Sun path in San Francisco: sunrise, sunset and sun height by month (2026)

Last checked: October 24, 2026. Written by the Flatwalk team.

Short answer. In San Francisco the midday sun stands about 29° above the horizon on December 21 and about 76° on June 21. The shortest day has 9h 32m of daylight (sunrise 7:21 a.m., sunset 4:54 p.m. PST); the longest has 14h 46m (sunrise 5:48 a.m., sunset 8:35 p.m. PDT). In winter the sun rises in the east-southeast (about 119°) and sets in the west-southwest (about 241°); in summer it rises in the east-northeast (about 59°) and sets in the west-northwest (about 301°). A south-facing window with open sky can get every hour of December daylight; a north-facing one gets no direct sun from late September to about March 18.

See the sun at your own window

Sunrise, sunset and sun height in San Francisco, month by month

The 15th of each month in 2026, at the Civic Center area of San Francisco (37.77° N, 122.42° W). Clock time: PST in winter, PDT (daylight saving time) from March 8 to November 1, 2026. Directions are compass bearings from true north: 90° is east, 180° south, 270° west. Elsewhere in the city the times differ by a minute or two.

The clocks go forward on March 8, 2026 and back on November 1, 2026, so the March to October rows are in PDT.

The key days:

• December 21: sunrise 7:21 a.m., sunset 4:54 p.m., 9h 32m of daylight, the sun highest at 12:07 p.m. PST at about 29°.
• March 21: sunrise 7:11 a.m., sunset 7:22 p.m. PDT, about 53° at midday; the sun rises and sets close to due east and due west.
• June 21: sunrise 5:48 a.m., sunset 8:35 p.m., 14h 46m of daylight, the sun highest at 1:11 p.m. PDT at about 76°.

Why is the sun highest after 1 p.m. in summer? Solar noon, when the sun is due south, comes at about 12:07 p.m. PST in winter in San Francisco. Daylight saving time moves it an hour later, to about 1:11 p.m. PDT in June.

Hours of sun on each side of a building in San Francisco

Hours of direct sun on a wall facing each way, on three days, with open sky and nothing in the way. This is the most a window on that wall could get: buildings, trees and hills cut it, which is exactly what the sun tool adds.

What it shows:

• South is the winter wall. On the shortest day a south wall can see the sun from sunrise to sunset (9h 32m); east and west walls get about 4h 46m each, a north wall none.
• North walls get summer sun, at the ends of the day. In June a north window can get about 7h 19m, early in the morning and in the evening, but no midday sun.
• Southeast and southwest walls get the most in summer (8h 21m on June 21, against 7h 27m for south), because they see the midday sun and one end of the long June day.

What that means for apartments in San Francisco

• Which way to face. For winter sun, main windows or a balcony facing anywhere between southeast and southwest. West gets the evening sun (until about 8:35 p.m. in June); east gets the morning. An apartment with windows on two sides, such as south and west, gets the most.
• Hills and two grids. South of Market Street the grid is turned about 45° from the one north of it, and a home on a north slope loses low winter sun that a flat map would give it. Check the wall tags in the tool for the true direction.
• Which floor. At noon on December 21 the sun is about 29° up, so a five-story building 15 m (49 ft) tall throws a shadow about 27 m (89 ft) long. Across a street 20 m (66 ft) wide, wall to wall, that shadow covers the facing wall up to about 4.0 m (13 ft): counting the ground floor as the 1st floor, with floors about 3 m (10 ft) high, windows on the 1st floor get no midday sun on the shortest day, and the 2nd floor is the first to see it. By March 21 the same shadow is about 11 m (37 ft) long, shorter than the street, so every floor gets the midday sun. See which floor gets the most sun.
• Towers. A 30-story tower (about 90 m, 295 ft) throws a midday shadow about 165 m (535 ft) long on December 21 and about 70 m (225 ft) on March 21. A tower to your south, even a block or two away, can take your winter noon sun; one to your north takes none.
• Balconies. A south balcony gets the long, low winter sun; in summer the sun is high (about 76°), so the balcony above shades the window behind it at midday. A west balcony gets summer evenings. See how much sun each side of a house gets.
• Houses and yards. At noon on December 21 a house 7 m (23 ft) high throws a shadow about 15 m (49 ft) long, so the part of a backyard next to the house's north side gets little winter sun. In June the same shadow is about 2 m (6 ft). See is a south-facing house worth it.
• What may be built. An empty lot or a planned tower to your south can take hours of winter sun later. See will a new building block my sun.

