Moving to San Francisco: Your First 30 Days

Settling into San Francisco has a paperwork clock attached to it, and a few of the deadlines are shorter than people expect. This is the administrative side of the move, in the order we would do it. For the softer stuff, neighborhoods, transit and etiquette, see our guide to settling in.

Week one: the things with deadlines

Driver license and vehicle registration

Book a DMV appointment the week you arrive; you can also join a virtual line the same day. For a license, bring proof of identity and birth date, your Social Security number, and residency documents: one for a standard license, two for a REAL ID. For the car, add proof of California insurance, the out-of-state title or registration, and a smog check. Application fees and registration are separate, and registration depends on your vehicle’s value, so use the DMV’s fee calculator rather than guessing.

dmv.ca.gov

Residential parking permit

If you park on the street in a permit zone, an annual residential permit runs about $224 for a passenger vehicle, with a prorated half-year option. You apply with your California vehicle registration and insurance showing your new address, which is why the DMV comes first. Apply online, by mail or in person at SFMTA on South Van Ness.

sfmta.com

Learn the ticket rules before they teach you

Street cleaning is the expensive lesson: about $105, and the signs are on the block you just parked on. Meter and blocked-driveway violations run over $100. Failing to curb your wheels on a hill is cheaper but still a ticket. And a car cannot sit in the same street spot for more than 72 hours, permit or not.

Set up utilities

PG&E handles gas and electricity, and you can start service online up to sixty days ahead. The SFPUC bills water and sewer together, and in some buildings also supplies power under the Hetch Hetchy name, on a separate account; new accounts usually need a deposit that is refunded with interest after a year of on-time payments. Garbage, recycling and compost come from Recology, and in most apartment buildings the owner holds that account, so check with your landlord before setting one up.

pge.com · sfpuc.gov · recology.com

Week two: the cheap wins

Get a library card

Free, five minutes, and it comes with Discover and Go passes to Bay Area museums, free programs for kids, and the best free indoor space downtown on the second floor of the Main Library.

Apply online, then show photo ID at any branch · sfpl.org

Sort out transit

Get a Clipper card, or just use your phone’s contactless wallet on Muni and BART. If you have kids, know that everyone 18 and under rides Muni free with no application, and that cable cars need a separate free youth pass. If your household income is low, Clipper START cuts adult fares roughly in half.

Register to vote

California’s registration deadline is fifteen days before an election, and after that you can still register and vote in person at the elections office through Election Day. San Francisco also lets non-citizen parents and guardians of children living in the city vote in Board of Education races, though the city publishes privacy warnings worth reading first.

sfelections.sfgov.org

Save 311

311 is the city’s non-emergency line, by phone or app, for street cleaning, abandoned vehicles, graffiti, potholes and illegal dumping. It works, and it is the fastest way to get something fixed on your block.

Week three: if you rent, and if you have kids

Know your rent rules

Most buildings with a certificate of occupancy from before June 13, 1979 are covered by San Francisco’s rent ordinance, which caps annual increases. The current allowable increase for covered units is 1.6 percent for March 2026 through February 2027. Your deposit also earns interest that the city sets annually. The Rent Board offers free counseling by phone, and there are tenant nonprofits that do the same.

sf.gov · Rent Board counselors: free, by phone

Enroll for school early

San Francisco does not assign elementary schools by address. You rank schools from across the district and a lottery places your child, with a tiebreaker preference for your attendance-area school. The dates matter more than the address: for the 2027–28 year, tours start October 1, 2026, applications open October 23, 2026, and the main round closes February 1, 2027, with assignment letters in mid-March. Apply in the main round even if you are unsure; late applicants get whatever is left.

sfusd.edu

Preschool and childcare

The city’s early childhood department runs tuition assistance that covers a large share of San Francisco families, scaled to income and household size. Apply as early as you can; waitlists are the norm.

Week four: be ready for the thing everyone asks about

Earthquake preparation here is genuinely normal, not paranoid. The city’s advice is a stay box with about a week of water, food and supplies for sheltering at home, plus a go bag per person with medications and documents. Add the state’s free MyShake app, which gives you seconds of warning before shaking arrives, and sign up for AlertSF to get emergency texts. Secure the bookcases.

sf72.org · MyShake

Also worth doing in month one

Find your nearest urgent care before you need it at 9pm on a Sunday; the city publishes guidance on when to use urgent care and when to go to the emergency room. Learn your three bins, because sorting is mandatory in San Francisco. Walk your neighborhood at 2pm on a weekday to see whether you live in the fog belt or the sun belt, since that shapes daily life here more than newcomers expect. And put the free days at the gardens and museums in your calendar now, while you are still in the mood to explore.

Prices and hours were checked in September 2026 and can change, so confirm before you go.