Is San Francisco further north than Washington, D.C.?
No. San Francisco, at 37.8° N, lies about 120 km further south than Washington, D.C., at 38.9° N.
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Why it surprises
San Francisco is cool and foggy in summer; Washington, D.C. is hot and humid. So many people picture the Californian city further north. Washington is in fact the northern one. Its centre lies at 38.9° N, San Francisco’s at 37.8° N, about 120 km further south. The difference in summers comes from the ocean. Along the Californian coast the cool California Current chills the air and helps form fog, so San Francisco’s summers stay mild. Washington lies in a humid subtropical climate zone, with warm, moist air in summer. The two cities share almost the same band of the globe as Lisbon and Athens; what separates them in people’s minds is the temperature of the nearby ocean water, not their position on the globe.
Sources for this explanation
- NOAA National Weather Service: weather.gov, checked 25 October 2026
- District of Columbia Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency: oea.dc.gov, checked 25 October 2026
Where the numbers come from
Each city is placed by Wikidata’s coordinate for its centre, cross-checked with Natural Earth’s populated places. Details: San Francisco and Washington, D.C..
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