Check your own window in San Francisco in 3 steps

Flatwalk's free tool, Sun at your window, counts the hours of direct sun on a real window, with the buildings, trees and ground around it. In San Francisco it has the buildings' outlines and the ground, so the hills count, but it does not have measured building heights yet: it estimates them from the map and says so on screen. It has measured building heights in New York City and Chicago (and in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal in Canada); everywhere else it estimates them. So look at the building across the street, and if its height is wrong, fix it with Something off?

1. Type your address under "See the sun at your window" and find your building on the satellite map. Choose A whole house, or A flat for an apartment on one floor, and set Your floor. The tool counts floors the British way: street level shows as Ground and the floor above it as 1, so for a 4th-floor apartment set it to 3.
2. Put your window on the wall. Each outside wall has a tag, such as "South wall · sun side". Tap the wall, then tap where the window is (or drag to draw it), and tap See my sun.
3. Read your sun. Tap Shortest day for the December test, look at the 12 month bars, and switch on Typical weather to see the hours with San Francisco's usual clouds. What takes your sun names what blocks it.

What it cannot tell you:

• Modeled, not measured. The hours are worked out from maps and the sun's position, not from a light meter at your window.
• New buildings and trees. Buildings finished after the map data, and trees the map does not have, are missing or wrong until you fix them with Something off? (fix a height, add a building or a tree).
• Weather. Typical weather is a monthly average from NASA satellite records (2001 to 2025), not a forecast, and can be about 10 to 15% off for a window. It does not know a foggy block from a sunny one.
• Windows only. It does not measure sun on a yard, a terrace floor or a roof for solar panels.
• Not a legal or certified report. It is a check for yourself, not a certified daylight or shadow study.
• Small things it ignores: window frames, glass tint and your own roof shape. Map outlines can be about 1 m (3 ft) off the real wall.

Try it free: your San Francisco address, your floor, your window

What Flatwalk does that older planners skip

Lights

Add ceiling lights, lamps and LED strips and see where you need them after the sun goes down.

Your home in its city

Give the address and the street and buildings around you appear in 3D where the map has them.

Sun for your address

Real sunlight by date and hour, and how long each room gets direct sun.

One piece, in your own room

Through the live camera or in a photo of the room, stand a sofa on your own floor at its true size.

Detail

Window and door types, kitchens, closets and bathrooms built piece by piece.

Made for a thumb

Slide the hour with one finger and watch the light move through the rooms.

Swipe for more. Every picture is the app itself.

One home, free

Questions people ask

What is the sun path in San Francisco? In winter the sun rises in the east-southeast, stays low in the south (about 29° at midday on December 21) and sets in the west-southwest. In summer it rises in the east-northeast, climbs to about 76° at midday on June 21 and sets in the west-northwest. Around March 21 and September 23 it rises and sets close to due east and due west.

What time is sunrise and sunset in San Francisco in December? On December 21, 2026 the sun rises at 7:21 a.m. and sets at 4:54 p.m. PST, giving 9h 32m of daylight. The earliest sunsets come in early December (about 4:50 p.m.) and the latest sunrises in early January (about 7:25 a.m.).

Where does the sun rise and set in San Francisco? On the shortest day it rises at about 119° (east-southeast) and sets at about 241° (west-southwest). On the longest day it rises at about 59° (east-northeast) and sets at about 301° (west-northwest).

Which way should my apartment face in San Francisco? For the most sun over the year, and above all in winter, between southeast and southwest. West suits people who are home in the evening; east suits early risers. Then check what stands to the south: a five-story building across a 20 m (66 ft) street keeps the 1st floor out of the midday sun on the shortest day, and a tower can shade you from blocks away.

How high is the sun in San Francisco in winter? About 29° at midday on December 21, and no more than about 34° from mid-November to mid-January. A building that rises more than 29° above your window, seen from where you sit, hides the midday sun.