AGENCY

San Francisco Soda Tax logo

San Francisco Soda Tax

SF's penny-per-ounce tax on sugary drinks is helping San Franciscans live their best lives by making it easier to drink more water, eat fresh fruits and vegetables, get exercise, improve oral health, and drink less soda.

Smiling young girl with arms up inside a gym. Other children are visible doing physical activity in the background.

Soda tax programs

The soda tax supports San Francisco communities. It funds programs that help people drink less sugary drinks, eat healthier foods, be more active, and make our neighborhoods healthier places to live.Learn more about soda tax programs
Sugary Drinks Distributor Tax Advisory Committee
The Advisory Committee makes recommendations on the effectiveness of the Sugary Drinks Distributor Tax.
Priority populations for the SF soda tax
The beverage industry has historically targeted low income communities of color, leading to higher sugary drink consumption and more health problems. The Sugary Drinks Distributor Tax Advisory Committee makes funding recommendations to support the people and places most impacted by sugary drinks and related health outcomes.
SF soda tax blog
Keep up with updates on the blog.
Celebrating 5 years of the SF soda tax
2023 marked the 5-year anniversary of San Francisco’s soda tax. The revenue has generated millions of dollars for the communities most impacted by sugary drinks and the most targeted by the industry. To celebrate this remarkable achievement, the San Francisco Department of Public Health’s (SFDPH) Community Health Equity and Promotion Branch and partners hosted a five-year celebration in November 2023.
The graphic shows the process of San Francisco’s Soda Tax. On the left, a blue bottle cap icon reads “SF Soda Tax for Health.” The steps flow from left to right with arrows: sugary drinks (soda and sports drinks) → tax revenue is collected (coins and bills) → soda tax committee recommend investments→ City budget process finalizes investments (a hand holding a paper with a pie chart) → SF soda tax funds programs for healthy outcomes (a person brushing their teeth and holding a cup of water).

How it works

In November 2016, San Francisco voters passed the Sugary Drinks Distributor Tax (SDDT) – more commonly known as the SF Soda Tax, which established a 1 cent per ounce fee on the initial distribution of drinks with added sugar. Click "see more" to learn how the tax revenue flows into the city and to the communities most targeted by the sugary drinks industry.See more

Resources

Data and evaluation

Soda tax evaluation reporting
The Sugary Drinks Distributor Tax Ordinance requires annual reporting on how the tax impacts the health and wellbeing of San Franciscans. The evaluation reports below highlight the outcomes supported by the revenue. Reports were prepared by SFDPH and Raimi + Associates.
Soda tax data dashboards
This page includes interactive data dashboards related to SDDT revenue over time, how funds have been allocated over the past five years, numbers and demographics of people paid with SDDT funds, and numbers and demographics of participants of SDDT-funded programs. Scroll down the page to view and interact with each of the dashboards.
Demographics and health maps
This page includes several interactive contextual maps showing race/ethnicity, income and poverty, children and youth, as well as health outcomes by block groups or census tracts in San Francisco. Scroll down the page to view and interact with each of the maps.
Soda tax VideoVoice project

About

San Franciscans chose health, and we’re delivering on our promises.

2023 marked the 5-year anniversary of San Francisco’s voter-approved penny-per-ounce tax on sugary drinks. The soda tax is helping San Franciscans live their best lives by making it easier to drink more water, eat fresh fruits and vegetables, get exercise, improve oral health, and drink less soda and other sugary drinks. It’s what we set out to do, and on this page you can learn exactly how we’re doing it.

The Department of Public Health wants to ensure that our programs and services are accessible to the public.  We follow website rules for accessibility (WCAG 2.1, Level AA) and language access (San Francisco Language Access Ordinance).  If something on this website doesn’t work for you, email us at sddt@sfdph.org with the webpage or URL and what the issue is.

Partner agencies

Request public records

Submit requests for the San Francisco Soda Tax.