “some symmetries in the way that the Bay Area works that just didn’t really work well for us”
Seeking “a strong economic climate with low taxes, reasonable regulations and a high-caliber workforce”
Moving for “our business needs, opportunities for cost savings, and team members”
Finding a place that is “easier to hire talent“
Seeking a “more sustainable place to do business“
“Arizona provided the ideal conditions of being business-friendly, offering a high quality of life at reasonable cost”

How many businesses have left San Francisco?

53 companies have left San Francisco since 2020. At Buildremote, we’ve tracked every public announcement released by a company leaving San Francisco. Here are those figures.

2020: 17
2021: 19
2022: 9
2023 (through August): 8

The San Francisco Standard reported (from CBRE data) that in Q1 of 2023, San Francisco’s office space vacancy rate ballooned to 29.5%. That figure was just 4.1% in Q1 of 2020. Millions of square footage of office space has emptied out in three years, but it is nearly impossible to calculate exactly how many businesses have left San Francisco.

Where are San Francisco businesses going? Half go to Texas.

In my list current list, there are 53 companies leaving San Francisco between 2020 – July 2023. They’ve moved to 18 different states (and some companies have moved to multiple locations). Of those states, here are the biggest beneficiaries:

- Texas: 23 (45%)
- Arizona: 5 (10%)
- Colorado: 4 (8%)
- Florida: 4 (8%)
- North Carolina: 2 (4%)
- Montana: 2 (4%)
- Multiple locations: 2
- 11 states: 1

See all of the companies moving to Texas (new report).

Did I miss a company? Submit an announcement here.

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Every Business Leaving San Francisco (2020-2023)

Businesses Leaving San Francisco Since 2020

Companies Reducing Office Space In San Francisco (But Not Moving)

Why are San Francisco businesses leaving?

How many businesses have left San Francisco?

Where are San Francisco businesses going? Half go to Texas.

Did I miss a company? Submit an announcement here.

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Businesses Leaving San Francisco Since 2020

Companies Reducing Office Space In San Francisco (But Not Moving)

Why are San Francisco businesses leaving?

How many businesses have left San Francisco?

Where are San Francisco businesses going? Half go to Texas.

Did I miss a company? Submit an announcement here.

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