DATA STORY
Bond Rating
San Francisco’s General Obligation (GO) bond rating.
Measure description
The City issues bonds, or debt, in order to fund large capital projects. The purchase of those bonds provides the financing for these capital projects. San Francisco's GO bond rating acts as the City's credit rating. It measures the overall financial stability of the City and indicates how safe of an investment the City's bonds are to potential purchasers.
Why this measure is important
In October 2024, Moody's downgraded the City's bond rating from Aaa to Aa1, the agency's 2nd highest quality level, and the City has maintained that rating ever since. Stronger credit ratings incentivize the purchasing of San Francisco bonds, which have historically funded projects in the following service areas: seismic improvements and disaster preparation, medical and mental health service and infrastructure, affordable housing, transportation enhancements, and renewal and repair of parks, recreation and open spaces.
The interactive charts below present the City's current and historical GO bond ratings.
The chart's legend is below:
- Y-axis: Bond rating
- X-axis: Calendar years
San Francisco General Obligation Bond Rating
How performance is measured
There are three major municipal bond rating agencies: Moody's, Standard & Poor's, and Fitch. Each rating agency has a proprietary methodology for assigning ratings to a municipality.
High credit ratings allow the City to issue debt at lower borrowing costs. Moody's “Aa1” classification indicates that the City's bonds are judged to be of high quality and are subject to be very low credit risk. Standard & Poor's "AAA" classification is the highest rating in its system.
Data
- Learn more about San Francisco's municipal bond ratings.
- View San Francisco's historical municipal bond ratings.
Additional information
- Visit the Office of Public Finance website.
- View San Francisco's Five-Year Financial Plan.
- View San Francisco's Budget Status Reports and Budget Information.
City Performance Scorecards
This page is part of the City Performance Scorecards.
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