San Francisco to San Jose distance

San Francisco to San Jose by road

The fastest driving route is 47.6 miles (76.6 km) long and takes about 59 min without stops or traffic. It runs mostly on US 101 (42.9 mi) and CA 87 (2.5 mi).

The whole route stays in California. That’s an average of 48 mph (78 km/h), and at under two hours you can do it without stopping. The time is OSRM’s estimate with OpenStreetMap data: no traffic and speeds somewhat below the limits, so real trips can differ.

Straight-line distance and bearing

In a straight line, the shortest distance over the Earth’s surface, San Francisco and San Jose are 41.6 miles (67.0 km) apart. That’s the geodesic on the WGS84 ellipsoid, the distance “as the crow flies”.

The road is 14% longer: for every 100 miles in a straight line you drive 114. That’s a normal detour between two cities. Of the 110 US driving pairs in this series, it ranks 56th for detour (the average is 16%).

From San Francisco, San Jose lies to the southeast (bearing 136°), and from San Jose, San Francisco lies to the northwest.

Halfway between San Francisco and San Jose

Halfway along the straight line, 20.8 miles (33.5 km) from each city, is the point 37.5575° N, 122.1564° W. It falls in the water; the closest place is Baywood Park (California, pop. 1,580), 10.4 mi away. The nearest town of 20,000 people or more is Suisun City (California, pop. 29,454), 48.3 mi away.

By road, the halfway point is 23.8 miles (38.3 km) from each city, near Baywood Park (California, pop. 1,580), 5.3 mi away. The nearest town of 20,000 people or more is San Francisco (California, pop. 826,079), 45.6 mi away. The two midpoints almost coincide (6.1 mi apart), because the road doesn’t stray far from the straight line.

Time zone

San Francisco and San Jose share the same time all year: both are on Pacific Time.

The two cities

San Francisco and San Jose sit at almost the same elevation: 55 ft (17 m) and 81 ft (25 m).

San Francisco has 826,079 people and San Jose 989,814 people (Census Bureau estimate for 2025).